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November 4, 2004

An Israeli company, IMI, has developed a rifle grenade containing a camera and transmitter. It is used to get quick pictures of the battlefield. Many nations still use rifle grenades, which fit over the front of the rifle and are propelled by the bullet for several hundred meters. The IMI Refaim recon grenade is fired nearly straight up, and, on the way down, provides several still pictures of the area underneath. These pictures are transmitted to a nearby laptop computer, or PDA, equipped with a receiver, and video software. The pictures can be zoomed, to see more detail. Such a grenade weighs less than a pound, so a unit with a properly equipped laptop, can use many of these grenades to great advantage, especially in urban combat. The recon grenade is a major improvement in air reconnaissance for combat units. In the past, it was almost impossible for front line infantry units to get current aerial photos of what was in front of them. Even getting a helicopter overhead is difficult. These recon grenades are a matter of life and death for the infantry using them.