Improvised explosive devices (IEDs) are homemade bombs made from off-the-shelf components and commonly triggered via a cell phone. They are used in guerrilla warfare by combatants from a poor nation being invaded or occupied by a more technologically advanced force. IEDs are responsible for about a third of US military deaths in Iraq and can be made from virtually anything, making them difficult to detect. The US military has been investing millions of dollars into finding effective countermeasures. IEDs have been used in conflicts throughout history and foreign specialists have been known to assist in their construction.
Improvised explosive devices (IEDs) are small homemade bombs, made famous recently by the US occupation of Iraq, used to kill soldiers and damage vehicles. Unlike landmines, improvised explosive devices are usually fabricated from off-the-shelf components using simple tools and commonly triggered via a cell phone. The use of improvised explosive devices can be considered a form of guerrilla warfare, employed by combatants from a poor nation being invaded or occupied by a more technologically advanced force. Improvised explosive devices are responsible for about a third of US military deaths in Iraq, a figure that has remained relatively constant under the continued occupation.
The appeal of improvised explosive devices is that they can be made from virtually anything that explodes coupled to a remotely activated detonator. They are particularly useful in urban areas, where it is difficult for the occupying forces to distinguish between innocent civilians and enemy combatants, and the perpetrator may flee in a crowd in the confusion of the explosion. Improvised explosive devices can be cleverly hidden under trash or placed in unsuspected places such as behind trees or signs.
In the chaos of an invasion, a defeated army generally leaves behind many tons of explosive material for the insurgents to loot. While these insurgents may not have the technology to use explosives as originally intended, improvised explosive devices can be made from virtually anything. A conventional high-explosive payload may be accompanied by toxic chemicals or biological weapons such as anthrax, adding to the psychological fear factor. With the right knowledge and tools, high explosive can be crafted into a shaped charge, like the type used in rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs), that creates a lethal plasma jet that no current armor can stop. As of 2006, the US military has been pumping many millions of dollars into emergency research programs to find effective countermeasures to these insidious devices.
IEDs were used by the guerrilla forces of Spain during their civil war, against the Nazis by the Belarusians during World War II, and by radical Islamist militias in Iraq and Afghanistan following the US military invasions. Foreign specialists have been known to sometimes arrive at these hotspots to assist the natives in building IEDs, compounding the severity of the risk in the area. Perhaps with the right detection or neutralization mechanisms, improvised explosive devices will no longer pose a risk, but today they cause the death or maiming of many unfortunate soldiers.
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