The DHS Office for Bombing Prevention (OBP) is dedicated to implementing the US National Policy for Countering Improvised Explosive Devices (C-IED) and enhancing national security. By building public and private capabilities to deter, prevent, and respond to bombing incidents, the OBP plays a crucial role in safeguarding the United States. Sean Haglund, Associate Director of the Office for Bombing Prevention, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure, explores how the OBP undertakes this challenging task and collaborates with industry partners on training opportunities.

Ukraine is now one of the most heavily mined nations on earth, posing significant danger to civilian life due to the prevalence of unexploded ordnance. The Ukrainian Government has recognized the importance of involving the private sector in solving this challenge. This market report, provided by Ukrainian Think Tank DataDriven, shows how the private sector can help demine Ukraine, focusing on the legal, financial, and physical challenges.

The invasion of Ukraine has led many nations to reevaluate their defensive capabilities and priorities, highlighting the ever-changing nature of warfare. In response, the Norwegian forces are revising their approach by increasing the number of EOD professionals and tiering them into specialized and more generalized roles. Master Sergeant Chris Taarneby Maukeng, soon to be Norway's senior NCO for EOD, discusses the rationale behind these changes and addresses current trends, opportunities, and challenges.

Armen Harutyunyan, Head of Standards and Operation at Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD), provides an update on his strategic vision for the organisation. This includes its evolution, success factors, standards and innovations, and the trends from the past 5-10 years that have influenced its current line of effort. An insightful interview with Harutyunyan, working within one of the most vital organisations on demining.

As new technologies hit the commercial market, there is always the potential for them to be abused for nefarious reasons. Combined with new tactics, this unfortunately ensures that the IED threat will continue to evolve. To stay ahead of the curve the Counter-Improvised Explosive Device Centre (C-IED) of Excellence endeavours to research and disseminate lessons and trends so that the threat can be better countered. Defence IQ was privileged to interview the deputy director of the centre, Colonel Christopher Bartos. In this interview, he delves into

• How the Centre of Excellence operates
• How the threat continues to evolve
• Which factors contribute to a successful C-IED operation and campaign
  

Ahead of the Countering Explosives Threat & Demining Conference, the 2024 Attendee List highlights the leading organizations within the industry and an extensive list of high-level attendees that will be attending this year.

This conference provides a unique opportunity for the EOD community to engage in productive discussions with nations and industry partners to tackle the challenges in tackling explosive threats.

Join us as we bring together military forces, humanitarian groups and governments for a chance to hear presentations on counter-explosive ordnance and to learn about some of the latest advancements in the sector from individuals and groups working on the front lines.

Countering Explosive Threat and Demining provides a unique opportunity for the engineering and EOD community to engage in productive discussions with allied and friendly nations alongside industry partners to tackle the continued explosive threat globally.

Our Sample Attendee List showcases the high-level attendees and leading organisations within the industry that attended previous Countering Explosive Threat and Demining conferences to give you an idea of what to expect for this year.

57 states are now confirmed to be affected by landmines and 2016 saw 19,246 deaths and injuries as a result of IEDs globally, of which 74% were reported to be civilians. 

This report analyses the extent of landmine contamination for a number of nations where data is available, and also looks at the number of deaths and injury’s related to IEDs. With exclusive insights from Colonel (ret.) Rob Hyde Bales, Consulting Editor, Counter-IED Report, this piece also includes three case studies for countries where landmines are a prevalent issue: Afghanistan, Colombia and Ukraine. 

Defence iQ spoke with Major Michael 'Ginge' Brown, discussing the importance of Search in EoD, transitioning from the military to civilian life, and the differences between Search and EoD techniques in law enforcement and the armed forces.

Other discussion points included:

- lessons learned from the Manchester Arena bombing 

- cultural differences between the UK and USA in EoD and Search 

- the need and appetite for Search training

The number of casualties and injuries resulting from IEDs is currently decreasing in countries under the U.S Central Command's authority, but steadily increasing in Afghanistan. Cheap, unpredictable, and extremely lethal, IEDs quickly became the weapon of choice for insurgents during the Afghan war.

Earlier this year, we put together this report on the three lessons we can learn from the ongoing IED threat in Afghanistan.

Three decades of armed conflict has left Afghanistan heavily contaminated with mines and other explosive remnants of war (ERW).Although much progress has been made towards the clearance of legacy mines, armed opposition groups have been moving away from conventional mines and other explosive ordnance, and are increasingly using homemade explosives and improvised devices.

This article outlines HALO's work in Afghanistan related to mine disposal, other explosive ordnance, explosive source material and weapons to protect the civilian population.

Landmines and unexploded ordnance have taken a heavy human toll in eastern Ukraine, causing at least 1,929 casualties since the start of the conflict.

This exclusive content piece provided by The HALO Trust explores the problem of landmines in the Ukraine and gives an overview of the latest survey and clearance activities that HALO are carrying out in the nation.  

Colombia continues to be one of the most mine-affected countries in the world and has over 11,500 registered landmine victims. This exclusive content piece provided by The HALO Trust explores the problem of landmines in Colombia and gives an overview of the latest survey and clearance activities that HALO are carrying out in the nation.