Growing Jihadi Use of Improvised Armor on
VBIEDs, Technicals & Other Vehicles

IntelCenter has been tracking an increase in the use of improvised armor by the Islamic State (IS) and other jihadists in Iraq and Syria. The armor is being added to vehicular-borne improvised explosive devices (VBIEDs), technicals and other vehicle types. The uptick began in late 2014 and is continuing to grow in 2015. IS makes the greatest use of improvised armor but it is also regularly utilized by Jabhat al-Nusrah.

The use of improvised armor evolved from the jihadist's need to increase the ability of VBIEDs to reach their target while under fire from fortified facilities. As targets have continued to harden, the use of improvised armor has continued to evolve with greater armor coverage. It has also spread to construction vehicles used to clear a path for VBIEDs.

The successful deployment of VBIEDs with improvised armor appears to have led jihadists to use improvised armor to augment captured armored military vehicles being used as VBIEDs and its use on technicals.

The Islamic State has also begun using these techniques outside of Iraq and Syria with the use of a VBIED with improvised armor in Egypt.

The increased use of improvised armor is expected to continue to grow in 2015 in Iraq and Syria as well as spread through other jihadi insurgent theaters such as Egypt, Libya and elsewhere.

Due to the high-profile use of such vehicles in jihadi videos and photographs as well as the regular flow of foreign fighters through multiple jihadi theaters and their home countries, the threat posed by such techniques should not be considered limited to insurgent theaters. If attacking a target in a Western or other country without an ongoing insurgency that has a security perimeter, it is increasingly likely that terrorists would make use of less noticeable armor that would make stopping an attack with small arms difficult.

Recent Trends & Developments
• Greater frequency of VBIEDs with improvised armor
• Military armored vehicles augmented with improvised armor as VBIEDs
• Bulldozers and other vehicles with improvised armor used to clear paths for VBIEDs with improvised armor
• Improvised armor used on technicals
• Improvised armor VBIEDs now in use by Islamic State in Egypt

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