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:
- Türkiye, Romania, Bulgaria launch action against Black Sea mines
July 1, 2024
Commanders of naval forces from Bulgaria and Romania came together on Monday at a meeting hosted by Turkish naval forces. The meeting marked the formal launch of demining work in the Black Sea by the three countries amid the danger posed by the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The three admirals signed operation orders for naval forces to detect ...
- UK: Bomb squad carry out controlled explosion after explosive device found in River Don
June 30, 2024
A controlled explosion has been carried out in Sheffield after a historic explosive device was found. South Yorkshire Police were called to Ball Street in Kelham Island earlier today (June 30) following reports a suspected explosive device had been found in the River Don. Bomb disposal experts from the Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) attended the scene ...
- Ukraine: 30,000 square kilometers of land cleared of mine threats, operations expanding further
June 30, 2024
Ukrainian Colonel Ruslan Berehulia, head of the Ministry of Defense’s Environmental Safety and Mine Action Department, reported that Defense Ministry specialists have cleared 30,000 square kilometers of Ukraine over the past two years – an area comparable to the size of Belgium or Moldova. Since 2022, approximately 174,000 square kilometers of Ukrainian land have been contaminated ...
- Iraq: 5 big ISIL bombs found hidden in Mosul’s al-Nuri Mosque
June 29, 2024
Five large bombs were discovered hidden in the walls of the historic al-Nuri Mosque in the city of Mosul in northern Iraq, a remnant of the armed group ISIL’s (ISIS’s) rule over the region. The mosque – famous for its 12th-century leaning minaret – was destroyed by ISIL in 2017 and has been a focal point ...
- Australia: World War II bomb found near the Darwin waterfront
June 27, 2024
An unexploded bomb from World War II discovered near the Darwin waterfront has been safely detonated. Emergency services moved people away from Stokes Hill Road and closed other streets in the Northern Territory city when the device was found at the nearby wharf area yesterday. The 50kg bomb was safely removed from the area and later ...
- Yemen: Houthis say they attacked MSC SARAH V vessel with ‘newly deployed ballistic missile’
June 26, 2024
Yemen’s Houthi group said Tuesday that it targeted an Israeli ship in the Arabian Sea with a new ballistic missile. In a recorded briefing, the group’s military spokesperson, Yahya Saree, said its forces targeted the MSC SARAH V vessel, “resulting in a precise and direct hit.” Saree noted that “the missile used in this operation is ...
- Mozambique: Three die following explosion in Ndunda, Beira
June 25, 2024
Three people lost their lives on Sunday, in Ndunda neighbourhood, in the Beira central Mozambican city of Beira, following the explosion of a device which may have been a land mine. According to Monday’s issue of the independent daily “O País”, three other people were seriously injured and are currently receiving intensive care at Beira Central ...
- Iraq: Return to old Mosul, concerns amid war remnants
June 24, 2024
The old city of Mosul, once a bustling urban center, became a battleground in 2017 as Iraqi forces, supported by the Global Coalition, clashed fiercely with ISIS. This brutal conflict led to widespread devastation of infrastructure and homes. Despite ongoing reconstruction efforts and the return of many displaced residents, the city remains a dangerous place due ...
- Yemen: Suspected Houthi attack targets vessel in waters further away than many previous assaults
June 24, 2024
A possible attack by Yemen’s Houthi rebels on Monday targeted a ship further away from nearly all of the previous assaults they’ve launched in the Gulf of Aden, officials said, potentially part of a widening escalation by the group. The attack happened Monday morning in the Gulf of Aden some 450 kilometers (280 miles) southeast of ...
- UK: Second World War hand grenade blown up by police in Eastbourne
June 24, 2024
A Second World War hand grenade was blown up in a field after police found it in a home. The unexploded grenade was found in a home near West Langney Lake in Eastbourne this afternoon. Sussex Police officers say that the hand grenade was taken to a field and destroyed in a controlled explosion. Read more… Source: Yahoo ...
- How Ukraine’s Naval Drones Turned the Tide in the Battle of the Black Sea
June 24, 2024
The Russian naval corvette had just left the safety of Sevastopol Bay one morning last fall when an explosion ripped a hole in its hull. As tugs pulled the ship back to port on Sept. 14, Russian state news agencies claimed it had fought off the latest attack by Ukrainian naval drones. This time, Ukrainian officials ...
- Crimea: Four killed, 153 injured in Ukraine’s attack on Sevastopol
June 24, 2024
Four people died and 153 sought medical help after Ukraine’s aattack on Sevastopol, Sevastopol Governor Mikhail Razvozhayev said, citing the final figures. On June 23, Ukraine attacked civilian infrastructure in Sevastopol using ATACMS tactical missiles equipped with cluster munitions. While four missiles were downed, a fifth exploded over the city. Read more… Source: TASS News Sign up for our ...
- IAEA Director General Statement on Situation in Ukraine – update 234
June 23, 2024
The city where most staff of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) live was left without electricity for 16 hours over the weekend after a second sub-station in the area sustained damage and was taken out of operation, Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said today. The IAEA team of ...
- Chad: At least nine killed after ammunition depot fire triggers explosions
June 19, 2024
At least nine people have been killed and 46 injured after a fire triggered a series of blasts at a military ammunition depot in Chad’s capital N’Djamena. The fire began in N’Djamena’s Goudji district late on Tuesday and there had been “huge explosions”, Foreign Affairs Minister Koulamallah Abderaman wrote in a statement on Facebook. On social ...
- Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention – Intersessional meeting – EU Statement on Victim Assistance
June 18, 2024
The European Union has been resolutely engaged in favour of mine victims and persons with disabilities through its policies and assistance, in particular in the implementation of the Council Decision (CFSP) 2021/257 which provides for national stakeholder dialogues to encourage parties responsible for the wellbeing of mine‐affected communities and survivors to better address the challenges ...
- It’s Time to Learn How to Blow Things Up Again
June 18, 2024
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 ...
- Ukraine: Bomb disposal experts defuse 250-kilogram air bomb in Donetsk Oblast
June 18, 2024
The State Emergency Service of Ukraine (SES) bomb disposal experts have defused a 250 kg high-explosive air bomb that fell on the grounds of a household in Kostiantynivka, “A 250 kg high-explosive air bomb was removed by SES bomb disposal experts from a household in the city of Kostiantynivka, Donetsk Oblast. Fortunately, the ordnance did not ...
- UK: Controlled explosion after ‘mortar round’ found in Lincolnshire
June 17, 2024
A controlled explosion was due to be carried out following the discovery of what was believed to be a mortar round in a Lincolnshire village. The device was found in Caythorpe, near Sleaford, on Monday afternoon. Earlier, police set up a 100m (328ft) cordon and said the area was being evacuated. A bomb disposal team was ...
- Czech Republic: Ammunition explosion kills one soldier, injures eight in Libava
June 17, 2024
An unspecified ammunition exploded in the Libavá military training area, which is located in the Olomouc Region, on Monday before noon. One person died, eight people were injured. The incident is being investigated by the Military Police. Czech Defence Minister Jana Černochová (ODS) is heading to the scene. “Shortly after eleven o’clock in the morning, an ...
- UK: Unexploded bombs and mines could be detonated for wind farm work
June 16, 2024
Scores of unexploded Second World War bombs and mines off the Norfolk coast could have to be blown up to pave the way for a huge wind farm. Danish energy firm Ørsted wants to build its £8bn Hornsea 3 project in the North Sea, some 75 miles from Cromer – but needs to make sure there ...
- Cambodia: Fisherman discovers MK-82 aerial bomb in Phnom Penh
June 15, 2024
A fisherman has found a war-left U.S.-made MK-82 aerial bomb in a pit lake on the western outskirts of Phnom Penh, capital of Cambodia, a mine clearance chief said on Friday. Cambodian Mine Action Center (CMAC)’s director-general Heng Ratana said the MK-82 aerial bomb, weighing around 230 kg, had been spotted on Thursday at a pit ...
- Israel: Eight IDF personnel killed in armoured vehicle explosion in Rafah
June 15, 2024
Capt. Wassem Mahmoud, 23, from Beit Jann, and seven other IDF soldiers were killed in an explosion of an armored vehicle in Rafah, the IDF announced on Saturday. Mahmoud was a deputy company commander in Battalion 601 of the Combat Engineers Brigade. The IDF is investigating whether the armored vehicle was damaged by an explosive device ...