Knuckle booms save lives in Iraq
By Alex Dahm08 January 2009
Fassi dealer Fascan in Maryland, US has adapted three models of Fassi knuckle boom cranes to make "Improvised Explosive Device (IED) Interrogation Arms" for the US Army to detect roadside munitions in Iraq.
Fascan has delivered about 600 of the units - based on the Fassi M10A.12, M20A.13, and the F45.23MIL. They manipulate panning and tilting infra-red cameras and metal detectors. Bernie Faloney, Fascan president, told IC that IEDs have caused around 70% of US fatalities in Iraq.
The cranes are retrofitted in the field to RG31 MkIII and Huskee vehicles. Fascan has put up to120 units in operation with field kits in a three-month period. "That was a big attraction for the Army," Faloney says. The product adaptation and delivery performance won Fascan the Army's "Top Ten Greatest Inventions of 2007".
