Improvised explosive device

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Munitions rigged for an IED discovered by Iraqi police in Baghdad,

November 2005.

An improvised explosive device (IED) is a bomb constructed and deployed

in ways other than in conventional military action. They may be partially
comprised of conventional military explosives, such as an artillery round,
attached to a detonating mechanism.

IEDs may be used in terrorist actions or in unconventional warfare by

guerrillas or commando forces in a theater of operations. In the 2003–
present Iraq War, IEDs have been used extensively against coalition forces
and by the end of 2007 they have been responsible for approximately at least
40% of coalition deaths in Iraq.[1] They are also used extensively by cadres
of the rebel Tamil Tiger (LTTE) organization against military and civilian
targets in Sri Lanka.[2][3]

IEDs are often placed on the curb of roads so as to detonate at passing

vehicles or pedestrians, and so are sometimes known as roadside bombs.

Contents

[hide]

• 1 Background
• 2 History
o 2.1 World War II
o 2.2 Vietnam
o 2.3 Northern Ireland
o 2.4 Afghanistan
o 2.5 Lebanon
 o 2.6 Chechnya
o 2.7 Iraq
• 3 Types of devices
o 3.1 By warhead
o 3.2 By delivery mechanism
 3.2.1 Car bomb/vehicle-borne
 3.2.2 Boat-borne
 3.2.3 Animal-borne
 3.2.4 Collar bombs
 3.2.5 Suicide bombers
 3.2.6 Platter charges
 3.2.7 Explosively formed penetrators
 3.2.8 Improvised Rocket Assisted Munitions
o 3.3 Trigger mechanisms
• 4 Detecting and disarmament
• 5 See also
• 6 References

• 7 External links

[edit] Background

An IED is a bomb fabricated in an improvised manner incorporating

destructive, lethal, noxious, pyrotechnic, or incendiary chemicals and
designed to destroy or incapacitate personnel or vehicles. In some cases,
IEDs are used to distract, disrupt, or delay an opposing force, facilitating
another type of attack. IEDs may incorporate military or commercially-
sourced explosives, and often combine both types, or they may otherwise be
made with home made explosives (HME).

An IED typically consists of an explosive charge (potentially assisted by a

booster charge), a detonator, and an initiation system, which is a mechanism
that initiates the electrical charge that sets off the device. An IED designed
for use against armored targets such as personnel carriers or tanks will also
include some form of armor penetrator, typically consisting of a copper rod
or cone, propelled by the shaped explosive load. IEDs are extremely diverse
in design, and may contain many types of initiators, detonators, penetrators,
and explosive loads. Antipersonnel IEDs typically also contain shrapnel-
generating objects such as nails or ball bearings (known as shipyard confetti
after the metal waste found in the shipyards of Belfast). IEDs are triggered
by various methods, including remote control, infra-red or magnetic triggers,
pressure-sensitive bars or trip wires. In some cases, multiple IEDs are wired
together in a daisy-chain, to attack a convoy of vehicles spread out along a
roadway.

IEDs made by inexperienced designers or with substandard materials may

fail to detonate, and in some cases actually detonate on either the maker or
the emplacer of the device (these unintended early detonations are known as
pre-detonations or "own goals" if the placer is killed in the detonation).
Some groups, however, have been known to produce sophisticated devices
that are constructed with components scavenged from conventional
munitions and standard consumer electronics components, such as mobile
phones, washing machine timers, pagers, or garage door openers. The
sophistication of an IED depends on the training of the designer and the
tools and materials available.

The majority of IEDs use conventional high-explosive charges as their

explosive load. However, the threat exists that toxic chemical, biological, or
radioactive (dirty bomb) material may be added to a device, thereby creating
a host of other life-threatening effects beyond shrapnel, concussive blasts
and fire normally associated with bombs.

A vehicle borne IED, or VBIED, is a military term for a car bomb or truck
bomb. These are typically employed by suicide bombers, and can carry a
relatively large payload. They can also be detonated from a remote location.
VBIEDs can create additional shrapnel through the destruction of the vehicle
itself, as well as using vehicle fuel as an incendiary weapon.

[edit] History

[edit] World War II

One of the first examples of coordinated large-scale use of IEDs was the
Belorussian Rail War launched by Belorussian guerrillas against the Nazis
during World War II. Both command-detonated and delayed-fuse IEDs were
used to derail thousands of German trains during 1943–1944.

[edit] Vietnam

IEDs were used during the Vietnam War by the Viet Cong against land- and
river-borne vehicles as well as personnel.[4] They were commonly
constructed using materials from unexploded American ordnance.[5] Thirty-
three percent of U.S. casualties in Vietnam and twenty-eight percent of
deaths were officially attributed to mines; these figures include losses caused
by both IEDs and commercially manufactured mines.[6]

The Grenade in a Can was a simple and effective booby trap. A hand
grenade with the safety pin removed and safety lever compressed was placed
into a container such as a tin can, with a length of string or tripwire attached
to the grenade. The can was fixed in place and the other end of the string
stretched across a path or doorway opening and firmly tied down.
Alternatively, the end of the string could be attached to the moving portion
of a door or gate. When the grenade was pulled out of the can by a person or
vehicle placing tension on the string, the spring-loaded safety lever would
release and the grenade would explode.

The rubber band grenade was another booby trap. To make this device, a
Viet Cong guerrilla would wrap a strong rubber band around the spring-
loaded safety lever of a hand grenade and remove the pin. The grenade was
then hidden in a hut. American and South Vietnamese soldiers would burn
huts regularly to prevent them from being inhabited again, or to expose
foxholes and tunnel entrances, which were frequently concealed within these
structures. When a hut with the booby trap was torched, the rubber band on
the grenade would melt, releasing the safety lever and blowing up the hut.
This would often wound the soldiers with burning bamboo and metal
fragments. This booby trap was also used to destroy vehicles when the
modified grenade was placed in the fuel tank. The device would be triggered
when the rubber band would be eaten away by the chemical action of the
fuel, releasing the safety lever and detonating the grenade.

Another variant was the Mason jar Grenade. The safety pin of hand
grenades would be pulled and the grenades would be placed in glass Ball
Mason jars which would hold back the safety lever. The safety lever would
release upon the shattering of the mason jar and the grenade would detonate.
This particular variant was popular with chopper crews, which would use
them as improvised anti-personnel cluster bombs during air raids. They were
easy to dump out of the flight door over a target and the thick Ball Mason
glass was resistant to premature shattering.

[edit] Northern Ireland

Throughout The Troubles, the Provisional IRA made extensive use of IEDs
in their 1969-1997 campaign. From simple petrol bombs (Molotov cocktail)
to sophisticated barrack buster mortars and remote controlled IEDs, the
members of the PIRA developed and counter-developed devices and tactics.
PIRA bombs became highly sophisticated, featuring anti-handling devices
such as a mercury tilt switch or microswitches. These devices would
detonate the bomb if it was moved in any way. Typically, the safety-arming
device used was a clockwork Memopark timer, which armed the bomb five
minutes after it was placed by completing an electrical circuit supplying
power to the anti-handling device. Depending on the particular design (e.g.
boobytrapped briefcase or car bomb) an independent electrical circuit
supplied power to a conventional timer set for the intended time delay, e.g.
40 minutes. However, some electronic delays developed by PIRA
technicians could be set to accurately detonate a bomb weeks after it was
hidden, which is what happened in the Brighton hotel bomb attack of 1984.
Initially, bombs were detonated either by timer or by simple command wire.
Later bombs could be detonated by radio control. Initially, simple servos
from radio-controlled aircraft were used to close the electrical circuit and
supply power to the detonator. After the British developed jammers, PIRA
technicians introduced devices which required a sequence of pulsed radio
codes to arm and detonate them. These were harder to jam.

Roadside bombs were extensively used by the Provisional IRA. Typically, a

roadside bomb was placed in a drain or culvert along a rural road and
exploded by remote control when British Army or other security forces
vehicles were passing. The most lethal example of these attacks came in
1979, when 18 British soldiers were killed by two culvert bombs in the
Warrenpoint ambush. As a result of the use of these bombs, the British
military had to stop transport by road in areas such as South Armagh, and
use helicopter transport instead. In the 1980s and 1990s, all culverts were
welded and concreted shut, so that explosives could not be placed in them.

Most IEDs used commercial or homemade explosives, although the use of

Semtex-H smuggled in from Libya in the 1980s was also common from the
mid 1980s onwards. Bomb Disposal teams from 321 EOD manned by
Ammunition Technicians were deployed in those areas to deal with the IED
threat.

In the early 1970s, at the height of the PIRA campaign, the British Army unit
tasked with rendering safe IEDs, 321 EOD, sustained significant casualties
while engaged in bomb disposal operations. This mortality rate was far
higher than other high risk occupations such as deep sea diving, and a
careful review was made of how men were selected for EOD operations. The
review recommended bringing in psychometric testing of soldiers to ensure
those chosen had the correct mental preparation for high risk bomb disposal
duties.

The IRA came up with ever more sophisticated designs and deployments of
IEDs. Booby Trap or Victim Operated IEDs (VOIEDs), were commonplace.
The IRA engaged in an ongoing battle to gain the upper hand in electronic
warfare with remote controlled devices. The rapid changes in development
led 321 EOD to employ specialists from DERA (now privatised into
QinetiQ), the Royal Signals, and Military Intelligence. This multi-unit
approach led to the development and use of most of the modern weapons,
equipment and techniques now used by EOD Operators throughout the rest
of the world.

The bomb disposal operations were led by Ammunition Technicians and

Ammunition Technical Officers from 321 EOD, and were trained at the
Felix Centre at the Army School of Ammunition. To this day the Felix
Centre is the foremost authority on IEDD in the world.[citation needed]

[edit] Afghanistan

Bomb-maker in rural Afghanistan, July 2002.

Following the invasion of Afghanistan by the USSR on 27 December 1979,

the Afghan Mujahideen were supplied with large quantities of military
supplies from many Muslim states and from the United States. Among those
supplies were many types of anti-tank mines. The Afghan Mujahideen often
removed the explosives from several foreign anti-tank mines, and combined
the explosives in tin cooking-oil cans for a more powerful blast. Often the
foreign anti-tank mines were enclosed in plastic containers, making them
difficult to detect. By combining the explosives from several mines and
placing them in tin-cans, the Afghan Mujahideen made them easier to detect.
After an IED was exploded, the Afghan Mujahideen often used direct fire
weapons such as machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades to continue
the attack.

Afghan Mujahideen operating far from the border with Pakistan did not have
a ready supply of foreign anti-tank mines. They preferred to make mines
from Soviet unexploded ordnance. The anti-tank mines were rarely triggered
by pressure fuses. They were almost always remotely detonated. Since the
2001 invasion of Afghanistan, the Taliban and its supporters have used IEDs
against American, ISAF, and Afghan military and civilian vehicles. While
the number of such attacks has been far lower than those in Iraq, the number
has been steadily increasing.

[edit] Lebanon

Hezbollah made extensive use of IEDs to attack Israeli forces after Israel's
1982 invasion of Lebanon. Israel withdrew from most of Lebanon in 1985
but still kept troops stationed in a buffer zone in southern Lebanon.
Hezbollah frequently used IEDs to attack Israeli vehicles in this area up until
the Israeli withdrawal in May 2000.

One such bomb killed Israeli Brigadier General Erez Gerstein on February
28, 1999, the highest-ranking Israeli to die in Lebanon since Yekutiel
Adam's death in 1982.

Also in the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict, a Merkava Mark II tank was hit by
a Hezbollah IED killing all 4 IDF servicemen on board, the first of two IEDs
damaging a Merkava tank.

[edit] Chechnya

IEDs have also been popular in Chechnya, where Russian forces are
currently engaged in fighting with rebels. While no concrete statistics are
available on this matter, bombs have accounted for many Russian deaths in
both the First Chechen War (1994–1996) and the Second (1999–present).

[edit] Iraq
Controlled explosion of IED, US Army in Iraq.

In the 2003–present Iraq War, IEDs have been used extensively against
coalition forces and by the end of 2007 they have been responsible for
approximately at least 40% of coalition deaths in Iraq.[1]

Beginning in July 2003, the Iraqi insurgency used IEDs to target Coalition
vehicles. According to iCasualties.org, as of November 21, 2007
approximately at least 40% of Coalition fatalities in the Iraq War are caused
by IEDs.[1] According to the Washington Post, 63% of U.S deaths in Iraq
occurred due to IEDs.[7] A French study[8] shows that in Iraq, from March
2003 to November 2006, on a global 3,070 deaths in the US-led Coalition
soldiers, 1,257 were caused by IEDs, i.e 41 %. That is to say more than in
the "normal fights" (1027 dead, 34 %). Insurgents now use the bombs to
target not only Coalition vehicles, but Iraqi police and civilian transportation
as well.

Common locations for placing these bombs on the ground include animal
carcasses, soft drink cans, and boxes. Typically they explode underneath or
to the side of the vehicle to cause the maximum amount of damage;
however, as vehicle armor was improved on military vehicles, insurgents
began placing IEDs in elevated positions such as on road signs, utility poles,
or trees, in order to hit less protected areas.

IEDs in Iraq may be made with artillery or mortar shells or with varying
amounts of bulk or homemade explosives.

Despite the increased armor, IEDs have been killing soldiers with greater
frequency. May 2007 was the deadliest month for IED attacks thus far with a
reported 89 of the 129 Coalition casualties coming from an IED attack.[1]
According to the Pentagon, 250,000 tons (of 650,000 tons total) of Iraqi
ordnance were looted, providing a large supply of ammunition for the
insurgents.[9]
In October 2005, The UK government charged that Iran was supplying
insurgents with the technological know-how to make shaped charges, which
focus the blast in a specific direction, and can pierce greater thicknesses of
armor with less explosive.[10] Both Iranian and Iraqi government officials
deny this.[11][12]

[edit] Types of devices

[edit] By warhead

The Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms (JCS Pub 1-02) includes
two definitions for improvised devices: improvised explosive devices (IED),
and improvised nuclear device (IND).[13]

Improvised Explosive Device - A device placed or fabricated in an

improvised manner incorporating destructive, lethal, noxious, pyrotechnic,
or incendiary chemicals and designed to destroy, incapacitate, harass, or
distract. It may incorporate military stores, but is normally devised from
nonmilitary components. Also called IED.

Improvised Nuclear Device - A device incorporating radioactive materials

designed to result in the dispersal of radioactive material or in the formation
of nuclear-yield reaction. Such devices may be fabricated in a completely
improvised manner or may be an improvised modification to a US or foreign
nuclear weapon. Also called IND.

These definitions address the Nuclear and Explosive in CBRNE. That leaves
chemical, biological and radiological undefined. Four definitions have been
created building on the structure of the JCS definition. The following terms
have been created to standardize the language of first responders and
members of the military and to correlate the operational picture.[14]

Improvised Chemical Device--A device incorporating the toxic attributes of

chemical materials designed to result in the dispersal of these toxic chemical
materials for the purpose of creating a primary patho-physiological toxic
effect (morbidity & mortality), or secondary psychological effect (causing
fear and behavior modification) on a larger population. Such devices may be
fabricated in a completely improvised manner or may be an improvised
modification to an existing weapon. Also called ICD, “al Mobtakar al
Farheed”
Improvised Biological Device--A device incorporating biological materials
designed to result in the dispersal of vector borne biological material for the
purpose of creating a primary patho-physiological toxic effect (morbidity &
mortality), or secondary psychological effect (causing fear and behavior
modification) on a larger population. Such devices are fabricated in a
completely improvised manner. Also called IBD

Improvised Radioactive Device--A device incorporating radioactive

materials designed to result in the dispersal of radioactive material for the
purpose of area denial and economic damage, &/or for the purpose of
creating a primary patho-physiological toxic effect (morbidity & mortality),
or secondary psychological effect (causing fear and behavior modification)
on a larger population. Such devices may be fabricated in a completely
improvised manner or may be an improvised modification to an existing
nuclear weapon. Also called IRD or “dirty bomb”

Improvised Incendiary Device- A device leveraging exothermic chemical

reactions designed to result in the rapid spread of fire for the purpose of
creating a primary patho-physiological effect (morbidity & mortality), or
secondary psychological effect (causing fear and behavior modification) on
a larger population or it may be used with the intent of gaining a tactical
advantage. Such devices may be fabricated in a completely improvised
manner or may be an improvised modification to an existing weapon. Also
called IID, arson or "Molotov Cocktail".

[edit] By delivery mechanism

[edit] Car bomb/vehicle-borne

Artillery rounds and gasoline cans discovered in the back of a pick-up truck
in Iraq.

Vehicles may be laden with explosives, set to explode by remote control or

by a passenger/driver, commonly known as a car bomb or VBIED
pronounced vee-bid. On occasion the driver of the car bomb may have been
coerced into delivery of the vehicle under duress, a situation known as a
Proxy Bomb. Distinguishing features are low-riding vehicles with excessive
weight, vehicles with only one passenger, and ones where the interior of the
vehicles look like they have been stripped down and built back up. Car
bombs can carry thousands of pounds of explosives and may be augmented
with shrapnel to increase fragmentation. The U.S. State Department has
published a guide on car bomb awareness.[15]

[edit] Boat-borne

Boats laden with explosives can be used against ships and areas connected to
water. An early example of this type was the Japanese Shinyo suicide boats
during World War II. The boats were laden with explosives and attempted to
ram Allied ships, sometimes successfully, having sunk or severely damaged
several American ships by war's end. Suicide bombers used a boat-borne
IED to attack the USS Cole, US and UK troops have also been killed by
boat-borne IEDs in Iraq.[8][16]

[edit] Animal-borne

Monkeys and War pigs were used as incendiaries around 1000 AD. More
famously the "Anti-tank dog" and "Bat bomb" were developed during WW2.
In recent times, a 2 year old child and 7 other people were killed by
explosives strapped to a horse in the town of Chita in Colombia[17] and a
donkey was used in a similar fashion in Afghanistan.[17]

[edit] Collar bombs

IED strapped to the neck of farmers have been used extensively by guerrillas
in Colombia, as a way of extortion.[18][19] American pizza delivery man Brian
Douglas Wells was killed in 2003 by an explosive fastened to his neck,
purportedly under duress from the maker of the bomb.

[edit] Suicide bombers

Suicide bombing usually refers to an individual wearing explosives and

detonates them in order to kill others including themselves. The bomber will
conceal explosives on and around their person, commonly using a vest and
will use a timer or some other trigger to detonate the explosives. Suicide
bombers in Iraq are common in marketplaces and where Iraqi army and
police recruits frequent. On February 1, Iraqi insurgents attached explosives
to two women – at the time alleged to be mentally disabled[20] –and
detonated them remotely, killing over 70 people.[21]

[edit] Platter charges

A form of IEDs being used in Iraq are platter charges, which are rectangular
or circular pieces of flat metal (usually steel) weighing a few kilograms with
plastic explosives pressed onto one side of the platter.[22] The amount of
explosive used is usually equal, by weight, to the weight of the platter. The
explosives propel the platter into the target with an approximate velocity of
6,000 feet per second (1,800 m/s).[23] The effective range can be as far as 50
meters, limited by the accuracy.

[edit] Explosively formed penetrators

Improvised explosive device in Iraq. The concave copper shape on top is an

explosively formed penetrator.

IEDs have been deployed in the form of explosively formed penetrators, a

special type of shaped charge that is effective at long standoffs from the
target (50 meters or more). These are especially problematic to counter
because they can be placed so far from their intended targets.[24] An EFP is
essentially a cylindrical shaped charge with a concave metal disc (often
copper) in front, pointed inwards. The force of the shaped charge turns the
disc into a bolt of molten metal, capable of penetrating the armor of most
vehicles in Iraq.

[edit] Improvised Rocket Assisted Munitions

In 2008, rocket-propelled IEDs, dubbed Improvised Rocket Assisted
Munitions (IRAM) by the military, came to be employed in numbers against
U.S. forces in Iraq. They have been described as propane tanks packed with
explosives and powered by 107mm rockets.[25]

[edit] Trigger mechanisms

The British also accused Iran and Hezbollah of teaching Iraqi fighters to use
infrared light beams to trigger IEDs. As the occupation forces became more
sophisticated in interrupting radio signals around their convoys, the
insurgents adapted their triggering methods.[26] In some cases, when a more
advanced method was disrupted, the insurgents regressed to using
uninterruptable means, such as hard wires from the IED to detonator;
however, this method is much harder to effectively conceal. It later emerged
however, that these so-called "advanced" IEDs were actually old IRA
technology. The infrared beam method was perfected by the IRA in the early
'90s after it acquired the technology from a botched undercover British
Army operation. Many of the IEDs being used against coalition forces in
Iraq were originally developed by the British Army who unintentionally
passed the information on to the IRA.[27]

[edit] Detecting and disarmament

A U.S. Marine in Iraq shown with a robot used for disposal of buried devices

Since these devices are improvised, there are no specific guidelines for
Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) personnel to use to positively identify
or categorize them. EOD personnel are trained in the rendering safe and
disposal of IEDs. The presence of chemical, biological, radiological, or
nuclear (CBRN) material in an IED requires additional precautions. As with
other missions, the EOD operator provides the area commander with an
assessment of the situation and of support needed to complete the mission.
Military forces and law enforcement personnel from around the world have
developed a number of Render Safe Procedures (RSP) to deal with IEDs.
RSPs may be developed as a result of direct experience with devices or by
applied research designed to counter the threat. The claimed effectiveness of
remote jamming systems, proven or otherwise, has caused IED technology
to essentially regress to command-wire detonation methods.[28] These are
physical connections between the detonator and explosive device and cannot
be jammed. However, these types of IEDs are more difficult to emplace
quickly, and more readily detected.

Military forces from Canada, United Kingdom, Israel, Spain and the United
States are at the forefront of counter-IED efforts, as all have direct
experience in dealing with IEDs used against them in conflict or terrorist
attacks.

Technological countermeasures are only part of the solution in the effort to

defeat IEDs; experience, training and awareness remain key factors in
combating them. For example, there are visual signs that may suggest the
presence of an IED, such as recently turned-over soil or sand by a road, or an
abandoned vehicle beside a road. Recognizing these telltale signs may be as
valuable as having sophisticated detection equipment

Blast fishing
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

Blast fishing or dynamite fishing describes the practice of using dynamite,

homemade bombs, or other explosives to stun or kill schools of fish for easy
collection. This often illegal practice can be extremely destructive to the
surrounding ecosystem, as the shockwaves often destroy the underlying
habitat (such as coral reefs close to a coastline) that supports the fish.[1] The
frequently improvised nature of the explosives used also means danger for
the fishermen as well, with accidents and injuries.
Dead fish as the result of blast fishing.

Although outlawed, the practice remains widespread in Southeast Asia, as

well as in the Aegean Sea and coastal Africa. In the Philippines, where the
practice has been well documented[2] blast fishing dates back to even before
the First World War, as this activity is mentioned by Ernst Jünger in his book
Storm of Steel. One 1999 report estimated that some 70,000 fishermen (12%
of the Philippines' total fishermen) engage in the practice today.[3]

Extensive hard-to-patrol coastlines; the lure of lucrative, easy catches; and in

some cases outright apathy or corruption on the part of local officials make
enforcement of blast fishing bans an ongoing challenge for authorities.[4]

Commercial explosives or, more commonly, homemade bombs constructed

of a bottle with layers of powdered potassium nitrate and pebbles are often
employed. These devices explode without warning, and have been known to
injure or kill the person using them, or innocent bystanders.[5]

Fish are killed by the shock from the blast and are then skimmed from the
surface or collected from the bottom. The explosions indiscriminately kill
large numbers of fish and other marine organisms in the vicinity and can
damage or destroy the physical environment, including extensive damage to
coral reefs.[6][7]

Letter bomb
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

For the song by Green Day, see Letterbomb (song). For sending large volumes of
email, see Email bomb.
This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards.
Please improve this article if you can. (February 2007)

A mail bomb on display at the National Postal Museum

A mailbomb (or mail bomb), also called parcel bomb, letter bomb or post bomb, is
an explosive device sent via the postal service, and designed with the intention to
injure or kill the recipient when opened. They have been used in indiscriminate
terrorist attacks such as those of the Unabomber. Some countries have agencies
whose duties include the interdiction of mail bombs and the investigation of mail
bombings[1].The mail bomb may have been in use for nearly as long as the common
postal service has been in existence, as far back as 1764 (see Examples).

Contents
[hide]

• 1 Description
• 2 Examples
• 3 Patentability
• 4 References
• 5 See also

• 6 External links

[edit] Description
Mail bombs are usually designed to explode immediately on opening, with the
intention of seriously injuring or killing the recipient (who may or may not be the
person to whom the bomb was addressed). A related threat is mail containing
unidentified powders or chemicals, as in the 2001 anthrax attacks.

[edit] Examples
 • One of the world's first mailbombs is mentioned in the 18th century diary of
Danish official and historian Bolle Willum Luxdorph. His diary mainly
consists of concise references to news from Denmark and abroad. In the
entry for January 19, 1764 he writes the following: Colonel Poulsen residing
at Børglum abbey was sent by mail a box. When he opens it, therein is to be
found gunpowder and a firelock which sets fire unto it, so he became very
injured. The entry for February 15 same year says:Colonel Poulsen receives a
letter in German, [saying] that soon the dose will be increased. It is referring to
the dose of gunpowder in the box. The perpetrator was never found[2]. In a
later reference Luxdorph has found a mention of a like bomb being used also
in 1764, but in Savona in Italy[3].
• A Swedish man named Martin Ekenberg used a mailbomb August 20, 1904,
targeting CEO Karl Fredrik Lundin in Stockholm. It was made of a box
loaded with bullets and explosives.[4]
• Austrian Nazi war criminal Alois Brunner was sent a letter bomb by the
Israeli intellegence services Mossad, to which he lost an eye and several
fingers.
• Theodore Kaczynski, the "Unabomber", killed three and injured 23 in a
series of mailbombings in the United States from the late 1970s to the early
1990s.
• Franz Fuchs, Austrian mailbomber, killed four and injured 15 with
mailbombs and improvised explosive devices in the mid-1990s.
• Singer Björk was sent a letter bomb charged with explosives and
hydrochloric acid by fan Ricardo López in 1996. The bomb did not reach
Björk, having been randomly intercepted by London Police.
• In February 2007, a series of mailbombings in the United Kingdom injured
nine people, though none of them were critically hurt.
• In January and February 2007, a bomber calling himself "The Bishop" sent
several unassembled bombs to financial firms in the United States, and was
arrested in April 2007
• In August 2007, a Lebanese immigrant was charged in connection with a
letter bomb ring in the Toronto-Guelph, ON area; he was responsible for
injuring 1 person. He was also responsible for the precautionary closing of a
portion of the Don Valley Parkway in Toronto on August 31, 2007

[edit] Patentability
Letter-bombs, along with anti-personnel mines, are typical examples of subject-
matter excluded from patentability under the European Patent Convention, because
the publication or exploitation of such inventions are contrary to the "ordre public"
and/or morality (Article 53(a) EPC).[5]

Molotov cocktail
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search

An ignited Molotov cocktail

The Molotov cocktail, also known as the petrol bomb, gasoline bomb or Molotov
bomb, is a generic name used for a variety of improvised incendiary weapons.
Simple to make, they are frequently used by rioters.

The bombs were derisively named after Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov
by the Finns during the Winter War.

Contents
[hide]

• 1 Mechanism
• 2 Development and use in war
• 3 Use by civilians
• 4 In counter-cultural publications
• 5 Legality
• 6 See also
• 7 References

• 8 Further reading

[edit] Mechanism
In its simplest form, a Molotov cocktail is a glass bottle containing petrol fuel
usually with a source of ignition such as a burning, fuel soaked, rag wick held in
place by the bottle's stopper.

In action the fuse is lit and the bottle hurled at a target such as a vehicle or
fortification. When the bottle smashes on impact, the ensuing cloud of petrol
droplets and vapor is ignited, causing an immediate fireball followed by a raging
fire as the remainder of the fuel is consumed.
Other flammable liquids such as wood alcohol and turpentine have been used in
place of petrol. Thickening agents such as tar, sugar and motor oil and Fairy Liquid
have been added to the fuel, analogously to the use of napalm, to help the burning
liquid adhere to the target and create clouds of thick choking smoke.

[edit] Development and use in war

The original design of Molotov cocktail produced by the Finnish alcohol monopoly
ALKO during the Winter War of 1939-1940. The bottle has storm matches instead
of a rag for a fuse.

During World War II, when Finland refused to surrender some strategic ports to the
Soviet Union, the Soviets invaded in November 1939, after the Shelling of Mainila.
The Finnish Army, facing Red Army tanks in what came to be known as the Winter
War, borrowed an improvised incendiary device design from the 1936–1939 Spanish
Civil War. In that conflict, General Francisco Franco ordered Spanish Nationalists
to use the weapon against Soviet T-26 tanks supporting the Spanish Republicans in
a failed 1936 Soviet assault near Toledo, 30 km from Madrid.[1]

When Soviet People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs Vyacheslav Molotov claimed
in radio broadcasts that the Soviet Union was not dropping bombs but rather
delivering food to the starving Finns, the Finns started to call the air bombs Molotov
bread baskets.[2] Soon they responded by attacking advancing tanks with "Molotov
cocktails". At first, the term was used to describe only the burning mixture itself,
but in practical use the term was soon applied to the combination of both the bottle
and its contents. This Finnish use of the hand - or sling - thrown explosive against
Soviet tanks was repeated in the subsequent Continuation War. Molotov cocktails
were eventually mass-produced by the Alko corporation at its Rajamäki distillery,
bundled with matches to light them. Production totalled 450,000 during the Winter
War. The original design of Molotov cocktail was a mixture of ethanol, tar and
gasoline in a 750 ml bottle. The bottle had two long pyrotechnic storm matches
attached to either side. Before use one or both of the matches was lit; when the
bottle broke on impact, the mixture ignited. The storm matches were found to be
safer to use than a burning rag on the mouth of the bottle.

A display of improvised munitions, including a Molotov cocktail, from the Warsaw

Uprising, 1944.

They also saw use during the Nomonhan Incident, a border conflict ostensibly
between Mongolia and Manchukuo that saw heavy fighting between Japanese and
Soviet forces. Short of anti-tank equipment, Japanese infantry attacked Soviet tanks
with gasoline-filled bottles. Japanese infantrymen claimed that several hundred
Soviet tanks had been destroyed through the use of Molotov cocktails, though Soviet
loss records do not support this assessment.[3]

The Polish home army developed a version[4] which ignited on impact thus avoiding
the need to light the fuse before throwing. Ignition was caused by a reaction between
concentrated sulfuric acid mixed with the fuel and a mixture of potassium chlorate
and sugar which was crystalized from solution onto a rag attached to the bottle.

During the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, it was alleged that members of the Israeli
Kibbutz Degania managed to stop a Syrian tank assault by using Molotov cocktails.
Later studies revealed that it was a shell fired from a PIAT.[citation needed]

It should be noted while Molotov cocktails may be a psychologically effective

method of disabling tanks and armored vehicles by forcing the crew out or
damaging external components, most modern tanks cannot be physically destroyed
by Molotov cocktails, only disabled. Tanks and IFVs have specially designed
Nuclear, Biological and Chemical protective systems that make them internally air-
tight and sealed; well protected from vapors, gases, and liquids. Modern tanks
possess very thick Composite Armour consisting of layers of steel, ceramics, plastics
and Kevlar, which would make them extremely difficult to destroy by Molotov
cocktails alone, as these materials have melting points well above the burning
temperature of gasoline. Damaging external components such as optical systems,
antennas, or externally-mounted weapons systems is however possible and can make
a tank virtually "blind", forcing the crew to at least open the hatches and access
ports for the crew, which would allow furtheur measures to be taken against the
crew..[citation needed] The burning mixture is effective against tanks radiators. The
incendiary liquid is thick yet viscous, it can effectively penetrate a tanks radiator
cover and overheat the engine's cooling mechanism.

[edit] Use by civilians

A mural in Derry, Northern Ireland of a young boy in a gas mask holding a petrol
bomb during the Battle of the Bogside, August 1969.

Prague, 1968
A video-still taken from the peak of the Oldham riots, showing a rioter throwing a
Molotov cocktail towards lines of police.

• Taiwanese rebels employed an early version of the Molotov cocktail, fuelled

by kerosene, against Japanese police forces during the anti-colonial Ta-pa-ni
Incident in 1915.[5]
• Molotov cocktails played a role in the Hungarian revolution. It was the only
anti-tank weapon widely available that could disable the Soviet T-34 tanks.
• Molotov cocktails were used in Prague to express disapproval of the invading
Soviet troops in Czechoslovakia in 1968 (see Prague Spring for details).
• Petrol bombs were widely used throughout the Troubles in Northern Ireland
in riots, directed towards the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) or the British
Army.
• As of 2007 petrol bombs are still used against the Police Service of Northern
Ireland (PSNI, formerly the RUC) and army.[6] They are frequently used in
sectarian attacks on homes and businesses by both communities. Fireworks
and homemade grenades, known as blast bombs now commonly accompany
petrol bomb attacks on the security forces.
• In 1980s, South Korean protesters used Molotov cocktails as a tool to fight
against the government of Chun Doo-hwan.
• During the Oldham Riots on May 26, 2001 in Oldham, England, petrol
bombs were the primary projectile used by youths against riot police.
• During the Columbine High School massacre, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold
built and threw several Molotov cocktails; none of them ignited successfully.
• Molotov cocktails were also employed against the police during the recent
Copenhagen March-riots and during the Cigarbox riot in Copenhagen,
Denmark
• Molotov cocktails have been used by the Palestinians against the Israel
Defence Forces and Israeli civilians. In 1988-1989 6 Israeli civilians and a
soldier on leave were killed by these weapons.
• Molotov cocktails are being used by the different Lebanese political parties'
in the current street conflicts in Beirut.
• During the Apartheid Era in the Republic of South Africa, Molotov cocktails
were used against the South African Police Force and South African Defence
Force.
[edit] In counter-cultural publications

Molotov cocktail recipe from The Freedom Fighter's Manual, 1980s.

In Steal This Book, Abbie Hoffman recommends the reader to make a Molotov
cocktail "just to wipe the fear out of your mind and know that it works". His
suggestions for thickeners are polystyrene foam, soap flakes, rubber cement, or
Sterno Canned Heat. His suggestions for fuses include tampons, or if creating a
delayed action incendiary device, to use a firecracker or cherry bomb held to the
bottle with epoxy glue and fused with a cigarette, or a commercial dynamite fuse. He
ridicules the classic rioter's technique of "stuffing a rag in the neck of a bottle,
lighting and tossing" on safety grounds and recommends wiping the bottle with
rubbing alcohol for the same reason, as well as to remove fingerprints.[1]

In The Freedom Fighter's Manual, the CIA taught Nicaraguan civilians how to make
Molotov cocktails.

[edit] Legality
As incendiary devices, Molotov cocktails are illegal to manufacture or possess in
many regions. Their use against people is typically covered under a variety of
charges, including battery, actual or grievous bodily harm, manslaughter,
attempted murder, and murder, depending upon their effect and upon local laws.
Their use against property is usually covered under arson charges. In the United
States, Molotov cocktails are considered "destructive devices" and regulated by the
ATF
Pipe bomb
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

A trip-wire triggered pipe bomb mock-up used to train US military service

personnel.

A pipe bomb is an improvised explosive device, a tightly sealed section of pipe filled
with an explosive material. The containment provided by the pipe means that simple
low explosives can be used to produce a relatively large explosion, and the
fragmentation of the pipe itself creates potentially lethal shrapnel.

Premature detonation is a hazard of attempting to construct any homemade bomb,

and the materials and methods used with pipe bombs make unintentional
detonation incidents common, usually resulting in serious injury or death to the
assembler.

In many countries the manufacture or possession of a pipe bomb is a serious crime,

regardless of its intended use.

Design
Different pipe bombs appearances, from a bomb awareness report issued by the US
Department of State.

The bomb is usually a short section of steel water pipe containing the explosive
mixture and closed at both ends with steel or brass caps. A fuse is inserted into the
pipe with a lead running out through a hole in the side or capped end of the pipe.
The fuse can be electric with wires leading to a timer and battery or can be a
common fuse such as used in most consumer fireworks. All of the components are
easily obtainable.

Generally high explosives such as TNT are not used, because these and the
detonators they require are difficult to obtain. Such explosives also don't require the
containment of a pipe bomb. Instead, any sort of explosive mixture the builder can
find or make is used.

Some of the explosive mixtures used, such as black powder, match heads or chlorate
mixtures are very prone to ignition by the friction and static electricity generated
when packing the material inside the tube or attaching the end caps - accounting for
many injuries or deaths amongst builders. If sharp objects, such as nails or broken
glass, are added inside the bomb in an attempt to increase the amount of injury,
these also add to the risk of premature ignition.

The addition of loosely fixed shrapnel material outside of the bomb can increase the
danger of the explosion cheaply and easily. The Unabomber used this method by
taping carpentry nails to the outside of his devices. Other variations include using
scrap metal or ball bearings.

Devices made from plastic pipe, such as PVC, or thick walled cardboard tube would
not be normally considered as "pipe bombs".

[edit] Uses
Pipe bombs are often used by criminals, as well as paramilitaries and militias. They
also have a long tradition of recreational use for amusement or mischief with no
intention to cause injury to anyone - but the dangers of premature ignition, and the
inherent danger of shrapnel mean that when used in such a manner they are much
more dangerous than alternatives such as dry ice bomb or spud gun.

• On 20 October 1930, William Kogut, an inmate on San Quentin's death row,

tore up ordinary decks of playing cards and used them to assemble a pipe
bomb, which he used to take his own life.[1]

• On July 27, 1996 Eric Rudolph set up a pipe bomb which killed two people
and injured 111 more in the Centennial Olympic Park bombing during the
1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia.[2]

• On April 20, 1999 Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold used pipe bombs during
the Columbine High School massacre. They threw them around through the
course of their school massacre,.[3]

• On May 23, 2005 the Israel Defense Forces foiled a Palestinian pipe bomb
attack at an army roadblock. The 14-year old Palestinian boy was carrying
two pipe bombs on his belt.[4]

• Pipe bomb attacks were common during periods of heightened tension in

Northern Ireland. On the night of August 7, 2005 two pipe bomb attacks
targeted Catholics in the village of Cloughmills of North Antrim in Northern
Ireland. The following day, Sinn Féin Councillor Daithí McKay accused
loyalist paramilitaries of being behind the attacks.[5]

• On August 10, 2006 four pipe bombs were found in and around the city of
Salem, Oregon, and some suspected a serial pipe bomber was at fault. First, a
bomb was found attached to a car in the parking garage of Salem Hospital.
Then one was located in the parking lot of a 'Roth's IGA' grocery store.
Another was found attached to a car in a parking lot in Dallas, Oregon, and
another found alongside a Salem roadway. The Salem Police Bomb Squad
detonated the bomb outside the 'Roth's' and rendered the rest of the devices
safe. The known victims were all residents of south Salem, and a suspect is
facing trial.[6][7]

• On September 12, 2006 after an attack by militants on the US embassy in

Damascus, Syria, a van was recovered, full of conventional pipe bombs
strapped to small common household Liquefied Petroleum Gas canisters.
The attackers appeared to have failed to detonate the bombs; however
another smaller vehicle did explode outside the embassy during the late
morning surprise attack. [1] [2]

• On October 23, 2006 a university student was detained after saying he had
planted two pipe bombs outside the U.S. Embassy in Caracas, Venezuela.
One bomb was placed outside an adjacent school, while another was found in
a planter 50 feet from the Embassy's entrance. The bombs were designed to
 scatter pamphlets alluding to the Lebanese guerrilla group Hezbollah. Police
evacuated the area and detonated the bombs. No one was injured.[8]

• the paramilitary group PM5 uses pipe bombs against enemies.

Time bomb
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

(Redirected from Time bomb (explosive))

Jump to: navigation, search
For other uses, see Time bomb (disambiguation).

A classic time bomb: a bundle of dynamite sticks with a wind-up alarm clock as timer

A time bomb (or timebomb, time-bomb) is an improvised explosive device with a timer
so that it can be set to detonate any time.

Contents
[hide]

• 1 Construction and usage

o 1.1 Components
 1.1.1 Explosive charge
 1.1.2 Timer
 1.1.3 Detonator
• 2 List of notable incidents involving time bombs
• 3 In popular culture
• 4 See also
• 5 References

• 6 External links
 [edit] Construction and usage
[edit] Components

[edit] Explosive charge

Diagram of a simple time bomb

The explosive charge is the main component of any bomb, and makes up most of the
size and weight of it. It is the damaging element of the bomb (along with any fragments
or shrapnel the deflagration might produce with its container or neighboring objects).

[edit] Timer

Timers can vary from wind-up alarm clocks to cheap wrist watches and even computer
laptops.

[edit] Detonator

The detonator is the source of heat that will start the combustion (or chain reaction in
case of nuclear explosives). It is itself an explosive, with a lower ignition point than the
main explosive charge.

[edit] List of notable incidents involving time bombs

• On December 11, 1994, Philippine Airlines Flight 434, a Boeing 747-283B, was
flying its second leg, from Cebu to Tokyo, when a time bomb exploded, killing
one passenger. The rest of the passengers and the crew survived. The aircraft
made an emergency landing at Naha Airport, Okinawa, 1 hour after the bomb
exploded. The bomb was made of a Casio digital watch as the timer and a bottle
of liquid nitroglycerin as the explosive. It was planted under seat 26K by Al-
Qaeda member Ramzi Yousef, who boarded the flight under the alias Armaldo
Forlani. He planted the time bomb on the first leg from Manilla to Cebu, and
left the plane at Cebu with 25 other passengers. The bomb exploded 4 hours
after being planted. Yousef was arrested 2 months later in Pakistan.
• St. Nazaire Raid
• (date | location | event description | casualties)

[edit] In popular culture

Time bombs are very common in action/thriller TV series, cartoons, films and video
games, where heroes often escape the blast area or defuse the bombs at the very last
second (often performing a spectacular stunt).

Such fictional appearances include:

• Knight Rider, MacGyver, Men in Black: The Series, 24, Neighbour, and Sonic
X on television;
• James Bond: Goldfinger, Die Hard: With a Vengeance, The Peacemaker, Battle
Royale, Battle Royale 2: Requiem and New Police Story in film;
• Counter-Strike, Sonic Adventure 2, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty,
Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory, Trauma Center: Under The Knife and Trauma
Center Second Opinion in video games; and
• Songs by Chumbawamba, Godsmack, The Format, Demolition Hammer,
Buckcherry, The Dismemberment Plan, and Beck titled "Time bomb" or
"Timebomb".