2. IED TACTICS
2.1. TIME IED s Time IEDs may be encountered by MA organisations having failed to function as intended or having been constructed but not deployed. There are numerous subcategories of time IEDs but the three that are encountered most frequently are:
• Mechanical
• Electronic
• Igniferous
Time IEDs provide a delay between the device being armed and it functioning. This gives the armed group time to vacate the area once the device is placed in order to prevent injury to themselves and help them to evade capture. When an armed group wants to prevent casualties, time IEDs can also be utilised in conjunction with a warning to provide time for evacuation, ensuring only property is damaged. Other types of time IED incorporate a short delay to provide the opportunity to put a safe distance between an IED that has been thrown or projected and members of an armed group. These key characteristics provide a number of advantages, such as enabling IEDs to be thrown, projected and placed, and for them to then function with no further interaction from the armed group. The principle disadvantage is that unless additional switches are incorporated, once activated, the armed group no longer has control. This increases the possibility of unintended casualties, as well as making it extremely difficult to accurately target something which moves, unless a precise time pattern can be exploited. 2.1.1.MECHANICAL Mechanical time IEDs are normally constructed by adapting mechanical clockwork timers with electrical contacts which close at a predetermined time. The following example is a failed mechanical time IED located in a hospital. The device has become ‘stuck fast’ after sand has clogged the clockwork mechanism.
ׁ WARNING. If disturbed, the clockwork mechanism could become unstuck and start working again, meaning the IED would then function as originally intended.
IED tactics
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