Army Awards Contract for Culvert Defense (IEDs)

One of the more successful tactics of the Taliban in Afghanistan is the emplacing of IEDs in culverts along the roads that ISAF and ANSF forces travel. For the ANSF IEDs comprised about 50% of the casualties in the counterinsurgency campaign. The U.S. Army is continuing its research into counter IED (C-IED) tactics and techniques. It recently picked several firms to compete in contracts to develop methods of defeating IED emplacement in culverts. The Army awarded the contracts on behalf of the Joint IED Defeat Organization (JIEDDO) of the Pentagon. The project is known as the Culvert Denial Challenge program. Read more in "Army chooses 20 companies to develop explosives-detection for IEDs hidden in culverts", Military & Aerospace Electronics, September 17, 2014.