Western governments’ rapidly growing defense spending sounds like a straightforward equation: More spending equals more weapons.
But skilled weapons workers are in short supply, especially explosives experts, and without a sufficiently big bang behind them, even the most sophisticated weaponry is pointless. But blowing things up is not learned in a quick crash course. We need more explosives professors.
Read more…
Source: Foreign policy
Related:
- Cambodia: CMAA eyes demining 200 sq km of land in 2025
January 2, 2025
The Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority (CMAA) plans to clear more than 200 square kilometres of land with mines and unexploded ordnance in 2025. This will make land safe for people to live on and cultivate. First Vice-President of the CMAA Ly Thuch said yesterday, “We aim to clear over 200 square kilometres of ...
- Ukraine: Bomb disposal experts neutralize unexploded Russian Kh-59 missile in Kharkiv
December 26, 2024
Explosive technicians from Ukraine’s State Emergency Service have neutralized a Russian Kh-59 cruise missile that fell on a private household in Kharkiv. The State Emergency Service announced this on Facebook. Bomb disposal experts promptly seized the missile and destroyed it in a safe location. Read more… Source: Ukrinform News Sign up for Counter-IED Report Newsletter Related:
- Vietnam to raise awareness on mine accident prevention and support of victims
December 25, 2024
By the end of last year, about 5.6 million hectares in Việt Nam were still littered with bombs, mines and explosives left from the resistance wars, equivalent to 17.7 per cent of the country’s land area. The information was disclosed on Tuesday at a conference held by the Việt Nam National Mine Action Centre (VNMAC) in ...
- Ukraine: Explosives technicians neutralize downed Russian missile in Sumy region
December 22, 2024
In the Sumy region, bomb disposal experts have neutralized the warhead of a Russian Kh-59 cruise missile that failed to detonate after being shot down. The Sumy regional police reported this on Telegram. On December 20, a mobile explosives team from the Sumy regional police neutralized the warhead of the Kh-59 missile, which was downed by ...
- Mexico: 2 more soldiers killed by an improvised landmine, after 2 died earlier this week
December 19, 2024
Two more members of Mexico’s armed forces have been killed by an improvised landmine, just days after two soldiers died in a similar blast, officials confirmed Thursday. The blasts, both in the western state of Michoacan, mark an unprecedented one-week death toll from improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, planted by drug cartels in Mexico. Carlos Torres, ...
- Iraq: Over 500 mines and explosives removed in Duhok
December 18, 2024
On Wednesday, the General Directorate for Mine Affairs in Duhok province announced the removal and detonation of over 500 landmines. The Directorate’s Media Official, Reger Besfki, told Shafaq News that a mine and ordnance removal team successfully conducted an operation in the Kawashi village of the Simele (Sumail) district, clearing and detonating 530 explosive devices. Besfki further ...
- Somalia: Explosions target homes with CCTV, injure five In Mogadishu
December 16, 2024
At least five people, including children, were injured in a series of landmine explosions in Galmudug village, Garasbaley district, over the past two nights as the number of the people killed in such attacks are increasing. Witnesses said six explosives were strategically placed outside homes equipped with CCTV cameras. No official comment has been made by ...
- Israel strikes weapon and missile depots in Syria
December 16, 2024
Israel has reportedly carried out multiple strikes on missile and weapon depots in the Syrian port city of Tartus, located near the Lebanon-Syria border, Arab media outlets reported on Sunday night. According to the Hezbollah-affiliated Lebanese news outlet Al Mayadeen, large plumes of smoke could be seen in the sky following the explosion, adding that residents ...
- UK: Anti-aircraft artillery round found in Norwich river
December 16, 2024
Police have confirmed the device pulled from a city river over the weekend was an explosive. People were warned to avoid the Bishop Bridge area of Norwich on Sunday after a teenage boy pulled a suspected bomb from the River Wensum while magnet fishing with his family. A Norfolk Constabulary spokeswoman has since revealed the device ...
- Syria: Expert warns of ‘massive’ risk from unexploded ordnance
December 15, 2024
The extent of unexploded ordnance littering Syria will be “massive” and poses a particular threat to children returning to the country, a landmine-clearing leader has warned. Since the fall of the Assad regime last weekend, the Halo Trust has seen a tenfold increase in emergency calls from Syrians worried about landmines and other dormant bombs. The ...
- Declassified satellite photos reveal impacts of Vietnam War
December 13, 2024
During the Vietnam War, the United States dropped more than 8 million tons of bombs and sprayed 74 million liters of Agent Orange and other herbicides in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. Nearly 50 years after the war’s end, the deadly impacts of these campaigns persist: Unexploded ordnance continues to maim and kill, while hot spots of ...
- US military says it defeated Houthi attack on ships in Gulf of Aden
December 10, 2024
Two U.S. Navy destroyers escorting three merchant vessels through the Gulf of Aden defeated an attack by Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen, the U.S. military said on Tuesday. The Houthis launched multiple drones and a cruise missile while the ships were transiting the Gulf on Monday and Tuesday, U.S. Central Command said in a post on X. ...
- Leveraging new technology for a mine-free future
December 9, 2024
The devastating legacy of armed conflict – often marked by the indiscriminate use of landmines, improvised explosive devices and other explosive ordnance – poses a significant humanitarian challenge. Innovation in mine action With over 25 years of experience, UNOPS has the largest operational mine action capability in the UN system. This vast expertise has given us ...
- Ukraine: Explosives technicians neutralize unexploded warhead of Kh-101 missile in Chernivtsi region
December 9, 2024
Explosives technicians from Ukraine’s National Police have neutralized an unexploded warhead from a Russian Kh-101 missile in the southwestern Chernivtsi region. Law enforcement officers discovered the unexploded warhead of the missile outside a populated area in the Dnistrovskyi district. Bomb disposal experts transported the warhead to a remote location, away from any settlements, and safely destroyed ...
- Cyprus: Hand grenade attack behind Limassol house explosion
December 6, 2024
Police have confirmed that a defensive hand grenade was used in an explosion that occurred at a residential property in Limassol early Friday morning. According to Limassol CID, a 63-year-old retired woman reported to police at 07:10 on Friday that an explosion had occurred at her home in the Tsirio area during the previous night. The ...
- Children at Risk: The Dangerous Impacts of Explosive Weapons in Populated Areas
December 6, 2024
Conflicts across the globe illustrate the devastating humanitarian consequences when urban areas become theatres of war. The use of explosive weapons in these environments carries numerous implications for civilians, including children. What is being done at the international level, and what further action can states take? With many contemporary armed conflicts occurring in populated areas, weapons ...
- INTERPOL: More than 28,000 kg of explosives, 3,400 IEDs seized in South America
December 5, 2024
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina – An operation in South America has resulted in the seizure of more than 28,000kg of explosive materials, 3,400 Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) and thousands of other components used in their manufacture. Operation Claymore (11 August – 11 October 2024) brought together law enforcement from nine countries to target the theft, smuggling and ...
- UK: Unexploded ordnance made safe in Portsmouth
December 3, 2024
A piece of unexploded ordnance that led to buildings along a seafront being evacuated has been safely removed. Cordons were put in place in the Pier Road area of in Southsea after police were called at 09:37 GMT. A spokesperson for Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary said Blue Reef Aquarium, the D-Day Museum, Clarence Pier ...
- Pakistan: Two security personnel injured in Noshki attack
December 3, 2024
Two security personnel were injured in an armed attack by unknown assailants at the gate of a security forces’ camp in Noshki on Monday. In response, the security forces immediately returned fire. A search operation has been launched by the security forces to apprehend the attackers. Security officials thwarted a terror attempt in Gwadar district. Acting ...
- US to Send $750M in Anti-Drone Systems and Mines to Ukraine
December 2, 2024
The United States is preparing a new $725 million military aid package for Ukraine, a move intended to propel Kyiv as Russia earmarks 32 percent of its 2025 budget on defense. The assistance includes counter-drone systems, munitions for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), and antipersonnel land mines, according to U.S. officials who spoke on the ...
- An autonomous microbial sensor enables long-term detection of TNT explosive in natural soil
December 2, 2024
Engineered microbes can sense target chemicals and respond with programmed actions, using cell sensors to detect specific chemicals and genetic circuits to convert regulatory signals into observable outcomes1,2,3. Microbial sensors have the potential to carry out autonomous, long-term environmental monitoring inside complex environments, such as soil systems or the human gut, without the need for ...
- Cross-Border Humanitarian Demining
November 29, 2024
This guide is intended to advance the clearance of landmines from border areas when there is political will to do so. More specifically, it is meant inform affected states, as well as donor states, of some of the various approaches and frameworks for planning and implementing cross-border or near-border demining activities. It also identifies some of ...