Bomb Simulator Aims To Protect British Troops

Some £8m is being spent on new research aimed at better protecting British troops from roadside bombs in Afghanistan.

Scientists at London's Imperial College are using a purpose-built explosion simulator to recreate the trauma experienced when a bomb goes off.

In the past five years, 347 British personnel have been killed in Afghanistan, with more than half of them - 198 - losing their lives as the result of improvised explosive devices, or IEDs.

Hundreds more have lost limbs, and it is these casualties the project is aimed at helping.

Researchers are using fake legs and real military boots to examine the force exerted on a soldier's arms and legs in an IED strike.

The hope is that by designing a new boot, they can better distribute the shock waves and save some of the more delicate parts of the foot which are difficult to reconstruct and thereby save the limb from amputation.

Captain Adam Hill, the deputy director of the Blast Centre and an Army doctor, says there are "good" injuries and "bad" injuries.

The aim of the research is to try and ensure there are more good injuries than bad in IED strikes.

However, ex-Royal Marine Ben McBean, who lost an arm and a leg when he trod on a Taliban mine in 2008, is sceptical about the research.

He points out that the blast that injured him was so great it blew his foot off and no boot would have saved his leg.

Ben believes the £8m could be better spent on improving the everyday lives of soldiers serving in Afghanistan.

He also wants the UK to pull out of Afghanistan as soon as possible, even though he is aware that, for the families of those who have lost their lives or been injured, a withdrawal may be seen as meaning their loved ones suffered in vain.

The Blast Centre researchers say they are confident they will have a new, more protective boot within the next 12 to 18 months, although they acknowledge that is only just before UK combat operations in Afghanistan are due to cease by the end of 2014.

They insist the knowledge gained will be useful both militarily and in civilian spheres long after the Afghan campaign draws to a close.

The Royal British Legion is providing £5m of the funding because it believes it will pay off in the long term for their members who will have to live with the consequences of being blown up by a roadside bomb.