Effective Explosives Detection Training Using Simulants

The Need for Better Explosives Detection Training

X-ray screeners and other key security staff are required to detect items such as explosives, Improvised Explosive Devices (IED), weapons, drugs and other threat items. However, many security screeners will have little or no experience or exposure to these types of items due to their lack of availability.

Security screeners may be able to identify guns and perhaps grenades as they have little variation in their geometrical shapes and are easily recognisable. However, explosives, explosive devices, their components and drugs are a lot harder to detect given that they are generally moulded into different shapes in order for them to be concealed in other items thus never maintaining a fixed geometrical pattern.

For explosive screening to be successful operators must understand the concealment potential of items and have the interpretation skills to identify them both with and without concealed explosives. Unfortunately a survey carried out in Airports using the Simfox x-ray training simulator has found that detection of concealed IED, without the adequate training, can drop as low as 12%.

Current Explosives Detection Training

Much of the explosives familiarisation & detection training around the world is carried out sporadically using pictures and real explosives. Showing pictures of explosives is ineffectual as it only provides limited visual training and does not hold the attention of security personnel.

Using real explosives would be ideal, however obtaining and transporting them is extremely difficult, dangerous and inadvisable and therefore cannot be used to provide a regular and effective training plan.

This means that security check point personnel are often forced to rely on limited knowledge and experience to detect items that could cause widespread devastation.

Renful’s Explosives Detection Training Product Suite

Renful has therefore developed an integrated product suite designed to provide security trainers with the tools needed to develop an explosive detection training plan that covers the key factors needed to increase screener x-ray interpretation and detection skills; familiarisation of threat functionality, geometrical patterns and concealment potential.

These are:

1. Educational Kits
2. Inert Explosives & Components
3. Drill Library
4. Drill Library +

a) Educational Kits

Renful Premier Technologies has developed a range of educational kits that are designed to teach security operatives about the texture, weight and geometrical pattern of different threat items and their components.

Each training kit has been developed to provide familiarisation training on different aspects of explosives, explosive devices, their components and drugs. Each kit contains detailed educational material and his held in a hard briefcase for safe keeping and ease of transport.

b) Inert Explosives and Components

Renful has developed a range of state of the art simulant explosives, explosive device components and drugs for the use in threat detection training and testing, machine testing and the self preparation of concealed IEDs.

As these simulants maintain the correct texture, colour and geometrical pattern of real explosives they are ideal for use in visual familiarisation and hand search training.

As Renful’s inert explosives are made from CT correct materials they retain the correct x-ray signature and can therefore be used by many organisations around the world for the calibration & testing of explosive detection technology like trace detectors and x-ray machines.

These inert explosives and components also allow for the self preparation of drill items by security trainers to control the complexity of the testing object given to their employees.

c) Drill Library

Renful professionals build a simulated IED or other threat item all made from CT correct densities and conceal them in innocent objects. This makes these drill items ideal for both visual familiarisation training, hand search training and x-ray threat detection training and testing.

d) Drill Library +

While all drill items created by Renful are built following consultation from weapon and explosives experts, they cannot be validated. Validation refers to the likelihood that such an item will be used by a terrorist organisation.

Drill Library + offers concealed weapons and IEDs that have been validated by intelligence gathered by Infogence Terrorism Reports.

Infogence Systems (a Renful Company) infiltrates extremist websites and gathers intelligence on terrorist bomb manufacturing activities. Renful’s explosives experts are then able to create drill items based on the recipes and instructions gathered.

For more information or to obtain our free Explosives Training Product Catalogue contact Renful at info@renful.co.uk or via our website

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