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: Unexploded ‘Second World War devices’ found near Standon are blown up by Army bomb disposal team
January 3, 2022
Two bombs allegedly from the Second World War were unearthed in woodland near Standon over the Christmas period. The devices were detonated in a controlled explosion carried out by Army bomb disposal experts that was heard from Puckeridge to the Little Hadham area. Police were called to a wooded area at Broken Green at around 1.30pm on ...
- Israel: Mortar shell from British Mandate period discovered in forest near Jerusalem
January 2, 2022
A British mortar shell from Israel’s War of Independence period was discovered on Saturday near Maale Hahamisha, a kibbutz not far from Jerusalem, the Israel Police said. The 81mm. shell was found by a father and son who were walking in a tree-covered area. Police sappers were summoned and found that the shell held 500 grams of ...
- Airborne Explosive Ordnance Disposal Soldier wins 52nd EOD Group Best Warrior competition
January 1, 2022
FORT CAMPBELL, Kentucky – A U.S. Army Airborne Explosive Ordnance Disposal technician from the 722nd Ordnance Company (EOD) won the 52nd EOD Group Best Warrior Competition. Sgt. Micah K. Miller took first place in the competition against five noncommissioned officers from the U.S. Army EOD group that has two battalions and 14 companies that deploy around ...
- UK: Navy to dismantle sunken warship on Thames holding unstable explosives
December 30, 2021
The Royal Navy is to dismantle a sunken warship in the River Thames containing 1,400 tonnes of unstable explosives. It is believed that if the unexploded ordnance on the SS Richard Montgomery were triggered it could lead to the nearby oil and gas facilities in Sheerness being damaged, the Daily Telegraph reports. A Ministry of Defence report ...
- Thailand: Bomb blast outside army base in far South
December 29, 2021
An improvised bomb was detonated against the wall of an army operations base in Rueso district on Wednesday morning, causing little damage and no injuries. The explosion occurred about 6.15am at the Narathiwat 21 special operations unit base at Ban Bale, Moo 10, in tambon Rueso, Pol Capt Komsak Teekakan, deputy chief investigator at Rueso, said. An ...
- Nigeria: Damaturu residents told not to panic as Army to detonate IEDs
December 28, 2021
Residents of Damaturu, the Yobe State capital, and environs have been advised not to panic as Combat Engineers of the Headquarters Sector 2 Operation HADIN KAI, will detonate unexploded explosive ordinances in two locations within the metropolis. The locations are: near the Yobe State University along Gujba Road and another one along Maiduguri Road. This was disclosed ...
- Michigan: Grand Rapids police to detonate seized explosives, say blast noise likely near disposal site
December 28, 2021
Grand Rapids police plan to detonate seized and old explosives as part of a controlled disposal process Thursday, Dec. 30. Police issued an advisory Tuesday, Dec. 28, mostly for people who may be near the disposal site at the city’s yard waste and compost area, 2001 Butterworth St. SW. The intermittent detonations will likely be heard by ...
- From Qatar to the streets of Dublin: Irish bomb disposal teams develop terror attack response
December 27, 2021
Irish bomb disposal technicians are at the forefront of developing the response to potential large-scale terror attacks on Irish soil. A team in the Curragh, along with other elements of the Irish Defence Forces, have developed a Defence Forces-wide response to so-called marauding terrorist groups. These attacks are similar to the Paris, London or the Mumbai attacks ...
- Somali army foils bomb attacks by Al-Shabaab
December 25, 2021
Further details are available from a planned operation by the Somali National Army (SNA) in the Lower Shabelle region in southwestern Somalia. The operation was carried out in the areas of Shamgare, Jowhar Yareey, and Mubarak, which are all under the Adwheegle district in the region. Gorgor officials told the media that the operation led to unearthing ...
- Mechanical Equipment in IED Clearance: Observations from Iraq
December 24, 2021
Mechanical equipment has been in the inventory of conventional military forces for the purposes of military engineering—including demining—since the Second World War. The integration of mechanical equipment into UNMAS Iraq clearance activities may have therefore seemed a natural evolution from what might be considered ‘conventional’ mine clearance, yet it brought with it a number of ...
- Philippines: 22 bombs found at a Zamboanga construction site
December 21, 2021
A total of 22 bombs were found at a construction site in Barangay Cabatangan in Zamboanga City last Monday, December 20. A Police Regional Office-9 report said 52-year-old Alex Glinogo y Cruz, a Cabatangan resident, was digging at a construction site near the Civil Service Commission office when he saw what looked like an explosive. Upon processing, ...
- India: Meghalaya Police recovers live grenade, ammunition, 2 IEDs in separate operations in West Garo Hills
December 21, 2021
Meghalaya Police on Monday evening carried out two separate counter-insurgency operations in the West Garo Hills district and recovered a grenade, ammunition and two IEDs. During an operation, the Meghalaya Police in West Garo Hills recovered one live grenade and 6 numbers of live 7.62 mm ammunition. While confirming the news, the West Garo Hills Police in ...
- Russian peacekeepers destroyed explosive objects detected in Nagorno-Karabakh
December 20, 2021
Servicemen of the Russian peacekeeping contingent destroyed the ammo detected at the territory of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh). During one day sappers destroyed eight ammo for hand-held antitank grenade launcher detected in Martuni district. Disposal of the detected explosive devices (EDs) was carried out by detonating the overhead charge in compliance with all necessary safety measures, the Russian ...
- Washington: FBI investigates ATM explosion at Centralia bank
December 19, 2021
The Centralia Police Department said Saturday afternoon that two unidentified suspects exploded the 1st Security Bank ATM on South Tower Avenue this morning using an improvised explosive device and then fled in a late 1990s or early 2000s four-door Honda Accord. One of the suspects is described as a white man, but no other identifying information ...
- UK: 200 Unexploded WWII Shells Uncovered in Staffordshire
December 18, 2021
The bomb squad was called to the small Staffordshire town of Cold Meece after receiving a report that hundreds of World War II-era shells were discovered at a construction site. Police received the call around 12:45 PM on December 14, 2021, during which they were told the 200 cannon rounds were unearthed during work at a ...
- 18th Explosive Ordnance Disposal Company returns home from deployment to Iraq
December 16, 2021
FORT BRAGG, North Carolina – The 18th Ordnance Company (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) returned home to Fort Bragg, North Carolina, Nov. 30, after serving as the sole EOD company in Iraq for six months. The company deployed to Iraq with nine EOD teams and the full headquarters element to support Special Operations Joint Task Force-Levant. EOD Soldiers from ...
- Germany: Police seize bomb-making supplies in far-right raid
December 16, 2021
Police arrested four people and seized bomb-making supplies during raids targeting suspected far-right extremists in the western German city of Cologne on Thursday. Officers searched the homes of four men allegedly belonging to the far-right extremist scene. Police said the men were seeking to construct an explosive device. The suspects were 36 to 53 years old. Special ...
- Saudi Arabia, Pakistan joint military exercise starts
December 14, 2021
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia on Monday started a joint military counter-IED (improvised explosive device) exercise, Al-Kassah-lll, at King Khalid Military City Hafar Al Batin in the Kingdom. The exercise was stared at an opening ceremony in Saudi Arabia, said a statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR). Commander Northern Area of Saudi Forces Major General ...
- Azerbaijan to buy new mine detection robots – minister
December 12, 2021
Azerbaijan will purchase new mine detection robots to use them in the lands liberated from the Armenian occupation, Azerbaijani Minister of Emergency Situations Kamaladdin Heydarov told reporters, Trend reports. Heydarov added that the number of mine detector specialists is being increased. “The Armenia planted many mines in previously occupied lands,” the minister said. “The lands must be ...
- Hawaii: Live High Explosive Mortar Found on Maui Wedged in a Tree
December 10, 2021
An Explosive Ordnance Disposal team from the Army rendered a high explosive mortar safe after it was found wedged in the trunk of a tree in South Maui earlier this week. The incident was reported on Wednesday, Dec. 8, 2021 when security personnel with Haleakalā Ranch contacted police after locating the device. The report indicated the ...
- California Guard to assist Nigerian Army’s aviation take-off
December 10, 2021
The California National Guard (CNG), has promised to assist the Nigerian Army commence its aviation corps to curb terrorism and other security challenges. It also promised to train army personnel on counter-measures against improvised explosive devices (IEDs), how to employ technical capabilities and equipment in countering improvised explosives and landmines and deployment and employment of techniques ...
- Explosive Ordnance Disposal leaders map way ahead for large scale combat operations
December 9, 2021
FORT CAMPBELL, Kentucky – After defeating hundreds of thousands of improvised explosive devices in Iraq and Afghanistan over the last two decades, U.S. Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal leaders are mapping the way ahead for EOD missions in large scale combat operations. The Army’s two Active Duty EOD groups, the Fort Campbell, Kentucky-based 52nd Ordnance Group (EOD) ...