A car bomb, or truck bomb, also known as a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED), is an improvised explosive device placed inside a car or other vehicle and detonated. Car bombs can be roughly divided into two main categories; some are used primarily to kill the occupants of the vehicle (often as an assassination) and others are used as a means to kill, injure or damage people and buildings outside of the vehicle. The latter type may be either parked up (the vehicle disguising the bomb and allowing the bomber to get away) or the vehicle might be used to deliver the bomb (often as part of a suicide bombing). This latter type is also commonly known as Suicide vehicle-borne improvised explosive device, or SVBIED.
Car bombs act as their own delivery mechanisms and can carry a relatively large amount of explosives without attracting suspicion. SVBIEDs are activated in a variety of ways, including opening the vehicle’s doors, starting the engine, depressing the accelerator or brake pedals or simply lighting a fuse or setting a timing device. The gasoline in the vehicle’s fuel tank may make the explosion of the bomb more powerful by dispersing and igniting the fuel.
This video shows helmet cam footage of U.S. Army Humvee machine gunners taking out mock Suicide Vehicle-Borne Improvised Explosive Devices (SVBIEDs) and other targets in a simulated firefight during live fire combat training.
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