What Kills Your Sons and Daughters...

I wanted to share this photo that I will publish in a series of photos of how the insurgents kill soldiers and marines in Iraq. This photo is of the infamous platter charges or explosive formed projectile devices that are referred to as "EFPs". It got dog-eared from carrying to preconvoy briefings. The photo inset states the set-up time is minutes but is actually closer to 20 seconds. This means insurgents can camp along a road and set the devices up at their stand-off distances very quickly as a convoy approaches. These charges are set-up with the EFP to penetrate the vehicle and kill the occupants with a soft metal cap fired from an explosive-packed cylinder. A second round is aimed higher to take out the gunner on the Humvee with a similar explosive cylinder packed with ball bearings. These directed charges are extremely powerful and compact. Note their sizes next to the M16 magazines and the M-9 pistol.

The EFP punches through the armor of the M1114 Humvee, like butter, killing occupants and spraying molten shrapnel throughout the inside of the vehicle. The ball bearings shred the gunner. The ball bearings are moving so fast they will not only easily pierce the body armor of an exposed gunner but will destroy the mounted weapons systems and armor often as well.

The secret spice in the sauce of these devices that makes them so powerful compared to the old ways of using artillery projectiles is their use of focused energy in a single vector versus the burst of an artillery shell in all directions. These are very small compared to artillery shells and are designed to penetrate the armor of its target. Artillery shells are actually meant to kill and maim from their detonation's concussion. It is truly a "nail-in-my head" moment to witness what this does to your friends and comrades-in-arms. (CLICK ON PHOTO TO ENLARGE.)