No Silver-Bullets for IEDs
Abstract
Improvised explosive devices (IEDs) are not new. The counter-IED fight really started for the Marine Corps on October 23, 1983, when 220 Marines, 18 sailors, and 3 soldiers were killed during the bombing of the barracks in Beirut, Lebanon. Many other IED attacks have occurred since then, but the counter-IED fight did not really begin in earnest until after the initial invasion of Iraq. IED warfare is highly effective because it is always evolving. Unfortunately, as a result of this rapid evolution, technological solutions are simply always a step behind the enemy tactics, techniques, procedures, and equipment used to build and employ IEDs. Counter-IED is a problem that cannot be solved with technology alone. The current policy of buying technology as a "silver bullet" solution to the IED problem will yield only marginal results unless a major shift in the counter-IED mindset and approach occurs. IEDs are a problem that will continue to plague U.S. forces until IEDs are no longer a viable form of warfare for the terrorist. Technology has a role to play, but it is the successful, coordinated integration of technology along all five functional areas of counter-IED that will provide a comprehensive solution to the challenge posed by IEDs: prevention (capturing or killing emplacers, trigger-men, bomb makers, and other members of IED cells); detection (combining surveillance techniques with technology to determine the location of IEDs); neutralization (render safe or destroy encountered IEDs); protection (use of electronic warfare to prevent detonation rather than just relying on advanced armor like MRAP to mitigate the effects of an IED); and training.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2006
- Accession Number
- ADA509523
Entities
People
- Evan A. Day
Organizations
- Marine Corps University