Weapons: Defeating Roadside Bomb Jammers

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May 4, 2007: Terrorists are coming with more ways to get around the jammers used by security forces, to defeat roadside bombs. Some of the recent innovations include;

@ Light sensors set off by camera flash.

@ Radar Speed Trap detector set off by a radar gun (that's actually an old one, originally used by Irish terrorists)

@ Keyless Entry systems for automobiles. These were modified systems, that had a longer range (over a hundred meters) than these keyless entry systems normally have.

In most parts of the world, the cell phone or remote control toy is still the favored method of setting off these bombs. Where possible, just running a wire is preferred, as it is cheap, and cannot be jammed. The jammers available to American and NATO armed forces can also be obtained by most police departments. There have not been many takers, mainly because the American Warlock and CREW jammers interfere with so many frequencies. Hardly any wireless device works as long as one of these jammers is nearby. That makes the security forces very unpopular, at least if there are very few roadside bombs going off.

Iraq is a unique situation, because some 90 percent of the roadside bombs going off are in there. The roadside bomb is a major industry in Sunni Arab areas. The building, placing and detonating of these bombs is subcontracted to one of hundreds of teams that specialize in those tasks. The chief proponent of the roadside bomb are the Sunni Arab security officials who used to work for Saddam. These guys are still well financed, and that's what has made the roadside bomb such a major part of the Iraq war.

 

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