Indian Head, Maryland –
Naval Surface Warfare Center Indian Head Division’s (NSWC IHD) Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Department conducted its third annual EOD Threat Expo at the Stump Neck Annex, April 13-15. The threat expo is the second in a series of events supporting the Joint EOD (JEOD) program’s planning cycle. The first event was a threat assessment in February, where the JEOD program virtually brought together over 145 participants across 51 organizations, including the intelligence community, operational EOD forces, Department of Defense and other government agencies. The event’s purpose was to examine threats that EOD operators may encounter during missions. Using a variety of intelligence sources, reports and operational plans, teams worked together to identify the current top threats across a variety of warfighting domains and EOD mission sets. These threats were then prioritized and be used as inputs for the threat expo.
The threat expo continued this analysis by bringing together smaller teams of technical experts to assess current EOD capabilities against those threats in four consolidated mission areas: underwater; surface; buried/improvised explosive devices; and chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear munitions and weapons of mass destruction.
This assessment was the first time a threat-based assessment was layered into the normal capability-based assessment of the current state of technology. Although EOD Department hosted the event, the RDT&E Department’s Chemical, Biological, Radiological Defense Division also provided support. The outcome of the event will be an updated capability gap list for the JEOD program to focus on future development priorities and will be shared at a summer Industry Day and Cross-Service EOD Program Management meeting.
“Today’s EOD warfighters are facing increasing advanced technologies from near-peer adversaries in incredibly diverse environments. Whether it is in the South China Sea, the Middle East, or our increased focus on the Artic area of operation, we need to be able to identify gaps in our toolset and fill those holes to give our operators an unfair advantage,” said NSWC IHD Commanding Officer Capt. Eric Correll. “The expo brought together the best and brightest in the field of EOD to identify and prioritize these gaps in the critical mission areas.”