(JNi.media) The improvised explosive device (IED) is a bomb constructed of conventional military explosives, attached to a detonating mechanism, commonly used as a roadside bomb. IEDs are usually used by terrorists, and in the case of Hamas and Hezbollah, Israel’s two main terrorist foes, employ imagination and innovation to spread destruction.
The threat of advanced explosive devices against IDF ground forces has intensified in recent years, after large amounts of weaponry had been stolen from the warehouses of the Libyan army and reached Hamas and Hezbollah.
The problem became most acute during the 2014 Operation Protective Edge in the Gaza Strip, when the terrorists managed to hit IDF troops several times, most notably with the bombing of a Golani Brigade’s armored personnel carrier in front of the Shuja’iya neighborhood, east of central Gaza.
That and similar terrorist successes during the last Gaza war, were behind the IDF’s decision to step up engagement in finding a technological solution to the challenge of providing better protection to armored vehicles, especially for the thousands of older armored personnel carriers still in IDF service.
“For years, the IDF has been examining systems that are able to identify IEDs and landmines with high efficiency,” an Army source told Walla. “The experiences of the Second Lebanon War, Operation Cast Lead, our routine security activity, especially on the Golan Heights, and now Protective Edge, have proven how lethal this threat is and how urgently it must be addressed.”
After testing several systems offered by international manufacturers, the Army decided to reject all of them, and focus instead on a locally-made system which detects mines and explosive devices from a distance, using sensors.
The new system allows the ground forces to avoid harm while providing an accurate infrastructure to destroy the threat. The system passed examination by Army explosives experts, and will be installed in tanks, armored carriers and unmanned vehicles.
Officers at IDF headquarters have told Walla the new Israeli system “can significantly upgrade the maneuverability of ground forces.”
