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:
- Pulwama aftermath: CRPF to enhance counter-IED capabilities, procure new fleet of MPVs troops in Kashmir Valley
March 26, 2019
The CRPF will procure a new fleet of mine protected vehicles (MPVs) and small 30-seater buses to ensure safety of its troop’s convoys in the Kashmir Valley, the chief of the force has said. The paramilitary has also decided to enhance the number of its bomb detection and disposal squads (BDDS) for its 65 battalions based ...
- Pentagon identifies 2 soldiers killed in Afghanistan as Green Beret, EOD tech
March 23, 2019
The Department of Defense on Saturday identified the two soldiers who were killed in Afghanistan’s Kunduz Province on Friday as an explosive ordnance disposal tech and a Green Beret. Sgt. 1st Class Will D. Lindsay, 33, was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne). Spc. Joseph P. Collette, 29, was assigned to the 242nd Ordnance Battalion, 71st ...
- ‘Improvised explosive device’ in Irish postal sorting office handed over to gardai, scene declared safe
March 22, 2019
The Army’s Bomb Squad have made safe the viable improvised explosive device recovered from a Limerick An Post office this morning. The device has now been handed over to gardai who are continuing to liaise with their colleagues in the UK as part of the investigation. In a statement the Defence Forces said: “This morning, following a ...
- Royal Navy’s elite divers show off their skills in front of world’s future military leaders at Portsmouth Naval Base
March 21, 2019
Senior officers from 59 nation states, who are earmarked to be the next generation of military top brass, witnessed the display at Portsmouth Naval Base The contingent of 257 defence personnel – which includes 160 rising stars from Britain’s own military forces – were visiting the navy HQ as part of a major conference shining a ...
- South Korea gives Vietnam bomb detectors
March 20, 2019
The Việt Nam National Mine Action Centre (VNMAC) on Tuesday received 200 explosive detectors donated by the government of the Republic of Korea (RoK). The detectors will be used for a project on reducing the impacts of unexploded devices left over from the war in the central province of Quảng Bình. Commenced in March last year, the ...
- Cambodia Asks Russia to Help Train Cambodian Peacekeepers on Mine Clearance
March 19, 2019
Cambodia has asked Russia to help train Cambodian peacekeepers on clearance of mines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) in order to further improve their capacity in UN peacekeeping operation, according to local media report. Gen. Sem Sovanny, Director General of the National Centre for Peacekeeping Forces, Mines and ERW Clearance (NPMEC) made the request during his meeting ...
- Unsealed search warrant shows FBI was worried about IEDs, chemical warfare agents at west Lawton apartment
March 19, 2019
An FBI search warrant, which was unsealed earlier this month, has provided new information into an investigation of a west Lawton apartment in late January, including the discovery of a potentially deadly chemical warfare agent. The FBI filed the search warrant on January 31. The warrant allowed agents to go inside the home of Philip Heath ...
- Clearing the field
March 18, 2019
Heavy construction equipment rumbles up and down the mock runway on Andersen Air Force Base’s Northwest Field, vibrating the ground as many tons of steel and hydraulics forces the world into a new shape. A group of NCOs stand in a loose circle, discussing the challenge ahead of them, while their Airmen practice with the equipment ...
- Christchurch shootings: 49 dead in New Zealand mosque attacks
March 15, 2019
Forty-nine people have been killed and at least 20 wounded in shootings at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand. The first report of an attack came from the Al Noor mosque, located in central Christchurch. Witnesses told local media they ran for their lives, and saw people bleeding on the ground outside the building. A second mosque ...
- NSWC Indian Head EOD Technology Division Scientist Receives Prestigious Navy Medal
March 14, 2019
The Department of the Navy Meritorious Civilian Service Award was presented to Dr. Richard Lee, a recently retired scientist, at the Naval Surface Warfare Center Indian Head Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technology Division during an award presentation held on base Wednesday. This is the third highest award granted to career civilian employees by the Navy and is ...
- Austria’s Kneissl Thanks Lavrov For Supporting Vienna’s Mine Clearance Initiative In Syria
March 12, 2019
Austrian Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl expressed gratitude on Tuesday to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov for supporting Vienna‘s initiative on humanitarian mine clearance in Syria, which is aimed at helping create conditions for the return of refugees and displaced people. Last November, Kneissl announced that Austria and Slovenia launched a joint mine clearance initiative in the Arab country. In December 2018, the foreign minister said that the Austrian government would provide 2 millionEuros (around $2.2 million) ...
- Bomb exploded “that shook windows” on West Sussex beach
March 12, 2019
Coastguards in Selsey have been called to deal with another unexploded wartime bomb. Crews got the shout to Medmerry Beach on Monday lunchtime after reports of ordnance being found. Bomb disposal experts also attended the scene, however the ordnance was being covered by the tide on arrival and with approximately 55 minutes until high tide the team ...
- Japan contributes to Explosive Hazard Management in Somalia
March 11, 2019
UNMAS, The Embassy of Japan to Kenya Explosive hazards continue to have a detrimental impact on peacebuilding and state building in Somalia. Over the past years, extremist groups have used improvised explosive devices (IED) as their preferred weapon against the Federal Government of Somalia and the African Union Mission to Somalia. In addition to the IED ...
- Armenian Sapper In Syria Seriously Wounded While Clearing Mines
March 7, 2019
An Armenian demining officer recently deployed to Syria has been seriously wounded while clearing landmines near Aleppo. According to Armenia’s Center for Humanitarian Demining and Expertise (CHDE), the sapper hit an improvised explosive device and was rushed to hospital on March 7. “According to our information, his right foot was amputated,” Nazeli Elbakian, a spokeswoman for the ...
- UK Parcel Bombs: Counter terror police look at link between suspect packages
March 7, 2019
Counter terror police officers have said the suspect package found at Glasgow University is linked with devices discovered around London. Bomb disposal officers detonated the item after it was found in the mailroom on Wednesday morning. Staff and students were evacuated from buildings and no-one was injured. Police Scotland is now “working closely together” with officers investigating finds ...
- Norway to provide NOK 60 m for mine action in Sri Lanka
March 6, 2019
The Government is providing NOK 60 million (around Rs. 1.2 billion) over a period of three years for mine action in Sri Lanka. “Sri Lanka has been heavily contaminated by landmines, but the country is now approaching its goal of becoming mine-free. This year, Norway holds the presidency of the Mine Ban Treaty, and intends to ...
- Fort Hood Soldiers Put The Army’s Latest Robot to The Test
March 5, 2019
The Man Transportable Robotic System (MTRS) Increment II is designed to provide Soldiers with increased standoff capability to detect, confirm, identify, and dispose of hazards in a variety of missions and environments, according to Edward Jagodzinski, test officer with the ArmyOperational Test Command’s Maneuver Support and Sustainment Test Directorate (MS2TD). MTRS is a medium-sized robotic system with ...
- Gardaí find weapons and explosives in follow-up search in Co Louth
March 1, 2019
Gardaí targeting dissident republicans have uncovered a significant cache of explosives and arms along the border, in what is the second linked operation since the start of February. The operation involved gardaí from the Louth Division and officers from specialist anti-terrorism and firearms units. A controlled explosion of some of the material discovered was conducted by an ...
- FBI Guam: Preparing for Threats Posed by Improvised Explosives and Potentially Dangerous Chemicals
February 28, 2019
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is offering specialized training to provide advanced understanding of the hazards posed by improvised explosives and potentially dangerous chemicals. The “Chemical Industry Outreach Workshop” is intended for both Guam and CNMI public safety officials, law enforcement partners, and people who work in the chemical industry. This includes suppliers of pool ...
- Vietnam eyes closer collaboration with U.S. in bomb, mine clearance
February 27, 2019
Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh said Tuesday that Vietnam and the United States should strengthen collaboration in bomb and mine clearance and in support for Agent Orange victims. Minh made the remarks during talks with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Hanoi. Minh expressed his delight at the development of bilateral ...
- Sri Lanka’s demining program commended at Geneva’s International Director’s Meeting
February 26, 2019
The 30-year-long civil conflict in Sri Lanka left many areas of the Northern and Eastern part of the country contaminated by anti-personnel mines and Explosive Remnants of War (ERW). The International Meeting on Mine Action for National Directors and UN Advisors was held from 5 to 8 February in Geneva at the UN office. This ...
- EODMU 5 Partcipates in Cobra Gold 2019
February 22, 2019
Sailors from EODMU 5 participated in joint dive operations with Royal Thai Navy divers as part of Exercise Cobra Gold 2019 (CG19), Feb12-23. at Royal Thai Navy Base in Sattahip, Thailand. CG 19 is one of the largest theater security cooperation exercises in the Indo-Pacific and is an integral part of the U.S. commitment to strengthen ...