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Photos: Gung-ho gadgets for U.S. troops

The Army's Rapid Equipping Force is focusing on devices such as surveillance systems for searching out explosives.
By Bill Detwiler, Contributor
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Tacmav

The Tacmav, or tactical mini air vehicle, is one of a number of devices being developed by the U.S. Army's Rapid Equipping Force. The unit purchased the model plane commercially and modified its software. Its mission: to carry a camera to let soldiers in the field check over the next ridge or around the corner.

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Marcbot

A camera-carrying device already deployed to battle sites is the Marcbot, or multifunction agile remote-controlled robot, a wheeled robot with a video camera. It is intended to look for improvised explosive devices, or IEDs.

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Throwbot

A soldier puts the Throwbot through its paces at a Pentagon press briefing on Aug. 12, 2005. The remote-controlled gadget, about the size of a soda can, is equipped with camera lenses and can be thrown into a building to survey the interior before soldiers enter.

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magnetometer

This isn't a gold-plated weapon. Rather, it's an $850 off-the-shelf magnetometer that troops are using to find weapons hidden in walls and under the ground. The civilian version of this metal detector is used to find buried power lines.

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Speech Guard handheld

Col. Gregory Tubbs, director of the Rapid Equipping Force, talks up a "Speech Guard" handheld. Soldiers speak preset phrases into the device, which then translates the phrases into Arabic.

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Kandahar Airfield

An officer at work in the REF's workshop at Kandahar Airfield in Afghanistan last year.

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FN303

Also on display from the Rapid Equipping Force: the FN303, a nonlethal, high-powered paintball gun.

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