US Army Puts Dummies To Work To Improve Combat Safety

Cameron Aubernon
by Cameron Aubernon

Dummies have experienced a lot over the years, from going through windshields, to being set ablaze. Now, IED explosions can be added to the resume.

Gizmag reports the U.S. Army has awarded a contract to California-based Diversified Technical Systems to work on the branch’s Warrior Injury Assessment Manikin project under the U.S. Army Research Development and Engineering Command. The WIAMan project’s mission will be to assess how soldiers handle explosions caused by IEDs, land mines et al while inside a vehicle, with the goal of improving safety on the battlefield.

To do this, military casualty data from operations in Afghanistan and Iraq is combined with biomedical sensors meant to simulate the human body when attached to a dummy. The dummy is then subjected to the same sort of underbody explosions and blast waves soldiers hope not to experience on the field, which is then recorded to equally small data boxes, each holding up to 16 GB of data.


Cameron Aubernon
Cameron Aubernon

Seattle-based writer, blogger, and photographer for many a publication. Born in Louisville. Raised in Kansas. Where I lay my head is home.

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  • 95_SC 95_SC on Apr 14, 2015

    How much more data do they need? They've had actual Soldiers getting blown up for over a decade now. And yes, we had plenty of dummies in my unit, but there we could always find a job for them on the FOB so they didn't really see much combat which I suppose kept us all safer.

  • Lou_BC Lou_BC on Apr 16, 2015

    I'm surprised that the right hasn't suggested conscription of the lower class as a more fiscally prudent alternative.

  • Lorenzo Heh. The major powers, military or economic, set up these regulators for the smaller countries - the big guys do what they want, and always have. Are the Chinese that unaware?
  • Lorenzo The original 4-Runner, by its very name, promised something different in the future. What happened?
  • Lorenzo At my age, excitement is dangerous. one thing to note: the older models being displayed are more stylish than their current versions, and the old Subaru Forester looks more utilitarian than the current version. I thought the annual model change was dead.
  • Lorenzo Well, it was never an off-roader, much less a military vehicle, so let the people with too much money play make believe.
  • EBFlex The best gift would have been a huge bonfire of all the fak mustangs in inventory and shutting down the factory that makes them.Heck, nobody would even have to risk life and limb starting the fire, just park em close together and wait for the super environmentally friendly EV fire to commence.
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