For only $500, soldiers in Afghanistan came up with an ingenious way to help detect roadside bombs and reduce the threat of casualties.

 

The money was spent on a remote-controlled toy truck (Traxxis Stampede) that a soldier’s brother, Ernie Fessenden, shipped over from Rochester, Minnesota…but not before adding a wireless video camera. The soldiers connected the camera to a video monitor attached to a rifle. With the truck out on point, half a dozen troops were able to watch for booby traps while remaining a safe distance behind. The toy exposed a tripwire leading to 500 pounds of explosives which went off, but none of the men was injured.

 

Fessenden is now trying to raise money to send over another truck.

-Noel Brinkerhoff

 

Afghanistan War: Hobbyists' Toy Truck Saves 6 Soldiers' Lives (by Ned Potter, ABC News)