The pictures released last week of Iraqi high-tech explosives surprised me. These special ‘superbombs’ that have caused so many US casualties — they look like they had been assembled in someone’s garage.
These bombs belong to a class known as EFP –‘Explosively Formed Projectile’ or ‘Explosively Formed Penetrator,’ depending on who you’re talking to. They compress a metal liner into a slug and fire it at the target some distance away.
The picture shows what a real EFP munition looks like. This is M2 Selectable Lightweight Attack Munition (SLAM). It’s small enough to put in your pocket and weighs a couple of pounds.
This version has been used by US Special Forces for the last 15 years or so. As GlobalSecurity.org describes it, SLAM is versatile, too:
It will be used to support hit-and-run, ambush, and harassing, and urban warface missions. SLAM will also be employed by Light Combat Engineers and Rangers where missions warrant the use of such a device.…SLAM is lightweight, lethal, easily emplaced, and can be carried in the quantity necessary to neutralize a broad range of targets.
Different modes allow SLAM to be triggered by the heat or magnetic signature of a passing vehicle or by a timer — or it can be set off by a human operator. It can be emplaced in seconds and spits out a lethal slug which can punch through 40mm of steel armor at a range of 25 feet. You can leave it on the ground covered in dirt to attack a vehicle’s belly, or conceal it beside a road for side attack.
No doubt the Russians and Chinese have their own versions of SLAM, and these have probably been copied too. So you might expect a rougher, cheaper copy to appear in Iraq if it was supplied from the outside.
But as has been observed here, anyone can make crude and simple EFP munitions in a basic workshop. All you need is a lump of plastic explosive and a piece of copper. Shape the copper into a saucer, put the explosive under it, and you’re there. Obviously this will be a lot less efficient, accurate and reliable than something like SLAM (optimal design of the the metal ‘lens’ is an art requiring a lot of computer power), but you can compensate by making it ten times bigger if you need to.
Maybe the insurgents should be given some credit for being able to build their own gear, or maybe there’s more intelligence we don’t know. But if EFP mines were being supplied by an outside source, you might expect to see somethng a lot slicker.
UPDATE 11:37: Speaking of surprises, Centcom commander Adm. Fox Fallon doesn’t agree that the Iranian government has been supplying Iraq’s EFPs. He’s not alone. Joint Chiefs chairman Gen. Peter Pace, on the other hand, seemed to back away from his previous, doubting statements — at least a little. More here.
UPDATE 01:20: The bombs aren’t the only issue, of course. According to the Telegraph, Iranian-supplied sniper rifles are also making their way into Iraq.
UPDATE 02:24: Bush has no doubt.
UPDATE 15/02/07: Steyr, the Austrian makers of those .50 cal sniper rifles say there’s no proof they came from Iran — and that they might not even be Steyr-made rifles at all.
– David Hambling
In regards to the Iraq War; there are many good reasons for leaving; but for me on sticks out larger than others. Second only to the loss of American lives for the stinking rag heads is the Bush budget. He is cutting every social program in the country while asking for more funding for the war. So basically we are paying for this crap war by way of the most venerable Americans. A president and a government should base all of their decisions on protecting the most venerable of our citizens; instead we are throwing money at an Iraq government who will eventually turn against us in the name of islam. What a pathetic foreign policy; a pathetic administration; and pathetic citizens who allow this type government to exist. You want a solution to the situation in Iraq; ask yourself
“GM FEDORCHUK: If you are a wacko right winger who’s t-shirt says “kill em all and let God sort it out”, you need to try reading the Bible. Or at least read “Battle Ready” by Gen. Tony Zinni USMC (Ret). You can learn from that true professional.
If you are a left winger who believes that cutting and running from Iraq is the right thing to do, wake up and smell the coffee. We threw that country into a state of anarchy. We either fix the problems we jumped into, or we live with the cost of our failure.“
Mr. Fedorchuk,
If you read the Bible, the OT for sure, you will get the same advice. Where the hell do you think that expression comes from?
– “Neca eos omnes. Deus suos agnoscet”.
B
I think the bigger problem here is the fact that this article and the comments after basically tell anyone how to make one of these. Why not show us some diagrams? Would that make your article more complete? These things do some serious damage and have already been in use taking American lives ‘over there’. So how about cutting back on the ‘How To’ sections and maybe putting some thought into your piece!
everyone comment..underneath, between lines have the same denominator…we all Americans!!! We all want the same Thing..bible, cristian,..we all know what happens if Iran get !!!Diplomacy will get…buyng time for the enemy to complete his plan…no trust…simple eliminate the threat, ..isolate them ..etc
The bottom line is what the Republican senator commented in a recent speech. Our soldiers are patroling the same streets, the same way. Being blown up by the same bombs day after day. What does that tell you about the military stratagy.
If some of the weapons are being copied you may want to see if CNC manufacturing is being employed. Look for machine language programs that produce weapons components. If you could obtain records from equipment manufacturers that may have supplied high tech equipment you could locate potential weapons component sources.
know matter what you do ‚as long their are people with the will not to be murdered ‚they will find a new way to defeat the killers of their familys. if that was here and the iraqi army was going house to house making sweeps kicking in your door murdering your, wife ‚mom ‚son, dauter, what would you do? just let them walk over you? hell no you would fight till the last drop of your blood, and use the most terrible, horrifing, things that your mind has dreamed of doing all these years “you know what i mean” endeless ingenius devices to kill the murders of your family, you know you would, i aint gonna by no walk by.their doing the same thing. but” We Are Rite!” W.A.R their aint no easy way out..U.S. ARMY soilder proud to serve.