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:
- Navy EOD Technician awarded USO’s George Van Cleave Military Leadership Award for 2019
December 6, 2019
Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technician First Class Petty Officer Travis Holland, assigned to Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit 11, was honored by the United Service Organization (USO) with the George Van Cleave Military Leadership Award during the 58th Armed Forces Gala and Gold Medal Dinner on December 4 in New York City. The USO George Van Cleave ...
- Picture captures moment WWII bomb detonates in controlled explosion in Chelmsford’s Admirals Park
December 4, 2019
The moment an unexploded WWII bomb detonated was caught in a photo. The Ministry of Defence had dug a hole in Chelmsford’s Admirals Park this afternoon as part of their process of conducting a controlled explosion. Essex Police, as well as the bomb disposal unit, were called at around 11.40am today, (Wednesday, December 4), to reports of ...
- In Sahel, French troops hunt hidden menace of jihadist landmines
December 4, 2019
The unit commander’s order crackles over the radio and the column of French armoured vehicles en route between Burkina Faso and Mali comes to a sudden halt. In the Sahel scrub some 50 kilometres (31 miles) from Deou, in northern Burkina Faso, the vehicles fall into a semi-circle. Eight military engineers step out and walk in an ...
- Police detonate bomb in Melbourne
December 3, 2019
An improvised explosive device found in a raid in the northern Melbourne suburb of Reservoir has been detonated, police said. Victoria Police entered a house on Joan Court before 2pm on Tuesday and found the bomb along with four stolen cars and a motorcycle. Bomb response unit officers were deployed at the scene to conduct a safety ...
- Bomb experts called to deal with unexploded German torpedo near Scapa Flow
December 3, 2019
Bomb disposal squads have set up an exclusion zone around Scapa Flow following the discovery of a torpedo near the wreckage of a historic vessel. The German warhead was spotted by survey workers carrying out a study near the HMS Royal Oak on Monday afternoon and is understood to have the fuse and explosive ordnance intact. A ...
- Ukraine: Mine clearance was suspended at one district in Luhansk region until March next year
December 2, 2019
Mine clearance in Popasnyansky district began in September Specialists stopped the clearance of territories from explosive objects in the Popasnyansky district of the Luhansk region, which began in September. The press center of the State Emergency Service reports. “At the end of November, the demining work within the framework of the joint project was suspended. The further fulfillment of the ...
- Dad finds huge unexploded bomb while clearing out garden
December 2, 2019
A plasterer was left stunned after pulling an unexploded bomb out of a skip with his bare hands. Jamie Williams, 30, had been helping a friend clear out his garden and believes the explosive must have picked up by a JCB digger. He immediately knew what the device was, having recognised it from his history lessons ...
- WW2 bomb defused in Turin after thousands evacuate
December 1, 2019
More than 10,000 people were evacuated from central Turin on Sunday as experts worked to defuse a World War Two bomb. Residents of the Italian city were told to vacate a “red zone” in the historic district. A further 50,000 living further away were told either to leave their homes in advance, or to remain inside during ...
- Milipol Paris 2019 – Leading Event For Homeland Security and Safety
November 26, 2019
The 21st edition of Milipol Paris hosted more than 1,100 exhibitors with 66% of international companies. Milipol Paris is organized under the aegis of the French Ministry for the Interior, in partnership with the French National Police and Gendarmerie, the French Civil Security and Crisis Management Department, the Ministry of Economy and Finance with the French ...
- 3D-printed training ‘bombs’ drastically cut costs for US Air Force in England
November 25, 2019
A 3D printer has slashed the time and cost required to get explosive training devices to the experts at RAF Lakenheath who need them as they prepare for deployments. Staff Sgt. William Riddle has been using a 3D printer to produce dummy improvised explosive devices, rocket-propelled grenades and mortars that are used to train the explosive ...
- Brazil Supports Demining Actions In Colombian Territory
November 21, 2019
Colombia is one of the most contaminated country with antipersonnel mines, resulting in more than 11,000 victims since 1990, according to the Colombian government’s Office of the High Commissioner for Peace. As of September 30, 2019, 356 Colombian municipalities were declared cleared of antipersonnel mines with the destruction or neutralization of 6,870 explosive devices. However, a ...
- Meet the women on a mission to clear landmines
November 20, 2019
The province of Bamiyan was once on the front line of the Soviet-Afghan war, but it’ll soon be declared land mine free. The BBC’s Auliya Atrafi went to meet Afghanistan’s first all-female demining team to find out more about the dangerous work they do. Read more… Source: BBC
- ‘New Hope’ as 38 More Colombian Municipalities Cleared of Landmines
November 19, 2019
Thirty-eight more Colombian municipalities are considered free of landmines and unexploded ordinance, President Ivan Duque said Tuesday, as civilian and military efforts to remove improvised explosives continue despite ongoing conflict in some areas. Colombia was once among the countries where people suffered the most injuries from landmines, one result of more than five decades of armed ...
- Singapore: SAF to carry out on-site disposal of WWII bomb along Jiak Kim Street
November 17, 2019
An on-site controlled disposal of a World War II bomb found in a construction site along Jiak Kim Street will be carried out next week, police said in an advisory on Saturday (Nov 16). The authorities said they first learned of the war relic at about 2.30pm on Nov 12, after it was discovered during excavation ...
- NZ Defence Force say firing range was cleared before Afghan children died
November 17, 2019
The New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) says a firing range was cleared the year before seven children died from a device allegedly left behind on a NZDF firing range in Afghanistan. A Stuff Circuit investigation has revealed 17 civilians were either killed or injured in 2014 in connection with an unexploded ordnance left on New Zealand’s ...
- Powerful IED defused near EDI Pampore
November 15, 2019
A powerful Improvised Explosive Device (IED) fitted in a pressure cooker was recovered and defused near Entrepreneurship Development Institute in Pampore on Srinagar-Jammu national highway. A senior police officer said the IED was recovered by a joint team of security forces personnel outside the EDI. “It was a two kg powerful IED kept in a pressure cooker. Alert ...
- EOD Marines receive new IED wire detector
November 15, 2019
Explosive Ordnance Disposal Marines recently received new handheld detectors to locate command detonation wires on improvised explosive devices. The Buried Command Wire Detector is a portable device that can identify command wires of various types and diameters. Fielded to EOD Marines in the fourth quarter of 2019, the wire detector includes a one-piece foldable design that ...
- New Special Pay, Bonuses May Be Coming for Navy EOD Techs as Mission Evolves
November 13, 2019
U.S. Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) sailors could see more money from special pays and bonuses under a new vision to prepare the specialized force for large-scale naval warfare. Navy officials on Wednesday unveiled the new Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal Strategic Vision 2030, a plan designed to use the lessons of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan to ...
- Last Stage of Ukraine Troop Pullback Opens Way for Peace Summit
November 9, 2019
Ukraine began the last of three troop withdrawals in its eastern conflict zone, a move that should help pave the way for a peace summit with the leaders of Russia, Germany and France. The pullback started Saturday shortly after noon Kyiv time, following a seven-day cease-fire, military spokesman Andriy Aheyev said by phone. The withdrawal is expected to ...
- Bomb squad called to Aberdeen street for second time in one week amid ‘ongoing incident’
November 8, 2019
Bomb disposal squads have been called to a street in Aberdeen for the second time in a week. Police and Explosive Ordnance Disposal units raced to King Street on Friday night to deal with an ‘ongoing incident’. It comes just days after a 26-year-old man was charged on Monday after the recovery of a “number of chemicals” ...
- Pentagon to Modernize Bomb Disposal Technology
November 8, 2019
Worrisome threats from a resurgent Russia and provocative China have made great power competition the No. 1 topic among military officials and analysts, but it wasn’t so long ago that counterterrorism and improvised explosive devices were the buzzwords du jour in the halls of the Pentagon. During the height of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan ...
- Bomb squad called after possible explosives found at North Staffordshire property
November 7, 2019
The bomb disposal unit attended a North Staffordshire property after a number of items – believed to be flammable – were discovered. Police were called to Dilhorne, shortly before 8pm last night (November 6), but have not revealed exactly what the items were. A 27-year-old Stoke-on-Trent man has been arrested an remains in custody. A Staffordshire Police spokesman said: “Officers ...