Posted : Monday Nov 22, 2010
The Army is testing a two-seat Husky Mine Detection System — equipped with a new remote weapon system — in Afghanistan to help soldiers find more roadside bombs and protect themselves from ambushes.
Huskies are wheeled vehicles with V-shaped hulls that resemble front loaders. They drive in front of route clearance teams with ground-penetrating radars and metal detectors mounted to the vehicle’s front arm. In the standard one-seat models, the soldier must drive the vehicle while monitoring the radar and mine detector and keeping an eye out for command wires connected to the improvised explosive devices.
Two two-seat Huskies deployed to Afghanistan in October — one in the south and one in the east — for a 120- to 180-day test period to help assess whether the Army wants to buy more.
Army engineers added a common remotely operated weapon system, called CROWS II, that allows a soldier to stay in his seat and fire a MK19 automatic grenade launcher, a .50-caliber M2 machine gun, a M240B machine gun, or a M249 light machine gun, which would be mounted to the Husky before a mission.
