Pentagon orders more IED jamming devices

Above: The demolished wreckage of a Humvee after an IED attack in Baghdad in June.

The Pentagon is ordering more devices that jam signals that detonate roadside bombs in Iraq.

The Pentagon this week exercised an option for another 3,000 CREW 2.1 vehicle-mounted jammers to go with 1,100 it ordered in April, EDO Corp. said in a statement Thursday.

The CREW 2.1, also known as CVRJ (CREW Vehicle Receiver/Jammer), emits a signal that blocks the signal from cell phones that Iraqi insurgents often use to set off improvised explosive devices as U.S. vehicles approach.

The success level of the devices is still being evaluated, and details of their prowess are generally kept quiet for security purposes. One early complaint was the jammer also interfered with radio communications and had to be turned off whenever units in the field needed to make contact with their base.

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