improvised explosive devices
Makeshift concealed munitions
Improvised explosive devices are homemade bombs constructed from available materials rather than manufactured ordnance.
Often abbreviated IED, the term gained wide currency during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, where such devices—hidden in roads, vehicles, or debris—became a primary threat to military personnel.
The improvised element distinguishes them from conventional military explosives: The convoy was struck by an IED.
Construction ranges from crude pipe bombs to sophisticated remotely detonated systems.
- roadside bombConcealed explosive targeting vehicles
- bombsExplosive munitions dropped
- car bombExplosive in automobile
- pipe bombExplosive in sealed tube
- ordnanceMilitary weapons collectively
warfare · Iraq War · military convoy · detonation · blast radius · casualties · tripwire · pressure plate · nitroglycerin · ammonium nitrate · terrorist · PVC pipes · bomb squad · blasting caps · countermine · infrared sensors · suicide bomber · shrapnel
improvised explosive devicesconventional weapons
Non-WMD military equipment
improvised explosive devicessmart bombs
Self-directing precision weapons
guided missiles · artillery shells · cruise missiles · naval mines · torpedoes
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