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:

  • Afghansitan: ANA destroyed 36 IEDs placed by Taliban on public roads in Helmand province

    March 17, 2021

    36 IEDs which were placed by Taliban on public roads in Gireshk district of Helmand province, were discovered and defused by ANA. Lives of tens of civilians were saved as a result. https://twitter.com/MoDAfghanistan/status/1372059601475092483 600 soldiers graduated from 207 corps military training center yesterday. They have received advanced military training under tough condition. They pledged to defend Afghanistan ...

  • Libya: JMC & GNU meet in Sirte to discuss mine clearance and opening the main coastal road

    March 16, 2021

    Libya’s 5+5 Joint Military Commission (JMC) held a meeting in Sirte to discuss ongoing efforts to clear mines and war remnants from the coastal road linking the city to Misrata to officially reopen the road for travel and safe use by citizens. “The meeting discussed progress in removing mines along the coastal road,” Mohamed Turjuman, director ...

  • South Korea commits US$10mil to Cambodia for mine clearance

    March 16, 2021

    South Korea on Tuesday committed US$10 million to increase Cambodia’s mine clearance and victim assistance efforts from 2021 to 2025, according to a joint press statement. The project is implemented by the Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority (CMAA) with strategic and technical advisory support from the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the statement said. “Landmine ...

  • The Hurt Locker: Major Vasant Laxman Jadhav is yet to be recognised for his bravery

    March 14, 2021

    Ex-Major Vasant Laxman Jadhav defused a 12-kilo RDX device hidden in a scooter at the Dadar rly station on March 14, 1993 but is yet to be recognised for his bravery. Major Vasant Laxman Jadhav (retired), who saved hundreds of lives by defusing a powerful 12-kg RDX-linked bomb in Dadar during the 1993 Mumbai serial bomb blasts and helped defuse ...

  • Libya: Three tons of war remnants detonated near Buerat Al-Hassoun area

    March 14, 2021

    The spokesman for the Sirte-Jufra Operations Room, Abdelhadi Drah, said military engineering teams had combed through the area from eastern Abu Grein onward to scour for explosive remnants of war (ERW) left by Khalifa Haftar’s forces. Drah said the teams had detonated three tons of ERW found in the area so the amount of detonated ERW ...

  • Sri Lanka: US backs mine clearing operations

    March 12, 2021

    US Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission (DCM) Martin Kelly visited a Mines Advisory Group (MAG) demining site, earlier this week to observe the measures undertaken to clear explosive hazards in the area and speak with a team of female deminers. The project, which is part of the more than one billion Sri Lankan Rupees ($5.5 ...

  • British Columbia: RCMP investigating IED bombs set off at Penticton school, park

    March 9, 2021

    RCMP in Penticton are investigating a series of explosions of IEDs in the city in recent days. Over the past few days, police have been looking into multiple reports of loud explosion sounds seemingly coming from various open areas in the city, which have been found to be linked to explosive devices. Each explosion has happened late ...

  • 10 years of conflict: ‘It will take at least two generations to rebuild Syria’

    March 5, 2021

    15th March 2021 marks 10 years since the start of the conflict in Syria, and the humanitarian crisis is only getting worse. Humanity & Inclusion (HI) is working in Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq and Egypt with Syrians who have lost everything and need humanitarian aid to survive. Humanitarian needs are immense, while access to people in need ...

  • France provides additional USD 617,000 for UNMAS activities in Iraq

    March 4, 2021

    Baghdad, 04 March 2021 – The United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) in Iraq welcomes an additional contribution of EUR 505,000 (approximately USD 617,000) from the Government of France renewing its commitment in supporting the Government of Iraq to protect the populations threatened by the deadly explosive ordnance left behind by the Islamic State of ...

  • Ireland: Controlled explosion on grounds of St James’ Hospital after ‘explosive’ chemical discovered

    March 4, 2021

    The Defence Forces has carried out a controlled explosion on the grounds of St James’ Hospital in Dublin 8 this morning after chemical material was discovered. Following a request from An Garda Síochána, an Army Bomb Disposal Team were tasked to investigate the suspected hazardous material at St James’ Hospital. The team arrived at the scene ...

  • Afghanistan: GCPSU arrested two mine planters in Kabul province; ANP EOD unit detected 14 IEDs in Helmand, Paktika and Maidan Wardak provinces

    March 4, 2021

    GCPSU arrested two mine planters in Surobi district of Kabul province. Meanwhile, ANP bomb disposal unit detected 14 IEDs after several hours of efforts and point to point search operations in Helmand, Paktika & Maidan Wardak provinces. https://twitter.com/moiafghanistan/status/1367395209626157057 25 February 2021 – ANP bomb disposal unit discovered & neutralized 6 Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) in Kandahar, Nimruz ...

  • AFIMSC units earn Air Force Gear of Government awards

    March 3, 2021

    JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-LACKLAND, Texas (AFNS) — Two Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center units won Gears of Government awards recently for delivering mission results, customer service and accountable stewardship. The Air Force Category Management Program, part of the Air Force Installation Contracting Center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, and the Air Force Civil Engineer ...

  • Iowa: Pipe bomb found, safely detonated at Ankeny polling location

    March 3, 2021

    Voting was interrupted for about three hours Tuesday when a pipe bomb was found outside an Iowa polling location, officials said. A couple walking their dog found the device just before 9:30 a.m. outside Lakeside Center, a multipurpose building in Ankeny, according to police and Jamie Fitzgerald, the Polk County auditor and elections commissioner. Lakeside Center, about ...

  • UK: Bomb disposal units called to Southend-on-Sea after WWII bombs found washed up on coast

    March 2, 2021

    Bomb disposal units have been repeatedly called out to the Essex coast after several suspected ordnances were found. Between February 27 and March 1, HM Coastguard in Southend-on-Sea were called to areas along the coastline after several devices, believed to be WWII German aircraft bombers, were discovered. The bomb disposal unit found the bombs in two separate ...

  • Hong Kong: Police bomb disposal team detonates old mortar shell found in Shek O

    March 2, 2021

    Bomb disposal experts detonated an old mortar shell after a gardener found the explosive inside a detached house on 11 Big Wave Bay Road in Shek O. The force said officers were alerted to a 3-inch long metal shell around noon today by a member of the public. Around 20 including residents and workers of the detached ...

  • California: Pipe bomb and loaded gun found at south Sacramento elementary school

    March 2, 2021

    Authorities on Tuesday found a pipe bomb and a loaded homemade gun near the front office of Baker Elementary School in south Sacramento, sheriff’s officials said. The pipe bomb and the homemade gun, also known as a “zip gun,” were found on the sidewalk just outside the front office Tuesday morning, before children students arrived on ...

  • Exeter WW2 bomb: Doors and windows ‘blown through’

    March 1, 2021

    Properties in Exeter are being assessed for structural damage after the controlled detonation of a World War Two bomb. A structural engineer said doors and windows of nearby houses had been “blown through” by the blast. Hundreds of people evacuated from the area on Friday spent a third night away from home. The 2,200lb (1,000kg) German bomb was ...

  • Cambodia: 230kg bomb found in Phnom Penh lake

    March 1, 2021

    A 230 kilogramme bomb was discovered in Tamouk Lake at the outskirts of Phnom Penh on Friday, believed to have been buried there for about 50 years. Head of the Cambodian Mine Action Center (CMAC) Heng Ratana identified it as a MK82 bomb yesterday, saying it was dropped from a US warplane during the Vietnam War. “It ...

  • Isle of Wight: Three Suspected Explosives Destroyed On Island Beach

    February 28, 2021

    Three objects, all of them suspected to be explosives left behind, possibly after wartime conflicts, have been destroyed by bomb disposal experts in a single operation on an Isle of Wight Beach. Members of The Needles Coastguard Rescue team said they began their work on Friday afternoon (February 26) after a member of the public reported ...

  • UK: Exeter residents evacuated as Royal Logistics Corps prepare to detonate World War Two bomb

    February 27, 2021

    A suspected second world war bomb discovered in Exeter will be detonated, police have confirmed. Thousands of people were evacuated from their homes in the city while authorities investigated the device, according to police. A 400-metre (1,300-ft) cordon was in place on Saturday morning, with 2,600 homes evacuated on Friday evening and Saturday. The device was found on ...

  • India: Vehicle With Explosives Found Near Mukesh Ambani’s House In Mumbai

    February 25, 2021

    An abandoned vehicle with explosive material was found near business tycoon Mukesh Ambani’s house in Mumbai on Thursday, Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh said, in a bomb scare just metres away from where India’s richest man lives under high security. “A Scorpio van with some gelatin was found at some distance from Mukesh Ambani’s home in ...

  • Afghan National Police bomb disposal unit discovered and neutralized IEDs in Kandahar, Nimruz, Logar and several other provinces across Afghanistan

    February 25, 2021

    Afghan National Police bomb disposal unit discovered & neutralized 6 Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) in Kandahar, Nimruz & Logar. Meanwhile, 2 Taliban terrorists expert of Improvised Explosive Device (IED) making were killed by their own bomb blast in PD#12, Kandahar City of Kandahar province. https://twitter.com/moiafghanistan/status/1364814214863405059 23 February 2021 ANP bomb disposal unit discovered and defused three roadside ...