EDA looks to make headway in counter-IED forensics

The European Defence Agency (EDA) and its member states are researching how to create a generic incident data recorder (IDR) for improvised explosive devices (IEDs) that could be used interoperably with a wide range of detection and analysis technologies. This would yield an equivalent to the airline industry's standardised 'black box' incident recorders and would build on the results of a recently completed EDA study on future forensic capabilities.

"Counter-IED strategies and advanced forensics must be embedded in our militaries to develop enduring capabilities," Colonel Brian Dowling, director of ordnance for the Irish Defence Forces and chair of its C-IED steering group, told a 4-6 March conference in Brussels on resilient IED-threat management, organised by the EDA.

Noting that the number of IED attacks exceeded 4,000 in 2011, he said: "IEDs kill 310 people every month. This threat is not going to end after 2014 [when NATO concludes its International Security Assistance Force mission in Afghanistan]. We all need to carry forward our C-IED forensics."

The three-day conference evolved from a nine-month study concluded in September 2012 and carried out for the EDA by a consortium of Spanish and Italian companies and research institutes.