U.S. Military Learns To Fight Deadliest Weapons -- Wired Magazine
One afternoon at the end of March, inside a cinder-block bunker on a small island in Chesapeake Bay, Scott Schoenfeld is waiting to blow something up. On a video monitor in front of him is a grainy image of a rusty steel box about 20 yards away. Inside is an explosive charge and an experimental target. A big, soft-spoken computational scientist wearing a black polo shirt, jeans, and wraparound sunglasses, Schoenfeld is one of the chief armor researchers for the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization, or Jieddo, the Pentagon agency dedicated to combating IEDs. He won’t tell me how much explosive he’s using today, or what, exactly, the target is. The charge is modeled on an IED discovered overseas, and the details remain sensitive, if not classified. “We’re trying not to give anyone ideas they don’t already have,” he says. But he will acknowledge that the charge is lethal. “Unprotected, it would kill many people. Pounds of high explosive are involved.” He hands me a pair of ear defenders. “The boom,” he says, “will be rather large.”
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My Comment: These guys have their work cut out for them .... but credit must be given where credit is due .... and that is their work has made a difference in the battlefield and it has probably saved scores of lives.