TECHNICAL MASKING OF IMPROVISED EXPLOSIVE DEVICES

Abstract

Searching for IED systems in buildings, premises, streets etc. is very demanding from the technical point of view and it will never be possible to provide preventive protection anytime and anywhere. Searching for IED on persons and in their baggage is at present generally considered possible and at the same time necessary in case of entrances into important and sensitive objects, e.g. aircraft, important government buildings, nuclear power plants etc. Unless, under the given circumstances, the terrorists are able to attack a properly protected important target, they will choose another target but the less protected one. Nevertheless they will try their best to continue inquiring into the possibilities of attacking the more important and better protected target. The crucial burden of solving the situation consists in the developing teams and firms producing the detection technology. There is a question concerning the reliability of these screenings at present and their prospects. Security managers focus on weak points of the IED detection during the screening of people and luggage. The best way how to discover these weak points is to try to think as a terrorist does. The weakest point of the screening is usually the servicing staff. Thanks to the progress in the detection technology the proportion of automatization during security screenings is on the increase and the human factor of the security screening is inscrutable for both sides. The potential attacker will certainly be interested in the way of masking his/her IED to mislead not only the security screening staff but also the automatic detection of the explosive by a device. It means first of all how to mask technically the explosive and the detonator. It can be supposed that the potential attacker will know neither the exact parameters of the detection technology, especially its concrete setting (for instance sensitivity) in the certain post of the security screening, nor the specific system of devices. But what must be