A new high-speed armored backhoe built at heavy equipment manufacturer JCB's Savannah plant has been credited with saving a soldier's life when an anti-tank mine exploded in Iraq in late May.
Staff Sgt. Adam Smith Jr., of the Germany-based 9th Engineer Battalion, 172nd Infantry Brigade, was digging a culvert trench near South Balad Ruz on May 29 when an anti-tank mine exploded.
It immobilized the armor-plated backhoe, known officially as a High Mobility Engineer Excavator, but Smith walked away from the wreckage.
About the HMEE:
Built in Savannah, JCB's High Mobility Engineer Excavator represents a $230 million contract between the U.S. Army and JCB, the world's largest privately owned producer of construction machinery. Powered by a Cummins QSB 6.7-liter turbo diesel engine, the excavator can travel at speeds of up to 60 mph and features triple-thick steel plates to ensure operator safety, ballast and blast protection. Source: JCB Inc. |
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