EFPs; the new AK-47?

[Stan]

Hey Bourbon !

There is a quote in a Time article by Bob Baer regarding EFP's worth sharing:

I cannot debate the veracity of it, so I don't know. Thank you Adam L. and J.C. for your insight on this matter, the migration of EFP's is something I have been wondering about, and I'm confined to public sources only.

Back here in the former East Bloc, we'd call it little more than a game of cat and mouse. However, we outnumber the criminals (well, we feel certain we do), and, we gather them up one at a time. This is not a combat zone, and the criminals do not have free access to sufficient explosives. Trying to figure out what the IEDs are intended for here is difficult (vs Iraq and Afghanistan), so we concentrate on where the raw materials are most likely to come from, and what or who is the likely client, and follow leads in conjunction with LE.

One question I have for ordnance guys:
How different are EFPs seen today, compared to the device used by Badder-Meinhof (suspected) to kill the Chairman of Deutsche Bank in '89? A device which I believe was an EFP or shaped charge. In terms of technological advances, skill needed to manufacture, sophistication...

If you mean the infrared trigger device used to kill Alfred Herrhausen, then nothing new in this part of the world. We've seen far more complicated devices assembled by disgruntled security personnel as early as 1987 and as late as 1991. Ours were in apartment buildings bringing down 7 stories with no apparent target nor advanced warning or threat.

You barely need 9 VDC even for most crude detonators from WWII. How you get the juice to the detonator is little more than reading the owners manual from a remote controlled car to a home security system.

BTW, we don't really care what color the wires are when employing a water canon

[bourbon]

If you mean the infrared trigger device used to kill Alfred Herrhausen, then nothing new in this part of the world. We've seen far more complicated devices assembled by disgruntled security personnel as early as 1987 and as late as 1991. Ours were in apartment buildings bringing down 7 stories with no apparent target nor advanced warning or threat.

Yeah, the Herrhausen device. From my understanding it was an IR trigger hooked up satchel of explosives and a copper plate. A spotter armed the device by remote as the car was approaching, and the Mercedes passing through the IR beam triggered the bomb sending a copper projectile into rear-passenger door. It sounded similar to these EFP's Iraq.

Security personnel putting bombs in apartment buildings? You were in Moscow during September 1999?

[Rank amateur]

Thanks JC. Very interesting; keep finding them. Stay safe.

[Stan]

Hey Bourbon !

Yeah, the Herrhausen device. From my understanding it was an IR trigger hooked up satchel of explosives and a copper plate. A spotter armed the device by remote as the car was approaching, and the Mercedes passing through the IR beam triggered the bomb sending a copper projectile into rear-passenger door. It sounded similar to these EFP's Iraq.

If you look back to the mid and late 80s, US Military Attachés fell victim to very similar attacks in the middle east, even with the protection of light armored vehicles. The triggers then were components from just about any Radio Shack (breaking or passing through a beam). The 'plate' was propelled through the driver's-side armor, decapitated the driver, and continued through the passenger side armor.

Someone had far too much time to think about defeating his/her target, and his target was too into his routines to pay sufficient attention !

Security personnel putting bombs in apartment buildings? You were in Moscow during September 1999?

Basically an inside job that went very wrong. Not in Moscow, but Estonia for over 10 years. We had more than a (UXO employed) detonation a day in the mid 90s (Mafia related) and in the late 90s, an IED a month. The bomb maker had an extensive engineering background placing home made linear charges on major structural foundations and also employed infrared triggers (from home alarm systems) for his VOIEDs.