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James ZieglerMartin Nelson

United States Naval Academy

UNCLASSIFIED

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Iraq Casualties

Source: www.ICasualties.org

DatesNumber of U.S.

Fatalities

IED

Fatalities

IED

Percent

2003 486 21 4%

2004 848 288 34%

2005 846 534 63%

2006 (3 mo) 124 87 69%Mar. 2003 –

Mar, 20062,304(killed)

16,653 (wounded) 40%

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• Problem occurred because terrorists are using a new technology that had not been foreseen.

• Previous terrorist bombs detonated using timing devices. Difficult to use against defended targets, and could not be used against mobile targets.

• Widespread availability of commercial RF switches (car fobs, cell phone, etc.) allowed precise timing without exposing terrorist to counter-attack.

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Extended IED Tactics

• Ten or more holes dug to hold 6” artillery shells. Shells buried and connected by flash cord.

• Prime IED exposed so (1) traffic will stop and (2) will act as marker for distant activator.

• When traffic stops, IEDs activated using RF control.

Prime IED exposed to stop traffic

Traffic

Hidden IEDs destroy stopped traffic

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DAISY CHAINS FEATURING MORE THAN 20 ROUNDS HAVE BEEN DISCOVERED

• 22 155-mm rounds

• 380 m kill zone

• Daisy chained with det cord

• Buried Shells have been excavated

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Iraq IED Tactics• 2003-2004 IEDs planted

at night using 5-20 men digging holes next to road.

• 2004 Deployment of night-vision Predator UAVs used seek-and-destroy tactics.

• By end of 2004, night deployment of IEDs effectively ended on major highways.

• 2005 – IEDs planted in daylight by men dressed as Road Crews.

• 2005 – Less than 20% of day-light buried IEDs reported by Iraqi civilians.

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• Most common RF - IED initiator• No modification req’d; output

taken to detonator

RF - IED INITIATORS: CAR ALARMS / KEYLESS ENTRY SYSTEMS

Car alarm receiver

Car alarm transmitters (key fobs)

• 12 V power• Effective range 100-150 m

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RF - IED INITIATORS: WIRELESS DOORBELLS

• Inexpensive

• Readily available

• Simple to modify for IED use

• Output taken from chime speaker

Doorbell receiver

Doorbell transmitters

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RF - IED INITIATORS: TWO-WAY RADIOS

Two-way radio hidden in a wooden box

• Large choice of frequencies• Ranges of up to 5 km• Some homemade decoder boards

encountered• Requires some degree of skill

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RF - IED INITIATORS: CORDLESS PHONES

Long-range handset and base station (12 V power)

HOUSEHOLD handset and base station (12 V power)

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RF - IED INITIATORS: MODEL TOYS

Model receiver in box Futaba Model 6XA-FM

Trigger controller Toy car modified as RF - IED

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GENERAL OBSERVATIONS: IEDs IN IRAQ

70% of attacks in the Sunni

Triangle occur during morning

0900-1200

RC DEVICES ENCOUNTERED

DEVICE RANGE

Car alarm/keyless entry 200 m

Wireless doorbell 200 m

Cordless phone 100 m

Nokia phone 1-2 km+

Model car/toy receivers 1-150 m

Transceivers/decoder 5 km

VEHICLE CONVOYS ARE PRIME TARGETS FOR IEDs

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IED - MAIN CHARGES• Majority are ordnance items: artillery

shells and mortar rounds

• Bulk TNT, PE-4, and PE-4A also used (PE-4 and PE-4A are RDX-based)

• No homemade explosives encountered

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IED - CONCEALMENT• Cast in concrete

• Hidden in roadside trash

• Placed in burlap or plastic bags

• Concealed in tires

• Hidden in trees

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IED - Detonation

• Primarily commercial electric blasting caps: several foreign designs

• Detonating cord also used

• Standard procedure: fuze wells potted with PE-4A; blasting caps or detonating cord then inserted

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RF Jamming is indiscriminate and requires guessing as to frequency band. Also interferes with military communications and civilian RF applications.

What Countermeasures for Simple RF-IEDs?Bradley Fighting Vehicle (22 tons) fitted with RF Jamming.

>1,000 units, “Warlock”, being produced by Raytheon (based on Univ. New Mexico design).

Effectiveness is moderate because BFV is slow (< 30 mph).

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IED Countermeasures• Some experts believe that a more effective IED countermeasure might be achieved

through technology that can detect IEDs from afar, and then create a pulse of electromagnetic energy to prematurely detonate them, or burn out and destroy their circuitry. One device is the Neutralizing Improvised Explosive Devices with Radio Frequency (NIRF). The device produces a high-frequency field at very short range that can neutralize electronics. The Pentagon reportedly will deploy NIRF in Iraq later this year.

• Other devices create a protective area around moving convoys. A Pentagon microwave project, code-named PING, is already deployed in Iraq, and reportedly has been successful at helping locate insurgent weapons caches. The machine, which fits inside a Humvee, sends out electromagnetic waves that can penetrate a building’s interior to detect IEDs.

• Other sensors, such as the Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy system (LIBS), are being developed to detect traces of explosives used for IEDs from as far away as 30 meters.

• The “Talon” is a bomb-disposal Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV), or robot, that comes equipped with a mechanical arm to pick up and inspect dangerous objects, such as suspected IEDs. More than a hundred of the remote-control robots are now being used in Iraq and Afghanistan, with an equal amount on order. Another robot, called the “PackBot” has also been used by the Army to clear bombs and explore suspected terrorist hideouts.

http://www.usembassy.it/pdf/other/RS22330.pdf

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• 2002 Funding ~ $ 30 M

• 2004 Funding ~ $ 85 M

• 2006 Funding ~ $ 3,320 M

Funding for IED Countermeasures

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Causing Electronics to Lock-UpUsing Particle Beams in Air

• Irradiation with Neutrons has no effect (doses

exceeding 1012/cm2 (2 hour irradiation).

• Irradiation with high energy protons (capable of going

100’) has no effect (doses exceeding 1010/cm2 (1 hour

irradiation).

• Electron beams – Total lock-up within 1 second

for a beam of < 1μA. Note: An e- beam of

18 MeV might go 230’ in air (theory).

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23 MeV e- AcceleratorsWidely Available

Johns Hopkins Medical Center

23 MeV Varian Therapy Tool

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Electron accelerator (18 MeV) used in current e-Zapper tests

The electron accelerator used in the tests described in this report. It creates an electron beam with energies up to 18 MeV, which exit from the 3mm tube at the left. The accelerator is an RF linac, capable of producing more than 10mA (DC equivalent) of electrons at the maximum energy.

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e-Zapper

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Typical e-Zapper Target

A typical e-Zapper target used in the experiments. This is a walkie-talkie with a quoted range of 2 miles. It has both a bell alarm and a LED alarm, either of which could be rewired to activate a micro-relay connecting a battery to a detonator.

The walkie-talkie has three primary chips, any of which could disable it. The walkie-talkies were killed in <5 seconds using about 50 nA/cm2 of e-beam intensity.

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Intensity of e-Zapper

One target was placed about 1’ from the e-beam exit aperture during initial setup, and the beam instantly drilled a hole in the plastic housing. The melted plastic hole measured slightly less than 1 cm, indicating both the beam size and the potential beam power.

(Noted on the case are the positions of three chips inside the ringer case, which are required to activate the bell chimes.)

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Deactivation without

Detonation

Experimental paper (1966) showed explosives only detonated by heat. Can not be set off by radiation. Typically, need >220C.

Experiment: Surrounded RF device with shot-gun shells and bullets. Deactivation occurred in 2 seconds, with no detonation.

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E-Zapper Status - 2006

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e-Zapper

OriginalEquipment

andEssential

Equipment

33UNCLASSIFIED

James ZieglerMartin Nelson

United States Naval Academy