US special operations forces and other coalition troops are discovering innovative new methods of countering improvised explosive devices (IEDs) as employed by enemy combatants in Afghanistan, Land Warfare International has been informed.
Defence sources have told LWI that systems including Chemring Defence’s Heavy Portable Explosive Minefield Breaching System (HEPMBS), which was designed to clear paths for foot patrols, are being used in the direct fire role to initiate suspected IEDs.
Now regularly employed by enemy combatants across Afghanistan, IEDs have become a major issue for NATO International Security Assistance Force contributors, so much so that the US Department of Defense