August
8, 2008: Iran has been shipping far fewer Explosively Formed
Penetrators (EFPs) into Iraq this year compared to last, and there
are fewer Iraqis willing to use them. This time last year, about a
hundred a month were being used to attack U.S. troops. That's down
over 80 percent this Summer. The EFPs are much more dangerous than
the usual explosive roadside bomb, causing about five times as many
casualties per attack. Roadside bomb use in Iraq is down about 60
percent from last year, but that's still over 400 a week. Most of
them are found before they can explode, but that's still a lot of
people planting bombs. Most of the victims these days are Iraqi
troops and police.
The
EFP, more commonly known as "shaped charges," have been around
since World War II, when they were famously used in the U.S. bazooka
and German Panzerfaust (the model for the later RPG) portable
anti-tank weapons. The EEP is an improved design over the basic
shaped charge developed during World War II. Although most of the
improvised explosive devices (IEDs) used in attacks against
government and Coalition forces in Iraq have used conventional
explosives (demolition charges, artillery shells, mines, etc.), a
very small number have been fabricated using EFPs.
Although
shaped charges are used in RPGs and similar missile weapons, they are
not well suited for use in IEDs. This is fortunate, as they are much
more dangerous. A third of American combat deaths in the Summer of
2007 were caused by EFPs, and most of them are used by pro-Iranian
Shia militias in Baghdad.
The
problem with using EFPs as IEDs is that they have to be aimed. Most
IEDs are designed to be detonated by trip-wire or similar mechanism
or by remote command. Even a remotely detonated IED can cause serious
damage, since it's the explosion is going to affect an area of some
size. In contrast, an EEP has to hit something pretty much directly
in order to have an effect. There is also a range problem, as EEP
explosives have a very short effective ranget. Moreover, since EFPs
are intended for use against armor, they have limited effectiveness
against softer targets.
Iran
was smuggling many more EEPs into Iraq last year, and pro-Iranian
terrorists used them in Shia neighborhoods of Baghdad. But those
areas are now under government control, and many of the Shia militia
leaders have fled to Iran.
The
EFP is most easily used in urban areas, where U.S. vehicles can be
easily stopped, and where there is much less possibility of nearby
civilians being injured. Now most of the EFPs are being captured as
they are smuggled into Iraq. Examination of those, and the ones used
in attacks, confirms that they come from the same source: a factory
in Iran.
