The job of ordnance disposal technicians is rapidly changing. After decades of handling prevasive ground-level threats of improvised explosive devices in Afghanistan and Iraq, disposal techs are reinventing their jobs for a new threat: drones with explosives. As they adjust, they are adding drones to their own arsenals for dealing with explosives.
Over the last two decades, Army ordnance disposal technicians were tasked with rendering more than 100,000 improvised explosive devices “safe” in Iraq and Afghanistan. But as the face of warfare changes, the threat of one-way attack unmanned aerial systems and drones strapped with munitions and explosives are becoming a topic that ordnance disposal technicians are being increasingly trained on.
Read more…
Source: Task & Purpose
Related:
- Thailand: First Army reports progress in mine-clearance operations at Ban Nong Chan – Ban Nong Ya Kaew
November 20, 2025
The operation continues to secure hazardous border zones, with teams removing explosives and conducting joint aerial surveys to support upcoming boundary-marker work. On November 19, 2025, the First Army Area, Burapha Task Force and Infantry Task Force 12, together with Humanitarian Mine Action Unit 1 and Engineer Regiment 2, provided an operational update on efforts to ...
- Cambodia: VNMAC delegation studies CMAC’s mine clearance expertise
November 18, 2025
A delegation from the Vietnam Mine Action Centre (VNMAC), led by Colonel Pham The Anh, visited the Cambodian Mine Action Centre (CMAC) headquarters in Phnom Penh yesterday to learn from Cambodia’s internationally recognised mine clearance achievements. CMAC Director-General Heng Ratana welcomed the delegation and provided an overview of Cambodia’s decades-long struggle with landmines and unexploded ordnance ...
- UK: Two men arrested on suspicion of explosives offence after bomb squad called to Sunderland recycling centre
November 17, 2025
Two men have been arrested on suspicion of an offence under Section 4 of the Explosive Substances Act after the discovery of a suspicious item caused Sunderland Household Waste and Recycling Centre to close over the weekend. The centre was forced to close when Northumbria Police called in the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Team (EOD) to undertake ...
- Germany: WWII bomb discovery in Nuremberg prompts evacuation of 21,000 people
November 15, 2025
A large-scale evacuation was under way in the southern German city of Nuremberg on Friday evening ahead of the planned disposal of a World War II aerial bomb. The city announced that road closures within a radius of 800 metres of the site were necessary. Up to 21,000 residents would have to leave their homes, the ...
- Hong Kong: Suspected wartime bomb found in airport site
November 15, 2025
A suspected wartime bomb was found in a construction site at the airport on Saturday. Police said they were alerted to the discovery around noon. The force’s bomb-disposal officers arrived at the scene soon afterwards. They detonated the suspected device at around 4pm. Read more… Source: RTHK News Sign up for the Counter-IED Report Newsletters The latest news and insights ...
- NATO EOD COE Delegates Visit Hungarian EOD Unit
November 14, 2025
Two representatives from the NATO Explosive Ordnance Disposal Centre of Excellence (EOD COE) carried out a formal, two-day visit to the Hungarian Defence Forces 1st EOD and Riverine Guard Regiment (HDF 1st EOD and RGR) between November 10 and 11, 2025. The delegation consisted of the NATO EOD COE personnel, Colonel Zsolt Szilágyi, Chief of Staff ...
- North Korean sappers join mine-clearing efforts in Russia’s Kursk region
November 14, 2025
North Korean sappers working in the Kursk region have been trained to follow Russian commands as joint demining continues in areas retaken from Ukrainian forces, a Russian official said on Thursday. The official told the Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper that manuals were translated and printed for the Korean People’s Army (KPA) team, and “KPA sappers were trained ...
- Slovakia: 3rd ETACS Project Workshop 2025 held at EOD COE in Trenčín
November 13, 2025
The Technology Development Department of the NATO Explosive Ordnance Disposal Centre of Excellence (EOD COE) organized the 3rd ETACS Workshop on October 27–28, 2025, in Trenčín, Slovakia. The event brought together EOD experts from the United States, Slovakia, Denmark and Hungary, as well as dedicated IT specialists from Poland and the Czech Republic. Read more… Source: NATO EOD ...
- Thailand: Bomb disposal unit clears 7 landmines in Sa Kaeo over 2 days
November 13, 2025
On November 13, 2025, a report from the First Army Region stated that the Burapha Task Force, in collaboration with the Humanitarian Mine Action Unit 1 and the 2nd Engineer Regiment, successfully cleared 7 landmines in the Ban Nong Chan, Sa Kaeo province. The operation, which started on November 11, 2025, focused on clearing a suspected ...
- Spain: National Police deactivated mortar shell found on the University of Huelva campus
November 12, 2025
The National Police has deactivated a mortar shell located on the campus of the University of Huelva. The device – which showed obvious signs of oxidation and deterioration – has been neutralized by specialists from the TEDAX-CBRN, the unit specialized in the deactivation of explosive devices, by means of a controlled detonation at a safe ...
- Ukraine to create interagency national underwater mine clearance group
November 12, 2025
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Ukraine, in partnership with the Ministry of Economy, Environment and Agriculture and other key mine action stakeholders, will create the first interagency national group of underwater mine clearance instructors, the press service of the Ministry of Economy reported. According to the report, the group consists of fifteen instructors who ...
- Thailand: Defence forces chief vows to complete mine clearance in all 13 Thai-Cambodian border zones
November 12, 2025
Gen Ukris Boontanondha, Chief of Defence Forces of Thailand, reaffirmed on Wednesday his commitment to completing the mine clearance mission along the Thai-Cambodian border, saying the operation will continue across all 13 designated areas to ensure the safety of civilians and frontline soldiers. “We are currently working on five pilot areas and will move on to ...
- UK: Army bomb experts detonate explosives found at property
November 12, 2025
Old commercial explosives used in demolition work were taken from a property in Mid Wales and detonated safely on a beach, police and the British Army have confirmed. On Monday, November 10, HM Coastguard Borth revealed it had assisted in the detonation of an object at Ynyslas beach, near Borth. The Army said an Explosive Ordnance ...
- Belgium: Explosion outside house in Antwerp
November 11, 2025
There has been an explosion outside the garage of a house on the Houthulststraat in the Antwerp district of Merksem. The explosion happened at around 5:30am. The no significant damage was caused and the Antwerp Local Police Service reports that it is not aware of any casualties. Federal police forensics experts have visited the scene of the ...
- UK: Bomb disposal unit called to Oxford park after grenade found
November 11, 2025
A ‘rusty’ grenade has been found by a fisherman in Oxford with the bomb squad called to deal with the historic weapon. Thames Valley Police said the bomb squad – Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) – dealt with the grenade found in Sunnymead Park on Sunday (November 9). Zoe Hunter, a fisherman with the Thame Magnet Fishing ...
- Nigeria: Police train officers to handle explosives, nuclear threats
November 9, 2025
The Nigeria Police Force has trained 325 personnel on the handling of Explosive Ordnance Disposal and Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear threats. The participants were drawn from police commands across the 36 states of the federation. The four-week intensive course took place at the Police Mobile Force Training College, Ende Hills, Nassarawa-Eggon Local Government Area of ...
- Belgium: Explosion in Antwerp, three suspects arrested
November 8, 2025
An explosion was carried out outside a house in Kistemaeckersstraat, Borgerhout, Antwerp, on Saturday morning, with three suspects later arrested in the Netherlands, according to local police. The incident occurred shortly after 2:00. A fire broke out, but the residents managed to extinguish it themselves. Two individuals inhaled excessive smoke and were taken to hospital for ...
- Michigan: Improvised explosive devices found in Flint home
November 7, 2025
On Wednesday, November 5, at approximately 7 p.m., the Flint City Police Department responded to a residence located in the 1600 block of Blackberry Ln after a citizen who was cleaning out the home discovered suspicious items and immediately called 911. Upon arrival, officers identified items that appeared to be improvised explosive devices (IEDs). Flint PD ...
- Indonesia: Jakarta school explosions injure 54
November 7, 2025
Two explosions injured dozens of people in state high school SMAN 72 in Kelapa Gading, North Jakarta on Friday, a senior police official said without disclosing the cause of the explosion. According to students who were in the school complex at the time, there were two explosions around midday at the school’s mosque, when male Muslim ...
- UK: ‘Bomb squad’ carry out controlled explosion on Scottish beach
November 6, 2025
A ‘bomb squad’ was called to the Three Towns following the discovery of a possible ordnance device. The item was found at a property in the Border Avenue area of Saltcoats around midday on Tuesday, November 4. Following the discovery, an Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) unit – commonly known as the ‘bomb squad’ – was called ...
- Pakistan: Security forces defuse 100kg bomb in Kalat
November 2, 2025
Security forces on Sunday successfully defused a 100-kilogram locally manufactured bomb in Balochistan’s Kalat district, preventing what officials said could have been a large-scale terrorist attack. According to Levies sources, the explosive device had been planted under a bridge in Johan tehsil and was designed to cause massive destruction in the area. Acting on intelligence reports, ...
- Estonia: ‘Large aerial bomb’ found in Ida-Viru County
November 2, 2025
A large explosive device found in a forested area in Ida-Viru County Sunday morning is to be detonated by a bomb disposal team. The bomb disposal unit that responded to the scene identified it as a 250-kilogram aerial bomb. The Rescue Board (Päästeamet) has announced local residents may hear loud detonations as a result of the ...

