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:
- UK: Cambridgeshire police share moment bomb squad explode grenade
June 23, 2020
Police have released footage of a grenade exploding after it was found on a construction site. The controlled explosion happened early on Tuesday, June 23. Cambridgeshire Constabulary were called to Hampton Water just after 9am when the grenade was found. Officers and the Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team attended the scene before the controlled explosion was carried out. Police ...
- UK: Devon family use unexploded military shell as ‘doorstop’ for 30 years
June 23, 2020
A Devon family’s doorstop had to be detonated by a bomb squad after it turned out to be an antique military shell. Police were called to an address in Teignmouth after one of the family members raised concerns about the object, which had been used as a doorstop for more than 30 years. Officers attended but had ...
- New Zealand gives $3.8M to Cambodia for clearance of landmines
June 21, 2020
New Zealand has awarded Cambodia a NZ$5.9 million ($3.8 million) grant to assist mine-clearing operations for six years in Battambang, Banteay Meanchey and Pailin provinces. The grant coincided with Pailin authorities clearing 10 MD82B landmines in Pramay Kha commune in Pailin town on Saturday. Senior Minister in charge of Special Missions and secretary-general of the Cambodian Mine ...
- Philippines: Basilan villagers alert Army to IEDs along roadside
June 21, 2020
Alert residents helped the military find and neutralize bombs that the Abu Sayyaf Group is believed to have left in Ungkaya Pukan town, Basilan. Brig. Gen. Fernando Reyeg, Joint Task Force Basilan (JTFB) and 101st Infantry Brigade commander, said troops sent its explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) team to deal with improvised explosive devices along the road ...
- Guard unit that lost EOD troop in Afghanistan faced ‘funding constraints’ and ‘time-consuming request process’
June 20, 2020
An investigation into the 2018 death of an Army EOD tech in Helmand province, Afghanistan, found that his unit faced equipping and funding issues prior to deployment, but the company command team went to great lengths to resolve those problems before arriving downrange. The investigation also noted that U.S. troops out of Camp Dwyer in Garmsir district had patrolled in the ...
- Ireland: Nine people arrested in garda operation targeting criminal gangs
June 17, 2020
Nine people have been arrested by gardai targeting organised criminality in Limerick. More than 170 gardai were involved in carrying out over 60 searches of properties on Wednesday across counties Limerick, Clare and Tipperary. As part of Operation Coronation, gardai from the Criminal Assets Bureau, Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau, the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation, the ...
- UK: Second World War bombs found and safely detonated in Great Hollands, Berkshire
June 17, 2020
Bombs from the Second World War were detonated in Great Hollands yesterday, after they were found in a resident’s garage. The bombs, technically British mortar tips from the Second World War, were discovered and taken home by the resident in Holbeck, Great Hollands, Bracknell, after finding them with a metal detector on the beach. Following this, Thames ...
- Police safely detonate ‘improvised explosive device’ in downtown Vancouver
June 16, 2020
Police say they have safely detonated an improvised explosive device in downtown Vancouver. Officers found the device in a backpack during an arrest after two men were caught allegedly trying to break into a vehicle near Thurlow and Bute streets Tuesday. The area near Burrard and Pender streets was blocked off and specialists from the Vancouver Police ...
- Sri Lanka: STF Search Wing soars to success
June 13, 2020
Roday, we as a nation cherish peace. However, the price of freedom came after much sacrifice. One of the teams totally committed to safeguarding the citizens of Sri Lanka, was the men of the Bomb Disposal Squad (BDS) of the Police Special Task Force (STF). Since its inception three decades ago, the Search Wing has made ...
- Canadian clearance diving officer disarmed improvised explosive devices in small UK village
June 13, 2020
Lt(N) Kevin Okihiro knew he would have to disarm nearly a dozen incendiary improvised explosive devices when he arrived at the small Cornish village of Upton Cross in South West England. The moment seemed surreal and unfolded like his training, but it was not a drill. The landlord of a car mechanic garage had come upon firebombs ...
- Jammu and Kashmir: Security forces defuse IED found on Srinagar-Bandipora road
June 13, 2020
A bomb disposal squad defused an IED (Improvised Explosive Device) which was found at Bandipora-Srinagar Highway, in Bandipora district of Jammu and Kashmir. The suspected IED was found by security forces in J&K’s Bandipora district on June 13. It consists of a small cylinder with timer near a bridge on River Erin in Bandipora. It was ...
- UK: Surrey Police remains in Redhill following controlled explosion
June 12, 2020
A controlled explosion of “unidentified materials” was carried out in a residential area of Redhill following the arrest of a teenage boy. A large presence of emergency services was in Spencer Way from around 3.25pm on Thursday (June 11) and police remain at the scene on Friday (June 12). A 16-year-old boy was arrested on Wednesday (May ...
- UK: Couple who found Second World War mustard gas canisters to be jailed for possessing a chemical weapon
June 12, 2020
A married couple who dumped Mustard Gas canisters from the Second World War in a lake have been sentenced for possessing a chemical weapon in what is thought to be the first such prosecution in the UK. Military enthusiast Martyn Tasker, 40, from Lincoln, was jailed for five years after 150 abandoned canisters were discovered at ...
- Kentucky: LMPD – Two Explosions Set Off At Protests Near Waterfront Park Late Thursday
June 12, 2020
Two explosions occurred alongside protesters near Louisville’s Waterfront Park Thursday night. Louisville Metro Chief of Public Safety Amy Hess said that one of the explosions left a crater roughly one-and-a-half feet in length on Witherspoon Street. Another nearby explosion, the location of which was not specified, caused damage to a gate, an exit sign and the ...
- Government agrees Swiss soldiers can support UN humanitarian demining
June 12, 2020
A group of four Swiss army officers is set to help a United Nations agency in Geneva with its humanitarian demining activities. The Federal Council (executive body) on Friday agreed that the Swiss soldiers can help set up an information system for UN peace missions developed at the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (CIDHG). This mission ...
- UK: Bomb squad carry out controlled explosion in Glasgow home
June 11, 2020
A man has been arrested after suspicious items were discovered in a Glasgow property late last night. Emergency services rushed to the scene on Liddesdale Square in Glasgow North where the Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) unit safely removed the items before carrying out a controlled explosion. The area was cordoned off by Police Scotland as a precaution. Officers remain at the ...
- Subsea Autonomy is Moving Beyond Waypoints
June 9, 2020
The AUV has been the tool of choice for shallow-water MCM and EOD operations for a number of years. The coverage by popular news channels of unfortunate events, such as the MH370 tragedy, has also shown that the AUV has undisputedly become the tool of choice to carry out salvage operations at extreme depths. The AUV ...
- Brig. Gen. Antonio V. Munera takes command of Army’s sole EOD, CBRN integrated command
June 9, 2020
ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. – Brig. Gen. Antonio V. Munera became the eighth commander of the 20th Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, Explosives (CBRNE) Command June 9. He succeeded Brig. Gen. James E. Bonner who served as the commander since July 2017. Bonner has been selected as the next commanding general at the U.S. Army Maneuver Support ...
- Jammu and Kashmir: Security forces avert militant attack by timely detection of IED in Baramulla
June 9, 2020
Security forces averted a militant attack by timely detection of an improvised explosive device (IED) in Baramulla district of Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday, police said. A patrol party of the Army noticed the IED planted by the ultras by the roadside at the Saidpora crossing in the Dangiwacha area of Baramulla early in the morning, a police official said. He said a bomb disposal squad ...
- Manchester: Wilmslow Road shut off as bomb squad carry out ‘controlled explosion’
June 9, 2020
Police evacuated several properties after receiving reports of a ‘suspicious item’ in Rusholme today. Officers closed Wilmslow Road at its junctions with Claremont Road and Dickenson Road following the discovery this afternoon. People were being asked to avoid the area. A bomb squad was called to the scene, where they carried out a “controlled explosion” within the cordon. ...
- Cambodia: Siem Reap mine-clearing missions accomplished
June 9, 2020
Siem Reap officials and the Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority (CMAA) announced that with the help of the Peaceland Organisation, Trapeang Thma Village in Khun Ream Commune, Banteay Srei district, is now free of landmines. More than 100 mines and UXO were destroyed over 10 months. Banteay Srei district governor Khim Finan told The Post ...
- UK: Dog walker finds hand grenade in Berkhamsted park
June 8, 2020
A dog walker was left ‘shocked’ when he found a live hand grenade in a Berkhamsted park on Friday morning. At around 11am, Kev Pocock, who is a keen metal detectorist, was walking his dog in Northchurch Common when he made the discovery. He called the police immediately as he knew exactly what it was. Read more… Source: Hemel ...