Therefore it is less likely that the bombmaker will be asked to perform dangerous operational tasks. The bomb designer is considered a far greater asset than either the bomb maker or the bomb layer. The designer provides the terror group with new and innovative methods of IED attack in response to security force countermeasures. He or she will generally have a particular skill, be it electronic or electrical engineering, metal fabrication or chemical engineering. The designer may even be university-educated or may work legitimately during the day as a chemist, electrician, welder or other form of tradesman.
He may, for example, be a TV repairman by day and a maker of TPUs by night for a particular operation. In some instances the bomb designer, although already possessing a transferable skill, may enrol for an evening class in a particular discipline in order to improve his or her ability to design and fabricate new methods of attack.
This individual's mindset is very important. The designer must have above-average intelligence, an innovative streak, and an enquiring and open mind. He or she should be capable of lateral thinking and, above all, should be extremely devious.
The bomb designer must have drive, or a motivating force that attracts him or her to a particular organisation. This motivation may stem from a negative encounter with the security forces or a hardline family background.
This drive or motivation coupled with an enquiring and devious mind leads the designer to seek out - in a proactive manner - knowledge which will produce bigger and better results for the cause. It is argued that changes in the availability of bomb designers will drastically alter the IED attack capability of a terrorist grouping. The designer can train other members of the terrorist organisation, who would proceed to train others.
For a long-term campaign of violence, for example the PIRA's 'Long War', it became essential to train members of the group. After all, people die of natural and unnatural causes, desist from carrying out terrorist activity or are incarcerated by the security forces. It therefore becomes apparent that security forces must focus their attention on the bomb designer - cut the head off the snake - if they are to win the war against terrorism.
The Israelis have recognised this for a considerable period of time, as has been borne out by the killing of various Hamas explosive operatives in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. This two-part paper has discussed the reasons why terrorist groupings carry out bomb attacks and why they often improvise. Skip to Main Content. A not-for-profit organization, IEEE is the world's largest technical professional organization dedicated to advancing technology for the benefit of humanity.
Use of this web site signifies your agreement to the terms and conditions. Improvised explosive device IED counter-measures in Iraq Abstract: Summary form only given: Land mines have been used in warfare since the 13l century.
This mechanism could be used to initiate hand-held weapons and cannons but was rarely used in initiating large explosive charges. This small mechanical system enabled energy to be stored indefinitely in a spring. When a trigger was pulled, the spring turned a metal wheel which acted with friction on a substance that caused sparks to fly out.
These sparks could then be used to initiate the gunpowder charge. This mechanical step enabled a range of wider applications, removing the need for a human applying a lit match at close proximity.
More ambitiously, a trigger could be actuated by a clock, so the first mechanical timed IEDs also became possible. The charge was initiated by a clockwork timer, and the subsequent explosion killed up to 1, people; a devastating weapon for its time and indeed to today.
In the early s, the wheellock, as a system, was superseded by the flintlock which required slightly less engineering skill and was therefore more easily and cheaply manufactured.
In a flintlock a piece of flint is held against the action of a spring — when the trigger is pulled the spring acts on a lever which causes the flint to strike a steel pan, in which there is a small amount of gunpowder, igniting the main charge. Used extensively in hand-held firearms, the system was also applicable to improvised explosive devices and was more cost-effective than the wheellock.
In the s, the flintlock was superseded by percussion locks which themselves lead to the modern bulleted cartridge. This mechanism, using a fired bullet from a gun, still appeared as an IED initiator well into the 20th century. The trigger mechanism was placed under a railway track so that a passing train caused the rail to deflect downwards, pushing on the trigger.
A bullet was then fired into a charge of explosives, initiating it. In parallel with mechanical innovation, other scientific developments became enablers for IEDs. The first electrical initiation of an explosive charge was achieved in laboratory conditions possibly by Benjamin Franklin in the latter part of the s.
By the mids, this system had evolved and began to be used by military engineers. Russian defendes against French and British attacks at Sebastopol in the Crimea use electrically initiated explosive charges and similar devices were used in the US Civil War. The poor availability of electrically-initiated detonators and practical batteries, however, did not really cause this method to be used very often in IEDs until the 20th century.
Chemical Developments. The first high explosives were discovered by alchemists working with exotic precursors in the s, but such discoveries only really became ready for practical use in the s. The key difference between low and high explosives is that the chemical reaction is not propagated by burning through a material, as in the former, but by a shock wave, as in the latter.
In general terms, high explosives release more energy at a faster rate than an equivalent amount of low explosives.
The first high explosives were extremely sensitive and their successors today are used in very small quantities in detonators aka blasting caps to initiate larger volumes of less sensitive explosives. In the s, a variety of chemical developments resulted in molecular explosives firstly nitro-glycerine , then a range of others, being used extensively for military and engineering purposes. Molecular explosives are single compounds that react to external stimuli to decompose into gases with a significant amount of energy.
TNT is another example, developed in Explosive mixes were also developed. These were generally an intimate mix of some form of fuel including powdered metal like aluminium, or simple fuel oil, with an oxidiser such as Ammonium Nitrate ; today many IEDs use these mixes of easily available chemicals to create entirely practical high explosives.
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