Counter-IED Report Autumn 2018 - preview edition

ISSN 2050-6732 (Print) ISSN 2050-6740 (Online)

Counter-IED Report Autumn 2018

THE IMPROVISED EXPLOSIVE DEVICE – A DEFINING COMPONENT OF 21st CENTURY CONFLICT ENHANCING COUNTER-IED EFFORTS IN THE UNITED STATES INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS, BUILDING PARTNERSHIP CAPACITY, AND THE SECURITY SECTOR IN AFRICA LET’S MAKE THE BALL TO BE IN OUR COURT, LET’S BRING NEW AIRS FOR “ATTACK THE NETWORKS” ADVANCES IN IR SPECTROSCOPY FOR TRACE EXPLOSIVES DETECTION IEDs: ‘SAMJHAUTA EXPRESS BLASTS OF 2007 – AN INSIGHT’ THE ASSESSMENT AND SELECTION OF BOMB DISPOSAL CANDIDATES: WHY PERSONALITY TRAITS MATTER IMPROVISED CHEMICAL MUNITIONS IN SYRIA

Behind every successful mission, there’s a TALON®

TALON’s legacy continues with its 5th generation of field and combatproven technology for IED, EOD, CBRN, Hazmat and security and rescue missions.

www.QinetiQ-NA/TALON Robots@QinetiQ-NA.com

REPORT CONTRIBUTORS

Counter-IED Report Published by Delta Business Media Limited 3rd floor, 207 Regent Street London, W1B 3HH United Kingdom Tel: +44 (0) 20 7193 2303 Fax: +44 (0) 20 3014 7659 info@deltabusinessmedia.com www.deltabusinessmedia.com www.counteriedreport.com

ISSN 2050-6732 (Print) ISSN 2050-6740 (Online)

MEDIA PARTNERS

The opinions and views expressed in the editorial content in this report are those of the authors alone and do not necessarily represent the views of any organisation with which they may be associated. Material in advertisements and promotional features may be considered to represent the views of the advertisers and promoters. The views and opinions expressed in this report do not necessarily express the views of the publisher. While every care has been taken in the preparation of the report, the publisher is not responsible for such opinions and views or for any inaccuracies in the articles. Š 2018. The entire contents of this publication are protected by copyright.

Full details are available from the publisher. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner.

counteriedreport.com

3

TaCTICAL FRONT LINE DETECTION Landmines, UXO, IEDs and deeply-buried caches... global issues addressed by world-class experts introducing the

NEW

•

Offers performance, durability, and portability for use in all soil environments.

•

Environmentally sealed. Fully waterproof to 3 meters.

•

5 search head options provide the flexibility to locate targets from small, low-metal content mines to large, deep UXO.

•

Custom packages available. Order your AML-750 to fit your specific needs.

® Made In USA

garrett.com Tel: 1.972.494.6151 800-234-6151

®

AML 750’s telescoping shaft adjusts for scanning in kneeling or prone positions. Searchcoil can also be quickly rotated into other orientations to scan walls or embankments.

Garrett CSI Pro-Pointer® AT

PN: 1140920

• Pinpoint evidence quickly with patented proportional audio/vibrate alarm or choose Stealth Mode (vibrate only).

• Fully waterproof to 10 feet.

• Includes holster and built-in LED flashlight.

• Fast Retune—Quick press instantly tunes out environment or narrows detection field for precise pinpointing of large targets.

MAXIMUM SENSITIVITY for detection of small buried targets or to scan suspicious packages for forbidden devices. Choose from three Sensitivity levels.

CONTENTS

CONTENTS

IFC QINETIQ NORTH AMERICA 4 - 5 GARRETT METAL DETECTORS 7

ICOR TECHNOLOGY

9

DSA DETECTION

11

METROHM AG

12 FOREWORD

By Rob Hyde-Bales, Consulting Editor, Counter-IED Report 15

HARRIS CORPORATION

16

SCHONSTEDT INSTRUMENT COMPANY

17

THE IMPROVISED EXPLOSIVE DEVICE – A DEFINING COMPONENT OF 21st CENTURY CONFLICT

By Rob Hyde-Bales, Consulting Editor, Counter-IED Report

25

LOGOS IMAGING

25

DYNITEC GMBH

26

ENHANCING COUNTER-IED EFFORTS IN THE UNITED STATES

By Sean Haglund, Deputy Chief, Department of Homeland Security National Protection and Programs Directorate’s Office for Bombing Prevention

31

AGILENT TECHNOLOGIES, INC.

6

COUNTER-IED REPORT, Autumn 2018

CONTENTS

CONTENTS

32

NOVO DIGITAL RADIOGRAPHY

33

INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS, BUILDING PARTNERSHIP CAPACITY, AND THE SECURITY SECTOR IN AFRICA

By Michael Solis, United States Africa Command, J34 C-IED Deputy Branch Chief

39

ENDEAVOR ROBOTICS

40

INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EXPO 2018

41

LET’S MAKE THE BALL TO BE IN OUR COURT, LET’S BRING NEW AIRS FOR “ATTACK THE NETWORKS”

By Lieutenant Colonel Jose M Rufas, Chief of Attack the Networks Branch, C-IED Centre of Excellence

47

EOD/IED & COUNTERMINE SYMPOSIUM

48

7th SPECIAL OPERATIONS & IRREGULAR WARFARE SYMPOSIUM

49

ADVANCES IN IR SPECTROSCOPY FOR TRACE EXPLOSIVES DETECTION

By Kristy DeWitt, IARPA Program Manager

57

EDEX 2018

58

COUNTERING EXPLOSIVE THREAT AND DEMINING 2018

59

LIGHTWEIGHT, RUGGED BIDIRECTIONAL REMOTE FIRING DEVICE WITH A RUGGED REUSABLE RECEIVER

By DynITEC GmbH

62

BEHAVIOURAL ANALYSIS 2019

8

COUNTER-IED REPORT, Autumn 2018

X-Ray Image

Actual DSA training kit in the image above

CONTENTS

CONTENTS

63

THE ASSESSMENT AND SELECTION OF BOMB DISPOSAL CANDIDATES: WHY PERSONALITY TRAITS MATTER

By Dr. Edwin A. Bundy, Combating Terrorism Technical Support Office

71

WHO PAID FOR THE BOMB? ANALYZING FINANCIAL SUPPORT TO THREAT NETWORKS

By Lieutenant Colonel Jose M Rufas, Chief of Attack the Networks Branch, C-IED Centre of Excellence

78

SCTX 2019

79

IEDs: ‘SAMJHAUTA EXPRESS BLASTS OF 2007 – AN INSIGHT’

By Colonel HR Naidu Gade – Indian Army Veteran

86

IDEF 2019

87

IMPROVISED CHEMICAL MUNITIONS IN SYRIA, JANUARY 2017–AUGUST 2018

By N.R. Jenzen-Jones & Galen Wright, Armament Research Services (ARES)

99

PALESTINIANS IN GAZA PRODUCE AND FLY VARIOUS AIRBORNE IIDs INTO ISRAEL

By Chief Superintendent (ret.) Michael Cardash, Terrogence Senior CIED Analyst/Author of Mobius reports

108 NCT SOUTH AMERICA 2019 109 THE MOST DEADLY UN MISSION TO DATE…

By Marc Robert Essertaize CD1 MID, Petty Officer Second Class

EOD/CIED/IEDD Operator/Instructor 115

BIDEC 2019

OBC SCANNA MSC LTD 10 COUNTER-IED REPORT, Autumn 2018

Life saving decision making in the palm of your hand!

Mira DS is the new handheld material identification system from Metrohm. Identify hazardous materials and explosives in seconds!

• • • •

Powerful – respond to threats faster and safer than ever Fast – get results in seconds Flexible – be prepared for every treacherous situation Robust – MIL-STD-810G and IP67 certified

Watch a demo on metrohm.com/mira-ds

FOREWORD

FOREWORD

By Rob Hyde-Bales, Consulting Editor, Counter-IED Report

A

defining component of the two major international conflicts of this century – in Afghanistan and Iraq – has been the Improvised Explosive Device (IED).

It was in these wars that international coalitions had to face the IED for the first time and initially they were illprepared to counter this threat. IEDs had been used extensively before – in particular in Vietnam where the US forces faced them in the war of the 1960s and 1970s. In Northern Ireland during the conflict over the final three decades of the last century, the British Army had to deal with increasingly deadly and sophisticated IEDs. Neither the British nor the US forces were initially sufficiently equipped or trained to deal with this threat in Afghanistan or Iraq. In the case of the UK, troops were using Land Rover vehicles that had been modified for use in Northern Ireland and were totally inadequate to face the IEDs of the Islamist insurgents. The US had wrongly assumed that the war in Iraq would be of limited duration and had not properly anticipated the IED threat. The result of this miscalculation was that the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicle was not produced until 2007.

A major factor in the case of the UK armed forces was that at the end of the Cold War, emphasis on Counter-Mine operations reduced significantly, and the same happened at the end of the conflict in Northern Ireland in terms of Counter-IED emphasis. Both of these factors contributed to skill fade.

Thus the coalition forces and their governments had to rapidly recalibrate their TTPs, training, Research 12 COUNTER-IED REPORT, Autumn 2018

and Development and their equipment programmes to meet the ubiquitous IED threat in both Iraq and Afghanistan. In these conflicts the IED became the major factor in coalition Force Protection considerations in terms of personnel, vehicles and facilities. It was the main cause of fatalities and life changing injuries in both the coalition forces and civilian populations. Over time and with experience gained, a comprehensive Counter – IED campaign was developed and remains extant today. It comprises three pillars – Prepare the Force, Attack the Networks and Defeat and Exploit the Device – these pillars must be based on a solid bedrock of Intelligence and Understanding. These latter two functions were initially both sadly lacking in terms of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq – this despite the fact that 2006 signified the beginning of the UK’s fourth war in Afghanistan.

Dr Edwin Bundy of the Combating Terrorism TSO within the US DoD examines the question of the selection of bomb disposal candidates and the importance of personality traits in this respect. He points out that little comprehensive research has been conducted into identifying the cognitive characteristics that make a “good” bomb disposal candidate. He examines research into psychographic assessments and how they would benefit the selection of future bomb disposal trainees. Prior research into the personality profiles of bomb technicians suggests that a range of measurable mental, physical and emotional traits appear to exist that are common to a successful bomb technician. He recommends the development of a test

FOREWORD

or battery of tests to identify the characteristics that make a “good” bomb technician.

Dr Kristy DeWitt, a programme manager in the US Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity organisation (IARPA), examines the operational question of just how little explosives residue can be reliably detected. Testing for minute traces of explosives is the motive behind significant US and UK developmental research programmes and is a key element of successful Counter-IED operations.

A significant challenge in such detection is the very low vapour pressure of most explosives. Dr DeWitt outlines the category of spectrometry – the hardware and processing necessary to collect an infrared spectrum of the explosive target that provides a chemical fingerprint that can be used to identify a particular compound. Spectroscopy covers the algorithms and processing necessary to determine if the IR signature from the spectrometer contains a signature distinctly identifiable as a target explosive or explosive related compound. Though the problem is not yet solved, IR spectroscopy is an approach with lots of promise together with significant recent advances that bode well for continuing efforts in the Counter-IED campaign – in particular the standoff detection of IEDs. In his highly topical article Michael Solis, C-IED Deputy Branch Chief in the US Africa Command highlights the disparity in Counter-IED training given to African countries by Western nations. These diverging Western training curricula undermine the most effective proposed solution – to align Western efforts and doctrine under a unified training and development programme. The key issue associated with this large amount of Western training activity is the delivery by Western nations of diverging TTPs, varied doctrine, differing equipment and the need for unified IEDD standards to which the West should

train and peacekeeping organisations adopt. Thus the recently published UN IEDD Standards which are modelled on the highly respected UN IMAS will provide a most welcome and major contribution to the global Counter-IED Campaign. The standards have the potential to unify Western partner nations’ efforts by standardizing their capacity building doctrine and their partner nations’ strategic and operational design. They are not a panacea; instead, they are a starting point for the creation of a comprehensive and institutional approach to building national C-IED capacity.

In a graphic article Marc Essertaize describes his operational work undertaking IEDD for UNMAS in Mali.

He vividly outlines the hazardous work that UNMAS undertakes in Mali and other countries. The team he describes is well equipped in terms of protected vehicles and also drone support that regularly proves crucial to convoy security. He is working alongside three African nations in this article – Mali, Togo and Senegal – and it is interesting to read the differing traits of personnel from these nations. The security situation in Mali remains very challenging and the article demonstrates quite clearly the complete disregard and contempt that the Islamist Terrorist Groups have for the civilian population they purport to represent.

The Islamists regularly emplace IEDs that kill and injure the civilian population and also target them directly by means of arbitrary executions of innocent villagers. Above all, the author shows that his previous military career and experience prior to joining UNMAS are invaluable.

In his wide ranging article – Enhancing CounterIED Efforts in the United States – Sean W Haglund of the Office for Bombing Prevention (OBP) in the DHS emphasises the ever present and continually evolving threat from IEDs to the US homeland and describes the efforts of his office to counter this threat. He outlines how the OBP accomplishes its counteriedreport.com

13

FOREWORD

mission through a focused portfolio of complementary Counter-IED capability development programmes that support four core initiatives. They are C-IED Strategy, Integration and Communications; C-IED Assessment and Planning; C-IED Information Sharing; and C-IED Training and Awareness. The ability to counter the latest IED threat must be continually dispersed across the community, be interagency and leverage the support of the general public. The OBP will continue to offer a full spectrum of training, information sharing and capability enhancement programmes across the public and private sectors.

Lt Col Jose M Rufas of the NATO Counter-IED CoE in Madrid, examines the constantly growing nexus between terrorism, insurgency, systemic corruption and major crime, the latter both national and transnational.

The support given to terrorist networks by certain nations, ethnic diasporas, some highly questionable NGOs and charities and financial institutions gives grave cause for concern. The terrorist and insurgency groups of today are highly skilled in the use of social media to spread their perverted propaganda, as well as the use of traditional and opaque financial systems and of late crypto currencies. Many of these problems stem from the recent conflicts in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya, which have left significant ungoverned territories where crime and terrorism flourish. These activities benefit from widespread systemic corruption at all levels of society in large parts of South Asia, South and Central America and, in particular, Africa.

In the cases of South and Central America and Afghanistan, there is the ever malevolent presence of a massive trade in illegal narcotics. It requires a major international coordinated effort from Western Governments, together with their law enforcement, military and security services to dismantle and neutralise the nexus between terrorist networks and major crime. â– 14 COUNTER-IED REPORT, Autumn 2018

Rob Hyde-Bales biography During his career in the UK Royal Engineers, Rob Hyde-Bales was responsible for landmine clearance in Libya and, more latterly, Afghanistan in the running of the first United Nations humanitarian landmine clearance training programme – Operation Salam. The programme trained Afghan male refugees in landmine clearance techniques, and Afghan women and children in mine awareness and avoidance training. More recently he set up the Caribbean Search Centre in Kingston, Jamaica. The Centre is designed to train security forces across the Caribbean in modern search techniques. After retiring from the army he joined Cranfield University at Shrivenham, near Oxford, and undertook a research project on behalf of the UK Ministry of Defence that examined ways to improve the sharing of IED threat information between the military and civilian organisations in hazardous areas.

GOING INTO HARM’S WAY SO YOU DON’T HAVE TO The T7 Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) System executes a wide variety of operations — keeping your team out of harm’s way. The T7’s intuitive control and human-like dexterity make it easy to complete complex tasks with minimal training time.

Even in the harshest, most austere environments, you can count on this rugged and highly reliable robotic solution to deliver uncompromised performance. And with the ability to be rapidly reconfigured, the T7 evolves with your changing mission requirements.

Our promise is simple: to connect, inform, and protect.

harris.com/robotics | #harriscorp

When Accuracy Really Counts Demining Professionals Count On

4 Models to Choose From

GA-52Cx

GA-72Cd

GA-92XTd

GA-72Cd-ML

UXO • MEC • ERW Ammunition • Bombs • Cluster Munitions • Grenade • Mortar Rounds • Weapons

THE WORLD OF SCHONSTEDT Over 60 Years, Over 350,000 Underground Locators Deployed Including over 500 through the Schonstedt Humanitarian Demining Initiative

Schonstedt.com Order/Info Hotline:

SHDI BUY A SCHONSTEDT SAVE A LIFE

FindUXO.com

800-999-8280 • Find Your Local Dealer: www.schonstedt.com

To receive a full PDF version of the Counter-IED Report, please complete the online form.

Please provide a valid corporate, government or academic email address. We reserve the right to refuse to accept any application at our discretion.

If you have any questions please email to: editorial@deltabusinessmedia.com

REQUEST YOUR COPY OF THE COUNTER-IED REPORT

www.counteriedreport.com Unique content │ Global reach │ In print and online

Counter-IED Report

published by Delta Business Media Limited 3rd floor, 207 Regent Street, London, W1B 3HH, United Kingdom Tel: +44 (0) 20 7193 2303 Fax: +44 (0) 20 3014 7659 info@deltabusinessmedia.com www.deltabusinessmedia.com