March 5, 2006: The United States is spending billions of dollars on new equipment that will defeat IED (Improvised Explosive Devices, or roadside bombs). This has attracted not just American firms, but foreign ones as well. Soukos Robots, a Greek company, has developed a device that uses microwaves to detonate roadside bombs prematurely. Details have been kept secret, but tests have been successful enough to interest the U.S. Armed Forces. There are already a number of systems deployed, or in development, that are supposed to do the same thing, But getting this approach to work reliably and effectively enough to be decisive has so far eluded everyone. By putting out all that money to subsidize development, and buy large quantities of successful (or just nearly so) equipment, a large chunk of the military electronics industry has been working on solutions to roadside bombs. Soukos Robots develops and builds remote controlled weapons, as well as gear for handling explosives. They also, as their name implies, build robotic equipment for manufacturing industries.