Operation: Leaf Blower

Small companies are coming up with creative ways to help U.S. troops survive

by Christopher Megerian

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Leaf blowers, laser pointers, and speedboat hulls. Right now, they are the cutting edge in American military might.

Although the Pentagon has been a tireless advocate for high-tech superiority, the U.S. military is still struggling to defend soldiers in Iraq from roadside bombs and other low-tech improvisations by insurgents. So in response to this ever-evolving menace, the military is also trying to be more creative and less plodding in procuring the right battle gear.

The result? A lengthening list of unconventional weapons, including laser pointers warning Iraqi drivers to slow down before checkpoints and high-powered leaf blowers that can clear debris used to conceal explosives. "Everything we do is based on the enemy. And it's an adaptive, smart enemy," says Jerry Ferguson of the Army's Rapid Equipping Force, which aims to fast-track off-the-shelf equipment to the front lines. The unconventional items are the result of smart ideas that bubble up in the civilian sector. These ideas can often provide quick fixes for a brutal, fast-evolving battle zone—in the case of Iraq, one that has claimed 3,609 lives.

Finding New Applications

Exhibit A: The Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) program, launched in late 2006 by the Marine Corps amid mounting casualties from roadside bombs. Rather than design a whole new generation of armored vehicles itself, the Marines issued an appeal to both military and civilian contractors for quick, imaginative solutions.

The military has already ordered 3,765 armored trucks under this Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) program—more than half of them since May 31—and deliveries have begun. Some orders went to military vendors like BAE Systems, but nearly half are being filled by a South Carolina company that used to make speedboats, Force Protection Industries, a subsidiary of Force Protection (FRPT). The company adapted its V-shaped hulls for the underbelly of an armored truck, replacing the fiberglass with steel. Like a boat hull cutting through waves in the water, the steel hull deflects the shock waves and shrapnel from an explosion. Force Protection Industries had already shipped 600 of these Cougar trucks to Iraq before MRAP, and not a single occupant has died in more than 2 million operational hours, the company reports.

But production capacity and raw material supplies are a worry. On June 27, the Department of Defense inspector general criticized the military for relying on such a small company for so many MRAP vehicles, citing problems Force Protection has had meeting delivery deadlines. Force Protection says the report focused on the period between 2003 and 2005, when it was smaller. The company is now producing more than 100 vehicles a month and plans to expand capacity to 1,000 a month by July 2008 through a partnership with General Dynamics.

Evolving Products

Much of the impetus for such improvised weapons comes from the Rapid Equipping Force, a branch of the Army's Asymmetric Warfare Office. The REF was created after the U.S. invaded Afghanistan in 2001, and was charged with developing quick solutions to problems on the front lines. The REF's budget has increased more than 50% to almost $200 million in the last two years, even as the military has been scaling back its commitment to advanced technology. The Army recently proposed cutting $3.3 billion from its Future Combat Systems, which is meant to link every combat unit through a high-speed data network. And after a $2 billion investment over the past decade, the Army killed the Land Warrior program, a plan to outfit soldiers with possibly burdensome computer and video equipment.

Meanwhile, companies that never pictured themselves as defense contractors have found ways to adapt and sell their products to the military. Many are using technological gadgets that have been around for years. The V-shaped hull concept used by Force Protection and other armored truck companies was developed in South Africa 30 years ago. The Army has announced its aim to buy more than 17,000 MRAP vehicles in the next two years, which could mean billions more in Cougar contracts if funding is approved.