Troop Strength

LEAD BY THE PENTAGON'S top scientific and research office, the services are accelerating high-tech programs that have been in development--sometimes for years--but now have more relevance and are urgently needed. Instead of methodically testing the systems in a U.S.-based lab, the Pentagon is going to use Iraq as its testing ground. Some of the systems being fast-tracked include electronic jammers that can ride in the back of a Humvee and block the signals used to remotely detonate roadside bombs (some Iraqi insurgents are using garage door openers and cell phones to blow up their bombs from a safe distance). Other jammers will be able to detonate these bombs, sending a signal out some distance away to blow it up before the convoy gets there--maybe even while it is being placed.

The military is also sending over passive systems that can monitor large swaths of territory so troops can catch the guerrillas in the act. The forces arriving in March could see a string of aerostats--essentially gas-filled balloons with embedded high-tech cameras--floating alongside major highways and convoy routes in Iraq, keeping a wary, robotic eye on potential ambushes. The services have also turned to industry to help protect vehicles. Since not enough bullet-proof Humvee jeeps--what the troops term "up-armored"--can be built to outfit all units heading over, some companies are coming up with innovative ways to supplement the jeep's thin shell. One West Coast-based company has developed armor plates that can be stuck onto the outer panels of a Humvee with adhesives, forming a barrier than can protect against .50 cal machine gun rounds.

Despite the overwhelming firepower brought to bear by U.S. troops in Iraq, the trickle of American blood and treasure continues to seep from that war-torn land. But as the occupation slogs on and fresh troops head over to confront the insurgents and bring peace to the Iraqi people, they will be equipped with the tactics and training, the technology and equipment that will help keep them alive.

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