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Composites are both lightweight and offer
good multi-hit protection. Today, the stopping power of composites
is limited due to practical considerations (size, weight and
cost) but future fibers are expected to increase the strength
bringing advanced composites to equal, and even surpass the
protection levels of steel and ceramics. Composites also have
the advantage of being able to be shaped into larger, curved
structures which is not the case with most ceramics. Some composites
also contribute to reduce behind-armor interior damage effect
(spall, blunt trauma). Certain composites can be formed into
blast mitigating structures reducing blast effects.
When used in combination with ceramics, they also improve
the ceramic's damage tolerance in multi-hit attacks. Such combinations
of armor materials provide the 'first line of defense' against
most threats, including small arms, fragments, and simple explosives.
Buried 'belly charges' pose even more complex threats, utilizing
devastating 'mega-IEDs' weighing hundreds of kilograms, they
can take out heavy armored vehicles, including tanks. Since
they are activated below the vehicle, most of their effect is
directed upwards, at the target. When such charges rupture the
target's bottom hull floor, the internal effects are devastating.
Some improvised belly charges are made from cylindrical containers
such as water tanks filled with explosives; the cylindrical
shape and explosive's design create directional effect, focusing
most of the explosion upward at the target. Furthermore, the
barrel-shape is easier to handle in the field, enabling small
team to roll it into position and rapidly emplace it below the
surface.
Other mega IEDs are the Vehicle Borne IEDs (VBIED) operated
by suicide bomber or remotely controlled, VBIEDs were used with
devastating efficiency since the early 1980s in Lebanon, and
since then, proliferated worldwide, used by terrorists and insurgents.
The VBIED uses the vehicle's mobility, momentum and loading
capacity to form a deadly 'guided weapon', which can break through
roadblocks into a protected perimeter, to explode inside a well
defended target. Recent incidents in Iraq included dual-effect
VBIEDs, where vehicles were loaded with chemical substances
in addition to explosives, dispersing lethal gases to enhance
the bomb's effect. A 'dirty bomb', if ever employed by terrorists,
could follow this principle of attack.
 Directional
IEDs are the Road-Side IEDs (RSIED) utilizing EFP and EFF. These
weapons combine a conically shaped explosive charge covered
by a metal liner. When activated, the explosion forms the liner
into a projectile that blasts into the target with high kinetic
energy. EFPs placed at the road side can hit vehicles traveling
on the road. Usually, EFPs are employed against 'quality targets',
where insurgents aim exactly at certain areas of the target
where they expect to cause the desired effect. Insurgents are
trying different tactics to lure potential target into the EFP's
kill-zone, such as emplacing dummy IED or clearly visible 'IED
baits' to get more forces into a well orchestrated killing field
known as 'IED arena'.
As charges are laid down to attack a point where insurgents
expect security forces to stop, they can employ several IEDs
pointing at one target, or multiple charges linked through a
'daisy chain' to achieve an effect over a larger area, or attack
a certain length of the road, where a convoy is expected to
pass or forced to stop. While the EFP employs a single projectile,
other directional IEDs known as EFF can generate multiple projectiles
or 'fragments', while the most devastating 'multislug' explodes
into several projectiles aimed roughly at the same point - the
first devastates the armored vehicle and the second penetrates
and kills the target. RoadSide Improvised Explosive Devices
(RSIED) are activated by various types of triggering mechanisms,
from pressure plates, electrical wires, and various types of
wireless devices or, ultimately, autonomous guidance and control
by using a trained human, committing a suicide act.
IEDs do not go off by chance. Meticulous tracking and recording
of every engagement provides insurgents with valuable feedback
for future actions. The art of battlefield intelligence was
mastered by Hezbollah in Lebanon through the 1990s, where units
employed video cameras to record combat activities. While the
main reason for these actions was to capture 'victory photos',
analyzing the footage could provide a lot of information for
debriefing and further improvements. Similar actions were 'exported'
to the Gaza strip, and are considered a central element of insurgent
operations in Iraq. Distribution and analysis of the data by
experts and rapid dissemination, via human channels and electronic
means provides insurgents with a powerful and adaptive strategy
and improvement. As such functions are embedded into ordinary
mobile phones; modern insurgency is becoming network-centric,
driving an ever steeper learning curve.
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