A lob bomb (known officially as an improvised rocket-assisted mortar, improvised rocket-assisted munition,VOA News – Insurgents Using New Homemade Rocket Weapon in Iraq
or IRAM) is a

rocket A rocket (from , and so named for its shape) is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using any surrounding air. A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Rocket engines work entirely ...

-fired

improvised explosive device An improvised explosive device (IED) is a bomb constructed and deployed in ways other than in conventional warfare, conventional military action. It may be constructed of conventional military explosives, such as an artillery shell, attached t ...

made from a large metal canister (often a

propane Propane () is a three-carbon chain alkane with the molecular formula . It is a gas at standard temperature and pressure, but becomes liquid when compressed for transportation and storage. A by-product of natural gas processing and petroleum ref ...

gas tank that has been drained of its contents and filled with explosives, scrap metal, and

ball bearing A ball bearing is a type of rolling-element bearing that uses balls to maintain the separation between the bearing races. The purpose of a ball bearing is to reduce rotational friction and support radial and axial loads. It achieves this ...

s), which has been used by

insurgents An insurgency is a violent, armed rebellion by small, lightly armed bands who practice guerrilla warfare against a larger authority. The key descriptive feature of insurgency is its asymmetric nature: small irregular forces face a large, well ...

as well as the Iraqi military and police during the

Iraq War The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with 2003 invasion of Iraq, the invasion by a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition, which ...

since late 2007, as well as by various forces in other conflicts. The weapon is essentially an airborne version of an

Design

Early lob bombs in Iraq were propelled by 107 mm rockets and launched, several at a time, from the backs of small trucks where they could be arranged in rows,Defense Review - Baghdad: Improvised Rocket-Assisted Munitions (IRAMs) Arrays Can Kill over Walls
/ref> sometimes by remote control (using a signal from either a cell phone, cordless phone, command wire, or other forms of remote control device). They are typically launched in an arced

trajectory A trajectory or flight path is the path that an object with mass in motion follows through space as a function of time. In classical mechanics, a trajectory is defined by Hamiltonian mechanics via canonical coordinates; hence, a complete tra ...

, which enables them to be aimed over walls that enclose opposing bases and other military facilities, in a similar manner to a conventional mortar. The weapon was believed to be highly inaccurate, and unofficial estimates place the range of lob bombs used so far as being between 50 and 150 yards (approx. 45 to 140 m). Later, lob bombs became a prime vector for

chemical weapon A chemical weapon (CW) is a specialized munition that uses chemicals formulated to inflict death or harm on humans. According to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), this can be any chemical compound intended as ...

s, with up to 89% of chlorine-gas attacks by government forces in the Syrian Civil War being delivered by the method.

History

The type of improvised launch system and a

is not new to warfare. The

Provisional Irish Republican Army The Provisional Irish Republican Army (Provisional IRA), officially known as the Irish Republican Army (IRA; ) and informally known as the Provos, was an Irish republican paramilitary force that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland ...

developed a similar system during

the Troubles The Troubles () were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted for about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it began in the late 1960s and is usually deemed t ...

. It was used in the February 1991 attack on 10 Downing Street, the London office and home of the British prime minister. Lob bombs were used during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

by the VC/NVA, specifically in Operation Oklahoma Hills, 1 March to 29 May 1969. Below is a part of the After Action Report by the Col. R.L Nichols, Regt CO, 7th Marines that describes this device and how it was used: According to U.S. military officials, lob bombs are designed to cause "catastrophic damage," and have the ability to kill "scores of soldiers" at once, more than conventional improvised explosive devices. the use of such devices in Iraq were first described in the international media in July 2008, when General Jeffery Hammond, commander of the 4th Infantry Division and of U.S. forces in Baghdad, called the lob bomb "the greatest threat right now that we face." By July 12, 2008, in 11 lob bomb attacks on American bases, three U.S. soldiers had been killed and 15 had been wounded, all three deaths occurring in an April 28, 2008 attack on the U.S.

Forward Operating Base Loyalty Forward Operating Base Loyalty is a former forward operating base used by the U.S. Army during Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation New Dawn located in the New Baghdad District (Arabic: بغداد الجديدة) of Baghdad, Iraq Iraq ...

in eastern Baghdad. By then, the weapon has only been encountered in Baghdad, where it was used by Shiite insurgents, whose superior ability to conceal forensic evidence about their identity has been acknowledged by the U.S. military. The U.S. military has found that the rockets used to propel the lob bombs have been produced in Iran, Russia, and China. By 2011, it had been used as far out as the Iraq-Iran border by Iranian-backed militias to attack U.S. military installations in Iraq. These bombs have been used in Afghanistan and several other locations around the world, and some have been found in terror cell bombmaking facilities in the United States by the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

and

ATF The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE), commonly referred to as ATF, is a domestic law enforcement agency within the United States Department of Justice. Its responsibilities include the investigation and prevention ...

. One media report indicates such a munition may have been used by the Taliban to bring down a Chinook helicopter in Afghanistan on August 6, 2011. New types of IRAMs including Volcano rockets and Elephant rockets, have been used during the Syrian Civil War by both the government and the rebels as well as by the IS forces in Syria and elsewhere. In the 2016–2017 Battle of Mosul, the Iraqi interior ministry's Rapid Response Division utilized IRAMs mounted on

Humvee The High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV; colloquial: Humvee) is a family of Military light utility vehicle, light, four-wheel drive Military vehicle#Military trucks, military trucks and utility vehicles produced by AM General. It ...

s against IS.

References

Texas Tech University The Vietnam Center and Archive, Item Number: 1201051002 {{reflist

External links

Associated Press articleVoice of America articleStory from ''Democracy Now!'' program
July 11, 2008, video Improvised explosive devices 2007 introductions *

Design

History

See also

References

External links