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:
- Vietnam: Silently, officers and soldiers of the Engineer Corps in mine clearance
April 1, 2025
In today’s peacetime, there are still silent wars within silence, dangers within dangers and hardships of the Engineer soldiers. That is the war in searching for bombs, mines, and explosives left over from the war . At the border of Ha Giang, the Engineer soldiers are determined to “clean and safe” the land contaminated by ...
- Estonia: Over 800 Tsarist-era explosives found in Põhja-Tallinn
March 31, 2025
Hundreds of Tsarist-era munitions were found in Lahesuu Harbor in Põhja-Tallinn last week during construction work. Demolition experts from the Rescue Board were called to the harbor last Tuesday after 880 explosive devices were discovered. The munitions were naval ordnance from the Tsarist era. The explosives were discovered when an excavator operator noticed shell-like objects in ...
- Texas: Live bombs found along popular walking trail, Garland PD and FBI investigating
March 31, 2025
Multiple live bombs were found in Wynne Park Sunday morning, police said. The bombs have since been rendered “inoperative”. Garland Police were called to a wooded area of Wynne Park around 11:30 a.m. Sunday. “We were advised that there was a citizen that was actually going through the park and observed a suitcase that was open ...
- Sweden to provide over €7 million for drone and mine clearance coalitions for Ukraine
March 28, 2025
The Swedish government has instructed the Swiss Armed Forces to make payments to coalitions of forces and assets in the areas of demining and unmanned aerial vehicles under the Ramstein format. According to a statement by the Swedish government this support in the amount of SEK 80 million (€7.2 million) is part of the 18th military ...
- US Army EOD tech earns honor graduate in Basic Military Mountaineering Course
March 27, 2025
JERICHO, Vt. – A U.S. Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal technician was recently selected as the honor graduate of the Basic Military Mountaineering Course at the Ethan Allen Training Site in Jericho, Vermont. Spc. Calvin Battaglia, a U.S. Army EOD tech who serves with the 754th Ordnance Company (EOD), earned honor graduate by achieving the highest GPA ...
- Ireland: Bomb squad called after suspect devices found during garda raid
March 27, 2025
An Army bomb disposal team was deployed on Thursday after gardai were alerted to a number of suspect devices while carrying out a search of a property in Co Wexford. During the course of a planned search operation, Gardaí discovered a number of suspect devices at a residence in Gorey. The search operation was targeting criminal ...
- Ukraine: SES, National Police sappers clear over 2,400 km² of land
March 27, 2025
Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion, sappers from the State Emergency Service of Ukraine (SES) and the National Police have cleared over 2,400 km² of Ukrainian territory. According to the deputy minister, Ukraine has become a global hub for humanitarian demining over the course of more than three years of full-scale war. “Ukrainian sappers have ...
- Beyond the Bomb Suit: An Airman’s Legacy of Courage and Leadership
March 26, 2025
Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas — Senior Master Sgt. Riemer, Senior Enlisted Leader of the Explosive Ordnance Disposal, EOD, Division at the Air Force Civil Engineer Center, AFCEC, is more than just a leader of 1,700 Airmen. His career is punctuated by moments of extraordinary courage and decisive action, demonstrating bravery beyond the call of duty. ...
- New understanding cements continued UNIFIL support in demining in south Lebanon
March 25, 2025
UNIFIL and the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) yesterday, renewing the UN peacekeeping mission’s support for humanitarian and operational demining in the UNIFIL area of operations in south Lebanon. UNIFIL Chief of Staff Major General Jean-Jacques Fatinet and the Director of the LAF’s Lebanon Mine Action Centre (LMAC), Brigadier General ...
- UK: Army ‘safely’ explode WWII bomb near Parkgate, Rotherham
March 25, 2025
A 100m cordon, which was in place as a precaution near Stonerow Way in Rotherham, was lifted yesterday evening, several hours after it had been put in place following the discovery of a ‘suspected explosive device’ from the Second World War. South Yorkshire Police were called to the area at around 2pm after the item ...
- Texas: ‘Incendiary device’ found at Austin Tesla showroom
March 24, 2025
Incendiary devices were found at an Austin Tesla showroom on Monday morning, according to a news release from the Austin Police Department. APD officers responded to a call at the Tesla showroom on North U.S. 183 at 8:04 a.m. Monday and found “suspicious devices” upon their arrival, according to the release. The devices were later determined ...
- Colorado: Police find dozens of explosives after grass fire in eastern Colorado Springs
March 23, 2025
A small grass fire was extinguished early Sunday morning, according to the Colorado Springs Police Department. Officers were reportedly dispatched to the 3600 Block of Oro Blanco Drive at 12:54 a.m. after receiving reports of multiple explosions. Officers reportedly found a small grass fire which was extinguished by the Colorado Springs Fire Department. After searching the ...
- UK: Man arrested after explosive substance found
March 21, 2025
A man has been arrested after an explosive substance which poses “a threat to life” was found in a property in a Sussex seaside town, police said. Residents within a 100-metre cordon around the address on the A259 Marina in St Leonards were evacuated following the discovery of the chemicals on Thursday, prompting Sussex Police to ...
- British bomb disposal expert injured in Gaza
March 20, 2025
A British bomb disposal expert has been injured in an attack on a UN facility in the Gaza Strip, the charity he works for has said. The 51-year-old, who was not named, was one of five people injured in an explosion that also killed a UN worker at the facility in Deir al-Balah on Wednesday morning, ...
- Battle continues in Solomon Islands against UXOs eight decades after WWII
March 19, 2025
More than 80 years since the Battle of Guadalcanal in Solomon Islands, communities today are still grappling with the unexploded devices left behind. The major battle in World War Two resulted in thousands of unexploded and abandoned ordnaces (UXOs/AXOs) that litter the islands today. Humanitarian group, The Halo Trust, has been surveying the country’s airfields, ammunition ...
- Jammu and Kashmir: Two IEDs defused In Kashmir
March 19, 2025
Security forces on Wednesday recovered two improvised explosive devices (IEDs) from Bandipora and Pulwama districts of Jammu and Kashmir, police said. The first ED was recovered near Sunset Point along the Bandipora-Srinagar national highway. A police official said a Bomb Disposal Squad (BDS) defused the device without causing any damage. In another incident, security forces detected ...
- Russian sappers conducting demining operations in 36 settlements in Kursk Region
March 18, 2025
Sappers are conducting demining operations in 36 liberated settlements within the Kursk Region. Currently, approximately 19,000 hectares of land, over 370 kilometers of roads, and more than 6,700 buildings and structures have been cleared of explosives, according to Alexander Khinshtein, the region’s deputy governor. “The sappers have already commenced their work in 36 communities. So far, ...
- US Army EOD technicians hone skills during law enforcement exercise on Fort Belvoir
March 13, 2025
FORT BELVOIR, Va. – U.S. Army Explosives Ordnance Disposal technicians honed their lifesaving and mission-enabling skills during a law enforcement exercise on Fort Belvoir, Virginia. EOD Soldiers from the 55th Ordnance Company (EOD) participated in the exercise with other Fort Belvoir, Virginia-based organizations, including the Law Enforcement Agency Detachment, Fire Department and Army Criminal Investigation Division. ...
- UK: Families evacuated as WWII bomb found in garden
March 13, 2025
Residents have been evacuated from their homes after a suspected WWII bomb was found. Kent Police were contacted at 09.18GMT on Thursday following the discovery in a garden on Kirby Road, Dartford. Officers, along with a Ministry of Defence bomb disposal team, are currently at the scene and a cordon is in place. A spokesperson for ...
- JTF-CS Commander is featured guest at CBRNE Symposium
March 13, 2025
JOINT BASE LANGLEY-EUSTIS, Va. – Chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear experts from across the federal government, military, state and local entities, industry, and academia gathered in Washington, D.C., March 11-12, for the 13th Annual Joint Civil & DoD CBRN Symposium to focus on advancing strategies to address and mitigate evolving CBRN threats and challenges. For two days, ...
- US, Tunisian and Senegalese EOD teams strengthen readiness through collaborative training
March 12, 2025
TUNIS, Tunisia – A controlled detonation shakes the ground as a cloud of smoke rises over the training range. For explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) technicians, moments like these are routine, but their impact extends far beyond the range. These small, calculated explosions translate to safer communities and stronger partnerships across Africa. U.S. Army Southern European Task ...
- Cambodia: Two aerial bombs weighing over 200 kg were found in two different provinces
March 11, 2025
A team of CMAC experts found two aerial bombs weighing 230 kg in a cashew plantation and at the bottom of a pit in different provinces on March 11. According to a Facebook post by Heng Ratana, Director General of CMAC, on March 11, two aerial bombs of type MK82 with a total weight of around ...
