Improvised explosive device (IED) counter-measures in Iraq

Summary form only given: Land mines have been used in warfare since the 13l century. Their greatest weakness has always been to coordinate the timing of the explosion with an enemy's movement. improvised explosive devices (IED's) are mines that are constructed in the field using available munitions. In the 16^th century these were detonated using a clock-timer or concealed trip-wire. Remote RF-controlled IED's were first used in 1984, using a model airplane controller. The modern car fob, which allows remote opening of car doors, was invented in 1996, and rapidly became ubiquitous. However, it was unanticipated that it would rapidly become the heart of a major weapons system, commonly called a RF-IED. IED's currently cause more than 70% of the U.S. casualties in Iraq. The use of RF-IED's allows the IED to be controlled up to several miles away (using a cell phone) and allows accurate timing of the detonation. New research is beginning to point to ways to deactivate the IED RF electronic controls without detonation of the explosives, using particle radiation (soft fails). Experiments with many types of radiation have shown remarkable effects, which are not well understood.