U.S. to spend $3B to combat homemade bombs - Military News | News From Afghanistan, Iraq And Around The World - Military Times

U.S. to spend $3B to combat homemade bombs

KABUL, Afghanistan — An American defense official says Washington is spending $3 billion for equipment in Afghanistan to combat the threat from roadside bombs.

U.S. Defense Department undersecretary Ashton Carter says some of the money will be used to double the number of tethered surveillance blimps to 64, providing troops a bird's eye view of certain areas.

Carter told reporters Thursday that 6,700 Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles have been also delivered to Afghanistan and the Defense Department is continuing to send unmanned aerial vehicles so every route-clearance patrol will have the benefit of full-motion video overhead.

Makeshift bombs, often buried in roads or footpaths, accounted for about 40 percent of U.S. fatalities in Afghanistan in 2009.