Tuesday 17th May 2005
 
Terrorist Trends
Roger Davies – MBE, QGM 

Founder of Hazard Management Solutions Ltd, advising US and other governments and commercial clients on terrorist threat.  Former Commander of the Northern Ireland counter-terrorist bomb disposal unit

Mr Davies will identify key terrorist explosive trends encountered recently. He will discuss technical and tactical trends in terrorist device design and use and highlight important implications.

Specific areas of analysis will be vehicle bombs – and aspects of the Iraqi experience with these devices and draw from the TRITON database which has recorded over 600 incidences of VBIEDs in Iraq in the last year. Mr Davies will highlight incidences where it is apparent that the terrorist’s experience in Iraq is being “exported”, and briefly examine some case studies. He will examine aspects of some 60 other VBIED attacks that have taken place around the world in the last year, highlighting key elements and factors, such as the design, components and tactical usage of VBIEDs by terrorists

Mr Davies will examine the ways in which terrorists use radio transmission and receiver equipment to manufacture radio-controlled IEDs and the patterns and trends of the use of these devices around the world. He will also examine the mechanisms whereby this technical knowledge is disseminated amongst terrorist groups. He will highlight anomalies and predict future concerns in this area.

Finally Mr Davies will highlights the increasing frequency in which counter-terrorist bomb disposal technicians are being targeted by terrorists, and summarize the worrying statistics of these attacks.

Mr Davies and his company Hazard Management Solutions Ltd are consultants on the IED Threat and provide IED analysis and training to a wide variety of government organisations around the world.

Explosives and Weapon Detection -State of the Art
A review of the current state of explosives detection technologies and a look at the probable future course of developments.

Tim Sheldon BSc CPhys
Tim Sheldon has worked on explosives detection for the Home Office Scientific Development Branch since 1986 and is now head of the Explosives Drugs and Detection Branch

The Home Office Scientific Development Branch, formerly the Police Scientific Development Branch, is the focus of UK Civil R&D in the field of explosives detection, supporting not only the police service but also the Department for Transport Transport Security Team.

In the time since I last spoke at Explosives World the terrorist threat has changed completely – whilst the threat to the UK from Irish Republican terrorism has diminished considerably, the threat from Middle – East based terrorism has not only increased but changed in nature.  The methods of Al-Qaida - suicide attacks carefully planned to exploit perceived loopholes in security systems - have been known for may years, but it was the September 11^th attacks in 2001 that really brought them to everyone’s attention. Since then, authorities around the world have had to completely revise their attitudes to security. This has had a big impact on explosives and weapons detection technologies: in their use, and in the direction that research and development is taking

The biggest things that happened straight after 9/11 were

• The widespread deployment of “EDS” - automated hold baggage screening systems, particularly in the USA, where not much had been done previously
• The prohibition of sharp objects on aircraft with associated detection problems
• Trace detection for carry-on bags

In the UK, the supply on loan of search and detection equipment to police forces was also greatly increased.

In the R&D field, the focus has shifted to:

• Detection of explosives and weapons hidden on the body, by means of X-rays, mm waves and terahertz waves
• Stand-off detection
• Detecting a wider range of explosives
• Cheaper solutions to hold baggage screening
• Detection of Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Threats – outside the scope of this talk

Despite the new impetus in these areas, it is important to remember that the conventional threats have not gone away. In closing newly discovered loopholes we must be careful not to reopen old ones. Any new technique is still just “another tool in the toolbag”, not a solution in itself.  A detection instrument must always form part of a well thought out system that includes trained people, physical security and robust procedures.

The Application of Explosives Technology at Cranfield University.
Dr Stephen Murray. Cranfield University RMCS
 
The Colombian Condition
Col Juan Pablo Rodriguez Barragan – Colombian Embassy

Demining Operations
David Hewittson. MD ELS Ltd

Innovation in Explosives Disposal and Detection – The Disarmco Approach

Christopher Le Hardy and Dr Yuri Udalov
The presenters are respectively the Managing and Scientific Directors of Disarmco Ltd

De-Mil of Chemical Weapons
Peter Watkins. Dstl Porton Down

Chemical Weapon Disposal Techniques
From Dr Richard Soillieux Dstl Porton Down (Presented by Peter Watkins)
 
The Development of IED in Israel and the usae of Emulsion Explosives in Ordnance Disposal
Col (RTD) Amnon Mozes. Redwings, Israel
 
Wednesday 18th May 2005
 
DEMSS in Operation
Col Steven Paul Smith. C.O.HQ DEMSS

The presentation describes the setting up of the new Defence Explosives, Munitions and Search School, and some of the training challenges it faces.

DEMSS is the newly established Defence Explosives, Munitions and Search School. It brings together the three, formerly independent, organisations the Army School of Ammunition, the Defence EOD School, and the National Search Centre undr a single unified command.

The organisation’s mission is to deliver explosives, munitions and search training, in order to support national defence capability. Although currently geographically dispersed, occupying sites in Chatham, Kent and Kineton, Warwickshire, the plan is to collocate onto the latter site over the next three years.

This amalgamation of the three schools with a common interest could not have come at a more opportune moment. Since 9/11, world-wide interest in the key operational capabilities offered by DEMSS has grown exponentially. The new organisation offers not just the rationalisation and harmonisation of training, but also the sharing of best practice.

However, the role is not without its challenges. The training throughput had already started to rise as a result of the increasing tempo of modern operations. This has been further exacerbated by scheduled enhancements to the Army’s EOD capability under “Future Army Structures”. In order to meet its requirement, DEMSS must ensure that it is receiving the right quality of new trainees in the right numbers. It must provide a realistic and testing training environment, which means securing the best equipment and building scenarios which mimic real operations. Throughout, DEMSS must maintain the very highest standards, whilst ensuring its students achieve an adequate pass rate to man pressing operational commitments. Not surprisingly, overlaid on all of this are constant demands from other countries for DEMSS to provide the valuable training in which it excels.

Progress is already being made towards the vision of creating a world-class centre of excellence on a single site over the next three years.

The Long Walk – Reflections on a High Threat IEDD Tour in Iraq
A personal account of a high threat tour in Iraq, the paper offers a fascinating insight into the threats, challenges and emotions faced by an IEDD operator in one of the most dangerous places on earth.

Maj. Chris Driver-Williams RLC
Chris Driver-Williams is a serving British Army Ammunition Technical Officer. He is an experienced IEDD specialist and has seen operational service in a number of theatres including high threat EOD tours in Northern Ireland and Iraq.

Research & Development in Protected Vehicles
Steve Holland
 
The Government Wide response to CBRN Terrorism in Hong Kong
SBDO D Brittain. EOD Bureau Hong Kong

Has Security Improved Since 9/11
Brig (Rtd) M Mackenzie-Orr MBE GM. Australia

The use of Accreditation of Prior Learning, Experiential Learning 
Tony Jolliffe
 
 
THE EFFECTS OF AGEING ON UXO

The effects of ageing have major implications for the selection of clearance equipment and techniques, yet there has been very little research in this area.  Using examples from recent clearance operations, the presentation illustrates that while some munitions become more hazardous or unpredictable, others undoubtedly become safer.  Colin King argues that the ageing process should be a major factor in any ordnance-related threat assessment, and discusses how this might work.

From the date of manufacture, the characteristics of every munition begin to change during the ageing process. Even in controlled storage conditions significant changes can occur, but these are frequently accelerated by environmental conditions in the field. In many cases, changes expose new vulnerabilities that can be exploited using appropriate detection or disposal techniques.

Currently, little is known about the effects of ageing on mines and other ordnance, yet initial studies reveal that there are important lessons to be learnt. Degradation undoubtedly causes some mines to become more hazardous, while others become safer or completely non-functional. An understanding of the mechanisms involved would allow EOD personnel to exploit, and in some cases manipulate, the most beneficial conditions.

A detailed knowledge of munition characteristics, together with an understanding of the ageing process, offers substantial savings in the development and application of countermeasures. Research and development can be better focussed against weaknesses, then tested against accurate surrogate targets. In the field, work can be prioritised against the most pressing threats, while existing techniques can be used in broader applications than previously envisaged.

A comprehensive study on the ageing of munitions is fundamental for a streamlined approach to the development of new EOD equipment and techniques. This research is long overdue.

COLIN KING
Colin King is a former EOD officer who now runs a company providing government level consultancy. He is involved in operational munition clearance worldwide and has been working recently in Iraq and Kosovo. Colin writes the Janes’s reference books “Mines and Mine Clearance” and “Explosive Ordnance Disposal”

Malice Aforethought - The History of Booby Traps
 
A Savage Practical Joke
 

Booby traps have been defined as any device or material which is designed constructed or adapted to kill or injure and which functions unexpectedly when a person disturbs or approaches an apparently harmless object or performs an apparently safe act. Also included are manually emplaced munitions or devices designed to kill or injure which are actuated by remote control or automatically after a lapse of time. This presentation aims to examine the malicious use of explosives in booby traps and sabotage devices. It looks at their design, development, deployment and effectiveness. It also addresses the measures that have been taken to negate their effects and to neutralise them.  The presentation also addresses the use of landmines, a form of trap, but restricts this to their employment in harassing or nuisance roles where they are laid with specific intent in mind. The presentation is not concerned with the use of mines in mass barriers except where the mines in these barriers have been booby trapped with anti-lift or anti-disturbance devices.

The presentation covers on the period from the WWI to Vietnam, concentrating on general and limited wars. It does not cover the use of improvised explosive devices in terrorist campaigns or booby-trapped aircraft bombs.

The Use of Advanced Numerical Simulation in Predicting Explosives Effects
DOSGST2, the MoDs Ordnance Risk Assessment team, employs advanced numerical simulation tools for the prediction of explosives effects for use in risk evaluation. This paper will give an overview, by examples, of how DOSGST2 is benefiting from the use of such tools.

Dr Ian Barnes CSci CChem MRSC MIExpE
Head of the Ordnance Risk Assessment Section in the UK MoD Defence Ordnance Safety Group.
 
Thursday 19th May 2005
Quality Education and Training – How to differentiate between the Good, the Bad and the Ugly
The evolution of training and education within our industry, how individuals can select courses and standards, also the global recognition of training and how this impinges on employment opportunities.

Prof. Alan I Hatcher MBA MIExpE MIABTI FICPD
Professor Alan Hatcher MBA is a globally recognised expert in the fields of Education and Training in search, security, counter-terrorism and explosives. He is the founder of the International School of Search and Explosives Engineers.

Explosives – Thermal Imaging
Mike Bolland. AWE

Aviation Security
Paul Quellen

Explosives Tools in IEDD
Dr Sidney Alford

Friday 20th May 2005 - Range Demonstrations: Proposed Equipment