Sandia Labs’ device helps US troops in Afghanistan disable improvised explosive devices

A device developed by Sandia National Laboratories researchers that shoots a blade of water capable of penetrating steel is headed to US troops in Afghanistan to help them disable deadly improvised explosive devices, or IEDs - the No. 1 killer and threat to troops in Afghanistan, according to the Pentagon.

Airman 1st Class Patrick Connolly of Dayton, Ohio, demonstrates the placement of a water disruptor developed at Sandia National Laboratories near its target in a simulated village used to train soldiers heading overseas. (Photo by Randy Montoya) Click on the thumbnail for a high-resolution image.

Sandia licensed the patent-pending technology to a small minority-owned business, TEAM Technologies Inc. The Albuquerque-based company made its first shipment of about 3,000 new water disruptors to Afghanistan this summer.

''The fluid blade disablement tool will be extremely useful to defeat IEDs because it penetrates the IED extremely effectively,'' said Greg Scharrer, manager of the Energetic Systems Research Department at Sandia. ''It's like having a much stronger and much sharper knife.''

Soldiers who had served in Afghanistan and Iraq field-tested the device during training at the federal laboratory and suggested improvements while the product was being developed.

The fluid blade disablement tool was invented by Steve Todd, a mechanical and materials engineer with extensive Navy experience fighting IEDs, Chance Hughs, a retired Navy SEAL explosives expert on contract to Sandia, and mechanical engineer Juan Carlos Jakaboski in Sandia's Energetic Systems Research Department for a National Nuclear Security Administration sponsor.

The portable clear plastic device is filled with water and an explosive material is placed in it that, when detonated, creates a shock wave that travels through the water and accelerates it inward into a concave opening, Todd said. Therefore, when the water collides, it produces a thin blade.