EOD teams upend training for threats from IEDs on the ground to drones in the air


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


Sign up for our Newsletter


Related:

  • Ireland: Viable explosive device and €18,000 in drugs seized in Limerick

    December 9, 2025

    Gardaí attached to the Limerick Divisional Drugs Unit conducted a search operation at two residential properties in Talbot Avenue, Prospect, Limerick on Monday afternoon, December 8th, 2025. The operation led to the seizure of drugs and drug paraphernalia with an estimated street value in excess of €18,000. During the search of the rear garden of one ...

  • Ukraine: UN FAO, Qatar Fund for Development allocate $10 mln to support rural communities affected by mine risk

    December 9, 2025

    The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Qatar Fund for Development (QFFD) have signed an agreement worth $10 million to support rural communities affected by potential contamination of agricultural land with mines and explosive remnants of war in Ukraine, the FAO press service reported. “The programme aims to restore safe use ...

  • Northern Ireland: Viable pipe-bomb found as homes evacuated in West Belfast security alert

    December 8, 2025

    A number of homes were evacuated following the discovery of a pipe-bomb in West Belfast. Emergency services are currently at the scene in the Areema Drive area of Dunmurry. A pSNI spokesperson said: “Our officers attended the scene, along with ammunition technical officers, who examined the device. It was discovered to be a viable pipe bomb ...

  • Paskistan: Jaffar Express attack averted in Balochistan’s Nasirabad

    December 8, 2025

    Security forces foiled an attempt to target Jaffar Express by recovering a bomb planted on a railway track in Nasirabad district on Saturday. Police officials said unidentified individuals had planted an improvised explosive device (IED) on the track in the Nuttal area of Nasir­abad. Upon receiving information about the device, police and Frontier Corps personnel rushed ...

  • Japan, UNDP supply protective suits to Ukraine for mine clearance

    December 6, 2025

    Japan and the U.N. Development Program recently supplied 15 sets of protective suits and helmets to Ukraine’s State Emergency Service to support the clearance of mines and unexploded ordnance. The U.S.-made suits, weighing approximately 38 kilograms and costing about $25,000 each, provide full-body protection against blasts, heat and impact. Read more… Source: MSN News Sign up for the Counter-IED ...

  • New Mexico: Kirtland EOD partners with Pueblo of Isleta to remove 115 decades-old munitions, strengthening long-term safety

    December 5, 2025

    ISLETA PUEBLO, N.M. — Airmen from the 377th Explosive Ordnance Disposal Flight partnered with the Pueblo of Isleta in October to safely identify and neutralize 115, WWII and Cold War-era military munitions discovered on tribal land. This marks a significant step forward in long-term safety, environmental stewardship, and the growing partnership between the Pueblo and Kirtland ...

  • ‘Ensuring safety at every inch’: demining effort in Armenia

    December 5, 2025

    Mines and unexploded ordnance are an inevitable consequence of armed conflict. More than 60 countries worldwide, including Armenia, must clear their territories of these hazards. In total, over 43 million square meters in Armenia require demining. This situation stems from a conflict that lasted around 35 years. The search for and neutralization of mines and other ...

  • Florida: Brevard County Sheriff, Palm Bay Police Announce Massive Seizure of Illegal Substances, Weapons, and Explosives

    December 4, 2025

    The Brevard County Sheriff’s Office, working with the Palm Bay Police Department, the DEA, ATF, and several federal task force partners, announced the arrest of 26-year-old Maxwell Horvath after a major operation uncovered an extensive cache of illegal weapons, explosive materials, and what federal authorities say is the largest seizure in the nation of a ...

  • UK: Men arrested over suspected explosives offences as major incident declared in Derby

    December 4, 2025

    A major incident has been declared and 200 homes evacuated after two men were arrested on suspicion of explosives offences in Derby. Derbyshire Police carried out a warrant at a property in Vulcan Street, acting on intelligence about materials at the address. Two men, one in his 40s and another in his 50s, who are Polish ...

  • Illinois: Three explosive devices found in Rockford home

    December 4, 2025

    Rockford police said they found three explosive devices in a home Wednesday. Police responded to the home in the 1600-block of North Church Street, after being alerted to possible explosive devices there. When the bomb unit arrived, they found the three devices, which were removed and will be safely disposed of, police said. Joshua Kelce, 29, ...

  • Israel: Improvised explosive device neutralized in Rehovot industrial zone

    December 4, 2025

    Police neutralized an improvised explosive device in the Rehovot industrial zone. “Bomb disposal experts neutralized the item without damage or casualties, while conducting searches to remove any additional risk to the public. The circumstances of the incident are under investigation and it appears to be criminally motivated,” officials reported. Read more… Source: YNet News Sign up for the Counter-IED ...

  • Philippines: Bomb threats expose critical shortage in police EOD personnel

    December 3, 2025

    A surge of bomb threats across Western Visayas has exposed a worrying security gap: the region is being protected by only 61 Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) personnel, a number police officials concede is dangerously insufficient as incidents continue to escalate. Police Regional Office 6 (PRO-6) director Police Brigadier General Josefino Ligan said the shortage has forced ...

  • Outstanding Airmen of the Year: Staff Sgt. Lucas Shappell, A Perfect Match in EOD

    December 1, 2025

    Some careers are mapped out long before they begin. For Staff Sgt. Lucas Shappell, Explosive Ordnance Disposal Team Leader with the 934th CES, the path to becoming an Air Force Reserve EOD technician wasn’t planned. After six years in the Navy, Shappell thought his military career had come to an end. But in 2022, about a ...

  • West Virginia: Barbour County man arrested after police find multiple explosives at his residence

    December 1, 2025

    A Barbour County man was arrested when police executed a previous warrant and found multiple explosive devices at his residence. On Sunday, around 4 p.m., the West Virginia State Police responded to a residence in Moatsville alongside the Barbour County Sheriff’s Department to execute the arrest warrant of Brian Koval, 49. Koval’s arrest warrant originally stemmed ...

  • Pakistan: Rail line blown up as wave of blasts rocks Balochistan

    November 30, 2025

    Seven blasts rocked Quetta and Dera Murad Jamali on Saturday, with one explosion blowing up a section of railway track near the provincial capital and suspending train traffic to other parts of the country. The first blast took place near a police checkpost on Qambrani Road, where unidentified atta­ckers hurled a grenade. The device exploded but ...

  • Washington, D.C.: EOD tech set a new record for running in a bomb suit

    November 25, 2025

    When Army 1st Lt. Madison Faust’s unit began testing advanced new bomb suits several months ago, her soldiers were so impressed by how much more mobility the gear offered that they encouraged her to try to set a new world record for running a mile in an explosive ordnance disposal suit, she said. Faust agreed, and ...

  • North Carolina: Wilmington police confirm suspicious device was a potential explosive

    November 21, 2025

    Wilmington police say a device found Friday morning at an apartment complex was determined to be a potential explosive, prompting a large response from the department’s bomb squad and federal agents. Officers were called shortly after 9:15 a.m. to the 2900 block of Midtown Way, off Independence Boulevard, after a suspicious package was reported. Roads in ...

  • Army explosive specialists prepare to keep Britain safe

    November 21, 2025

    Army explosive disposal experts have played a vital role on a major counter terrorism exercise.The Army’s specialist Technical Response Force (TRF), part of 29 Explosive Ordnance Disposal and Search (29 EOD&S) Group, joined emergency services and partner agencies to test how they would respond to a threat involving chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, or explosive devices. Around ...

  • Bangladesh: Two unexploded crude bombs found on metro rail track

    November 21, 2025

    MRT Police recovered two unexploded crude bombs from the metro rail track between Kazipara and Shewrapara on Friday morning. The crude bombs were wrapped with scotch tape inside Betel nut tins. The DMP Bomb Disposal Unit later neutralized and removed them. MRT Police received the alert around 9am, after maintenance workers spotted the devices lying on ...

  • Toxic Trip 25; USAF, Allies hunt for explosives

    November 21, 2025

    U.S. Air Force explosive ordnance disposal technicians assigned to various units within Europe and the U.S. with German air force service members, Royal Norwegian Air Force service members, collaborate on an execution plan during exercise Toxic Trip 25, at Bjugn, Norway, Sept. 23, 2025. Hosted by the Royal Norwegian Air Force, and organized by NATO Joint ...

  • UK: Army bomb disposal unit called to deal with unexploded WW2 naval shell at Beachy Head

    November 21, 2025

    The explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) team was called to reports of a ‘suspected unexploded WW2 ordnance’ by the lighthouse at Beachy Head. The EOD team attended Beachy Head on November 17, assisted by coastguard crews from Birling Gap and Eastbourne. An army spokesperson said: “We can confirm an Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team from Shornecliffe Troop, ...

  • British Columbia: Police dispose of explosive device found inside Prince George home

    November 20, 2025

    RCMP have allowed residents to return home after successfully disposing of an explosive device found in a residence in downtown Prince George, B.C., Wednesday morning. Officers found the device while conducting a Controlled Drugs and Substances Act search warrant in the 1600-block of Eighth Avenue. That prompted the evacuation of several nearby residences as RCMP waited ...