Extra Bushmasters for Defence

The Ministry of Defence has bought 9 additional Bushmaster protected patrol vehicles. These will be used to detect and clear improvised explosive devices (IED) in Uruzgan, Afghanistan.>> These heavily armoured vehicles are equipped with a remotely-controlled arm which can investigate explosives which have been hidden in the ground. The arm carries cameras, sensors and an excavator.>> The Bushmaster are of great value in this province in Southern Afghanistan, because its reinforced lower hull protects them against mines and IEDs.>> The Ministry of Defence will pay for the additional Bushmasters from the 80 million euro budget that had been earmarked for the counter-IED taskforce.>> Sniffer dogs and a flexible laboratory in Uruzgan have been already added to the anti-IED resources.>> The extra Bushmasters are additional to the ones ordered in June 2008, some of which have been lost or damaged by attacks.>> It is the intention of the MoD that Dutch soldiers in Uruzgan will receive the new vehicles by April 1.>> -ends->