IED (Improvised Explosive Device)
Definition
Any explosive device built outside the military or commercial supply chain. The explosive, the trigger or the casing (often all three) is repurposed.
- Core definition
- Explosive device built outside military or commercial supply chains
- Components affected
- Explosive, trigger, or casing, often all three repurposed
- Related term
- Country-made bomb, a regional variant classification
- Field discipline
- IED exploitation and forensic triage
Common questions
What makes a device an IED rather than a standard military munition?+
The distinguishing factor is origin, not necessarily destructive power. An IED is assembled from improvised or repurposed components outside a regulated military or commercial manufacturing chain, whereas a standard munition is factory-produced to a specification.
Why does the specific combination of repurposed parts matter to investigators?+
The choice of explosive fill, trigger mechanism, and casing often reflects a bomb maker's access, training, and habitual technique, sometimes called a signature. Comparing these choices across incidents can help link devices to the same cell or individual.
Related terms
- Country-Made Bomb (Desi / Sutli Bomb)
- Hand-thrown device built around KClO3 plus sulphur (or KNO3 plus S plus C, or amorphous P plus KClO3), wrapped in jute, paper...
- Four-Component IED Model
- Initiator, main charge, switch (trigger), power source. Plus the container or casing that confines the blast and supplies shrapnel. Every IED maps...
- Initiator
- Starts the explosive train: blasting cap or detonator (electric or non-electric), safety fuse, nitrocellulose fuse, or shock tube.
- Main Charge
- The bulk explosive. Low explosive (black powder, KClO3 mixtures) for desi bombs; high explosive (RDX, TNT, PETN, ANFO) for pressure-cooker, tiffin and...
- Render-Safe Procedure (RSP)
- NSG / state BDS actions to neutralise a suspect device without detonating it. Tools: disruptors (water-cannon, PAN), portable X-ray, robots (DRDO Daksh,...
- Switch (Trigger)
- Closes the firing circuit. Time-delay, command-wired, radio-controlled (RCIED), or victim-operated (pressure plate, tripwire, anti-handling).
- VBIED / SBBIED
- Vehicle-Borne IED (truck, car, scooter) and Suicide Bomber-Borne IED (belt, vest, body-worn). Pulwama 2019 was a VBIED; Rajiv Gandhi 1991 was an...