Standing Well Back
21st Century

Intriguingly Similar Designs of Improvised Munitions Over Decades

One of the most notable improvised weapons in the last 15 years has perhaps been the “IRAM”.  This “Improvised Rocket Assisted Munition” appeared in 2004 in Iraq, using the rocket motor of a 107mm rocket with a “bolted on” over-calibre warhead. This is a relatively short-range munition with more target effect than a standard 107mm, but quite difficult to range and target.  The IRAM munition came in various designs. Here’s one variant:


IRAMs 2004

Such munitions appear to be being used now by Syrian government forces and others in Syria. See this report from the excellent Brown Moses/Bellingcat website from 2013:   http://brown-moses.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/is-syrian-military-using-another-type.html.  Sometimes the users seem to have not fired these from 107mm tubes (with the overcalibre warhead “left out the front”) but from tubes with a greater diameter. See: http://brown-moses.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/the-syrian-national-defence-forces-most.html .  In this variant the rocket motor is “under-calibre”, in effect.

When the IRAM appeared in 2004 it was commonly thought to be a new type of improvised munition. But as readers of this blog might already suspect, it wasn’t new at all – the concept was used in the early part of the Vietnam war. Here’s the image of Viet Cong overcaliber warhead that was fitted to a 107mm rocket, just as they are today. The image provider suggests that the warhead was cast iron, but the welds in what is probably rolled mild steel are clearly present.  These early Viet Cong “IRAMs” were fitted with what were described as WW2 Japanese impact fuzes.

 


Viet Cong over-calibre warhead for 107mm rocket


Japanese WW2 impact fuze on Viet Cong warhead

Now here’s another interesting thing – probably coincidental. The design of the Viet Cong over-calibre warhead is remarkably similar to a Provisional IRA mortar bomb warhead. This image is from a de-fuzed Mk 12 mortar bomb taken in 1991.  The IRA warhead was of course not on a rocket but on a mortar, but the design structure of the mild steel welded warhead looks remarkably similar to the Viet Cong warhead, does it not and is of an almost identical construction. The Mk 12 mortar of course is a horizontally fired anti-armour weapon with a copper cone liner, but the outer form of the warhead is remarkably similar.

 


PIRA Mk 12 Mortar bomb with identical shaped warhead

Keen readers of this blog will recall too that Irish revolutionaries were firing rockets horizontally at the British Military as early as 1803, using a rocket designed in 1696. 

2000-2010

Weirder than weird – Fake bomb detectors now used by Hezbollah

Sometimes it’s simply too difficult to comment.  Here’s today’s example of the “beyond any understanding” category.

A. Over the past few months there have been two trials in the UK of individuals offering fake bomb detectors. The details can be seen here (Gary Bolton) and here (James McCormick).  I can assure you that these bomb detectors are a scam. I know this absolutely, and I’m appalled that people have bought them and indeed still use them. They are not only a scam but a very obvious scam. I don’t doubt that some ignorant people believe in them, but they are wrong, very wrong. There is no scientific reason to support their use. They are a toy sold in a criminal scam that puts lives at risk. Full stop. Period.

B. Today a car bomb was found in a suburb of Beirut known for the presence of Hezbollah. There’s a picture in the news this evening here, showing Hezbollah security staff using a fake bomb detector. Really.

Sometimes the world is too weird for comment.

20th Century

Bombs in lavatories

The conviction of a team of radical would-be terrorists who discussed planting IEDs in the lavatories of the British Stock Exchange  reminds me that lavatories are a theme in many IED attacks, which I think is curious.  Here’s a range of previous “bombs in the bogs””

Only a couple of days ago some sort of apparent explosive device was found in the lavatory of a Libyan plane in Egypt    For what its worth I don’t think it was an IED but the story is pretty cloudy for now.

In May 2008 there was the very peculiar incident in Exeter, UK, where a decidedly odd individual detonated a device while he was in the lavatories of a fast food restaurant.

In 1957 an elderly man blew himself up in the lavatory of a passenger aircraft over California. A good investigation report is here    The device was constructed by dynamite and blasting caps with the blasting caps initiated by matches and burning paper.  Only the perpetrator was killed.

A similar dynamite IED functioned in the lavatory of an aircraft in 1962 over Iowa, this time killing all aboard. http://www.airsafe.com/plane-crash/western-airlines-flight-39-1957.pdf

A Canadian passenger aircraft  blew up after a device exploded in the lavatory over British Colombia in 1965. The crime was never solved.

In 1939, as part of a significant Irish terrorist bombing campaign in England a bomb was planted in a public lavatory in Oxford street. Disaster was averted when the lavatory attendant dumped the IED in a  bucket of water (not a good response, but a brave man).  Several other incidents in this campaign were IEDs left in lavatories. The attendant was awarded £5 for his bravery

In 1884, during another Irish bombing campaign in England, (yes there have been a few) the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, Scotland Yard, was severely damaged in an explosion caused by a large IED being left in a public lavatory next door to the police Headquarters.  Here’s a picture.

There’s an interesting aspect to this story. Several months earlier, in 1883, an Irish revolutionary organization , the Irish Republican Brotherhood sent a letter to Scotland Yard  threatening to ‘blow Superintendent Williamson off his stool’ and dynamite all the public buildings in London on 30 May 1884. The Met Police largely ignored the warning, and then on the very day promised the explosion at Scotland Yard occurred, as did two other explosions elsewhere in London.  The failure of the Met Police to protect their own headquarters, as well as the occurrence of several other IED attacks across London embarrassed the police severely and led indirectly to the formation of Special Branch.

There are numerous other IED attacks on lavatories, too many to list.

19th Century

History Repeating Itself

The post below on historical IEDs clearly was of interest…thanks for all the comments on and offline. So I’ll plan to update an interesting historical example every week or so, where possible drawing a link to modern IED attacks…. I’ve got a fair library of these, from all over the world including a surprising number in the USA. In amongst my usual posts of course. As ever, comments, additions, arguments, points of fact etc are welcome.

So, not related to anything particular at the moment, here’s a comparison of two VBIED attacks, one in history, one in the modern era. (some of you will have seen this example before in my gigs). This comparison works well with some “story telling”, so forgive me its structure which is based on a verbal presentation and hence in a narrative mode.

In 1800, Napoleon was ruler of France. A short stockily built Artillery officer (aren’t they all?) and the son of a diplomat, he had seized power in a military coup some years earlier. On Christmas Eve he and his wife, the lovely Josephine, were off to the theatre to see an opera. They were running late, as Josephine “powdered her nose”. Grumpily because he was late he and Josephine got into their carriage, and he shouted to the carriage driver to drive fast, make haste. His route and his attendance at the event was predictable. On the route, on the Rue St Nicaise in Paris, a cart full of barrels of gunpowder (a VBIED ) had been left, with a terrorist set to light the fuse on it when the Emperor’s carriage turned into the street, with the fuze length set to explode the VBIED as the emperors carriage passed by, escorted by bodyguards on horseback.

However, the speed of the carriage, running late, meant it passed the VBIED and had turned the corner, before it exploded.

As a result of the explosion, numerous bystanders were killed along with two of Napoleon’s escorts, according to some reports. He survived but the window of his carriage was broken in the blast. There’s quite an interesting back story about various culprits, and the ensuing investigation, but I have no space here to go into detail. I’ve only sketched the detail here

So, wind the clock forward to Christmas Day, 2002, 202 years and one day later. President Musharraf is ruler of Pakistan. A short, stockily built Artillery officer (aren’t they all?) and the son of a diplomat, he had seized power in a military coup some few years earlier. He sets off in his vehicle convoy on a predictable route, with an armed escort, through the Garrison town of Rawalpindi. Along the route, two suicide terrorists driving pick-up trucks (the modern equivalent of a cart, surely?) attacked the convoy, front and rear. Musharraf escaped but two of his escort were killed and the window of his Mercedes is broken…

 

And the moral of the story….? Never trust an artillery officer….they are short and fat and tend to seize power in a military coup…

(next week…. A clockwork timed IED that killed 800 people in 1585… constructed in the most remarkable way. I kid you not.)

1990-2000

Collar Bombs and the Media

The recent collar bomb incident in Australia (link here; (a hoax) highlights to me the role that modern media can play in designing both IEDs and indeed in designing the criminal operations associated with them. I’m treading a fine line here between discussing my concerns and avoiding adding to them. But I’m working on the basis that even the most stupid terrorist has access to a TV and the internet and has worked out the joys of google. And I’m not going to discuss much at all about the technicalities of construction or render-safe. My discussion focuses on the widespread coverage of such events and the ideas they give miscreants.

For background, collar bombs are not new, and normally associated with extortion or hostage situations. In 2000 there was a well-documented case in Colombia, that resulted in the death of a victim and a bomb disposal operator. Less well reported was an earlier case in Venezuela that I suspect was indirectly linked. The Colombian case was unusual for the complexity of the device and surprisingly small amount of money being extorted – if I recall correctly about $6000.

In 2003 there were more cases in Colombia and perhaps Venezuela again.

In 2003 a well publicized case of a collar bomb occurred in Erie, Pennsylvania.

The concept has been used frequently and often by TV producers. The movie “Miami Vice” in 2006 featured one and the TV show CSI Miami also used such a story in 2002, An episode of Hawaii five 0 (season 1 episode 12) used a similar story. One episode of (“1000 ways to die”) also featured a device of this nature.

A film released 2011, called 30 minutes or less featured a neck bomb.

Other films featuring collar bombs include:

  • Swordfish
  • The Running Man
  • SAW 3
  • Battlefield Earth

Other TV shows that featured the concept include:

  • NCIS
  • Nikita
  • Flashpoint
  • MacGyver
  • Torchwood
  • Criminal Minds
  • Law and Order: Criminal Intent
  • The Sarah Connor Chronicles
  • Alias

A short drama film was made called PVC1 received widespread attention which featured a collar bomb.

The video game SAW also featured a collar bomb detonating.

The concept also fascinates documentary makers… The following have featured examination of the Erie device:

    • America’s Most Wanted have featured the case three times

Anderson Cooper 360

  • Fox News Channel “In the line up”
  • The 99 most Bizarre Crimes

 

I think significantly, a very detailed analysis of the Erie case was published in Wired magazine 8 months ago.

So in truth, there is no shortage if inspiration for evil people….but perhaps TV and movie script writers do lack imagination and like copying each others ideas more than terrorists do.

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