Discovery of Iranian-made IEDs in Iraq presents business opportunities
More than 170 have been killed by explosively formed penetrators capable of penetrating tanks; military says jamming countermeasures are ineffective; weekend announcement is first public acknowledgement of their existence; a prime opportunity awaits the savvy inventor
After repeated delays of an oft-promised briefing for reporters on the extent of Iran’s meddling in Iraq, the military this weekend showed off componants of what American authorities believe are Iranian-manufactured IEDs known as explosively formed penetrators (EFPs). “It is the most effective I.E.D out there,” said one commander on the ground, noting that in the past few years the EFPs have killed more than 170 troops by pentrating armored vehicles. “Equipment that was, we thought, pretty effective in protecting our troops just a matter of months ago is now being challenged by some of the techniques and devices over there,” said Admiral William Fallon. They “can take out an Abrams tank.”
This is no place to debate the implications of an Iranian connection to Shiite militias operating in Iraq. It is the place, however, to explain how the EFP works and suggests that a new market may develop to stop them. An EFP involves a metal cylinder filled with explosives and topped with a concave disk made of a malleable metal such as copper. Often, many cylinders are arranged in a single larger array. When triggered by an infrared sensor — impervious, experts say, to the electronic jamming techniques typically used against IEDs — the explosive force hurls the metal lids at such speed that they change shape in flight into a dense metal slug capable of penetrating armor. This weekend’s briefing was the first time the U.S. military public acknowledged the existence of these weapons. A prime opportunity, we think, for an enterprising company to be first in line with a solution.
-read more in Michael Gordon’s New York Times report
