Suicide Watch

By Sebastian Sprenger / April 30, 2009 at 5:00 AM

The age-old tactic of suicide attacks is receiving renewed attention from the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization. In a note posted on the Federal Business Opportunities Web site today, JIEDDO officials announced plans for the demonstration of new technologies aimed at detecting individuals intent on blowing themselves up.

Suicide bombings are common events in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. A recent string of suicide bombings in Iraq has killed scores of people, ending a relatively calm period there that began at the start of the year.

JIEDDO's short announcement doesn't reveal much about how officials intend to proceed on the task. The money phrase, ripe with military jargon, is this one:

Purpose of this announcement is to identify parties potentially interested in participating in a JIEDDO-conducted demonstration to characterize Person-Borne IED (PBIED) sensors against an intelligence-backed, standardized set of threat surrogates.

Interested companies have until Sept. 18 to get in touch, the announcement reads.

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