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:
- Dedicated mine clearance service now part of Belarusian army
December 19, 2018
A dedicated mine clearance unit has been created in the Belarusian army, BelTA learned from Chief of the Engineer Corps, Chief of the Engineer Corps Office of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Belarus, Colonel Andrei Kurakov. According to the source, a countermine service has been created as part of the staff of ...
- The European Union continues to support explosive hazard management and capacity enhancement activities in liberated areas of Iraq
December 18, 2018
The United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) thanks the European Union for its continuous support to explosive hazard management and capacity enhancement activities in liberated areas of Iraq, which contributes to the safe, orderly and dignified return of displaced communities and enables humanitarian and stabilization efforts. Across liberated areas, explosive hazard contamination prevents access for humanitarian ...
- Houses evacuated after improvised explosive device found in Co Meath
December 17, 2018
An improvised explosive device has been found and made safe in Co Meath. Gardaí called the Defence Force’s bomb squad to the scene at Brews Hill in Navan in the early hours of this morning. After arriving at the scene at around 3:20am, the bomb disposal team discovered a ‘viable IED’ in a vehicle. A public cordon was ...
- Registered areas in Kulbus locality, west Darfur declared free of explosive remnants of war
December 17, 2018
UNAMID and the Government of Sudan (GoS) on 10 December 2018 officially declared the registered contaminated areas at Kulbus Locality, West Darfur, free of Explosive Remnants of War (ERW) and Unexploded Ordnance (UXO). This followed the successful implementation of a project to clear the land of ERW and UXO, in line with UNAMID’s mandate to protect ...
- CMAC meets Thai counterparts over joint demining work
December 14, 2018
The Cambodian Mine Action Centre and Thai Mine Action Centre met on Wednesday in Thailand’s Sakeo province to select areas to be jointly demined along the border. Heng Ratana, CMAC director-general, said in a statement on Wednesday that the meeting focused on strengthening demining cooperation between the two institutions, especially along the Cambodian-Thai border for the ...
- EU provides Ukraine with extra EUR 4 mln humanitarian funding
December 14, 2018
The European Union has allocated an additional EUR 4 million to continue delivering much needed humanitarian assistance in eastern Ukraine at the onset of winter. “The civilian population in eastern Ukraine continues to suffer following four years of conflict. The European Union continues to support all those in need, wherever they are. This is our humanitarian ...
- After soldier’s death, the Army National Guard investigates training, equipment provided to deploying EOD unit
December 10, 2018
The Army National Guard is investigating reports that an EOD unit did not receive the proper training or equipment before it was deployed to Afghanistan. Sgt. James Slape, a soldier with the North Carolina National Guard’s 430th Ordnance Company, died Oct. 4 in Helmand province, Afghanistan, from an improvised explosive device. The unit had been in Afghanistan since April. Shortly after his death, The ...
- Qasr al-Yahud: a mission to restore faith – and hope
December 9, 2018
Bravery comes in many guises, but in those whose work demands courage on a near-daily basis, it often takes the form of a certain studied nonchalance. Lasha Bluashvili, who makes his living clearing landmines, is a case in point. He would rather go to the trouble of making me a cup of tea – here ...
- Land mines pose lingering threat in Yemen
December 7, 2018
Months after heavy clashes between Houthi rebels and pro-government fighters forced them to flee their coastal village in Yemen’s western province of Taiz, the Ghaleb family had finally returned home. But their relief was cut short just days later when a land mine left in their home exploded, wounding their 7-year-old son. The blast ripped off ...
- Ambassador of Japan to South Sudan, the UN DSRSG/RC/HC, representatives of the National Mine Action Authority, and UNMAS Programme Manager visit Kasire Village in Rajaf
December 6, 2018
A high-level delegation of the Embassy of Japan in South Sudan, the UN, and the representatives from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the National Mine Action Authority (NMAA) visited Kasire Village in Rajaf, on the outskirts of Juba Town. The delegation was led by H.E. Mr. Seiji Okada, the Ambassador of Japan to South ...
- CMAC cleared over 30,000 land mines in first 10 months
December 4, 2018
The Cambodian Mine Action Centre (CMAC) cleared more than 30,000 land mines from 75sq km in the first 10 months of this year, the organisation’s director-general said on Monday. Heng Ratana, speaking at a CMAC meeting, said the organisation aims to clear a further 116sq km of mines in the next two months. Progress usually slows ...
- It’s been a blast: Police buying new explosive disposal robot, bomb suit after years of service
December 1, 2018
Sault Ste. Marie Police Service says it’s time to retire its bomb robot – which, according to a police board report, is “literally held together by wires and tape” – from the ranks of its Explosive Disposal Unit (EDU). City police will use its capital reserve fund in 2019 to purchase a replacement robot and a bomb suit ...
- Irish Defence Forces send team to west Africa to train troops on explosives
November 29, 2018
The Defence Forces have deployed a team of specialists to west Africa to help train troops from other countries in countering improvised explosive devices and mine awareness. The deployment is being made under a commitment given by the Government a year ago to support the United Nations mine action service, UNMAS. The Irish will train and educate ...
- Mauritania 31st country to declare itself mine-free
November 29, 2018
Areas of Mauritania that were under the threat of anti-personnel mines for forty years are now deemed safe. “I am extremely honoured to declare that after four decades since these weapons were laid and nearly two decades of clearance, Mauritania is free of all known mined zones. This makes us the 31st State Party to the Anti-Personnel ...
- Insights into UK EOD & Search Operations
November 27, 2018
Defence IQ spoke to the Head of the British Army’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal and Search Branch (DEODS), Colonel Zac Scott to discuss how the persistent explosive threat landscape is shaping EOD & Search’s operations post-Afghanistan. Download the full interview here. Read the interview to: Find out what the short-term focus is when training teams and providing support ...
- Domestic and international efforts boost landmine cleanup
November 24, 2018
As many as 2,000 people were killed by post-war landmines between 2010 and 2014, while an estimated 6.1 million hectares accounting for more than 21 per cent of Việt Nam’s land remains contaminated with unexploded ordnance (UXO). This information was released by Đặng Văn Đồng, deputy director of Việt Nam National Mine Action Centre (VNMAC) under ...
- Man held over suspected explosives in Exeter flat
November 22, 2018
A man has been arrested after suspected explosives were found in a flat. Police were called to reports of possible explosive material at a flat in Larkbear Road, Exeter, at 19:35 GMT on Wednesday. Items found at the scene were assessed by bomb disposal experts. No homes were evacuated. A 29-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of ...
- More bombs removed in the Western Province, Solomon Islands
November 20, 2018
The Royal Solomon Islands Police Force (RSIPF) Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Team demolished more than 600 unexploded bombs (UXOs) in the Western Province during Operation Render Safe from 15 to 19 November 2018. The Operation was conducted in Munda, Rendova, Ringi and Teme on Kolombangara Island. Officer-In-Charge (OIC) of the RSIPF EOD Team, Inspector Clifford Tunuki said ...
- Military Looking to Modernize Bomb Disposal Technology
November 9, 2018
Despite great power competition shifting the U.S. military’s gaze from counterterrorism to peer adversaries such as Russia and China, there will still be a need to maintain and modernize its explosive ordnance disposal technology, officials have said. EOD operators conduct some of the military’s most dangerous jobs defuzing and neutralizing bombs. The importance of their work ...
- Navy Experimental Diving Unit Provides Training to Montenegrin Navy
November 8, 2018
U.S. Navy Divers from the Navy Experimental Diving Unit (NEDU) in Panama City, Florida recently traveled to Montenegro to provide two weeks of capacity building training to Montenegrin Navy Divers, EOD Technicians, Seals, and Medics. This collaboration was instrumental in enhancing the security cooperation between the United States and Montenegro. As DoD Underwater HMA Program Manager ...
- British bomb disposal expert has emotional reunion with puppy he plucked from rubble of bombed-out school in Syria
November 7, 2018
A former soldier and the adorable puppy he saved from rubble in war-torn Syria have finally met again after seven months apart in an emotional reunion. Bomb disposal expert Sean Laidlaw, 30, credits tiny dog ‘Barrie’ with saving his life after he pulled the pet from a bombed out building while stationed in Syria, in February 2018. Mr Laidlaw ...
- Pakistani army officer dies while defusing bomb: spokesman
November 7, 2018
A Pakistani army officer was killed on Wednesday while defusing an explosive device in the country’s Mohmand district, the military said. A statement from the army’s media wing the Inter-Services Public Relations said that captain Zarghaam Fareed lost his life when he was neutralizing an improvised explosive device, while a member of the bomb disposal team ...