Infantry: August 17, 2000

Archives

: The US Army is running a series of tests known as MOUT-ACTD (Military Operations in Urban Terrain Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration). This is designed to find quickly-available systems that can improve the effectiveness, lethality, and survivability of troops fighting in cities, where casualties are traditionally high in short-range fighting. Some of the systems tested and found worthy include: 

@ Explosive Cutting Tape. This relatively small device blows a man-sized hole through a brick wall.

@ BEAST is the Breachers Explosive Access Selectable Tool. It is roughly two-by-five feet and looks something like a sleeping bag. Fastened to a wall, it can blow a man-sized hole through brick or masonry walls.

@ RLEM is the Rifle-Launched Entry Munition. It looks something like a fencing sword. The "blade" is slid into the barrel of an M16 and fired by a grenade launching blank; the blade then trails the massive "handle" to provide stability in flight. The weapon is designed to break through doors or windows from a distance of 30m. 

@ Two new portable ladders are under testing. The Quick Stepladder folds up to 2x3 feet but extends to 14 feet long. It is carried clipped to the outside of a soldier's pack. The Light Modular Ladder extends to 15 feet; a second module can be added to reach 30 feet. The system is carried inside a bag the size of a rucksack. The 30-foot length allows soldiers into third-story windows or onto the roofs of two-story and lower three-story buildings.

@ The Hooligan Tool is a "wedge on a handle" which can be pounded into doors with a hammer to provide leverage to break them open. This allows soldiers in restricted quarters to defeat barricaded or locked doors. 

@ Flash bang grenades, new lighter but stronger body armor, new elbow and knee pads, and Tuff Cuffs (a new system to restrain prisoners). --Stephen V Cole

 

X

ad

Help Keep Us From Drying Up

We need your help! Our subscription base has slowly been dwindling.

Each month we count on your contributions. You can support us in the following ways:

  1. Make sure you spread the word about us. Two ways to do that are to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
  2. Subscribe to our daily newsletter. We’ll send the news to your email box, and you don’t have to come to the site unless you want to read columns or see photos.
  3. You can contribute to the health of StrategyPage.
Subscribe   Contribute   Close