EFP factory found in Diwaniya, Iraq

Remember those Explosively formed Penetrators that can only be manufactured in Iran? Tell that to Lieutenant-Colonel Scott Bleichwel. He reported the results of a joint U.S. and Iraqi sweep in the southwestern Iraqi town of Diwaniya.

Bleichwehl said troops, facing scattered resistance, discovered a factory that produced “explosively formed penetrators” (EFPs), a particularly deadly type of explosive that can destroy a main battle tank and several weapons caches.

As I have written earlier, these EFP's are made with a concave brass plate over a short segment of roughly five inch in diameter PVC pipe that is capped on the other end and filled with plastic explosives. The components are easily available. The most difficult part of assembling an EFP is machining the concave brass plate, something which Juan Cole points out can be done by a competent oil field machinist. Such skilled machinists and their tools are available in Iraq because of the oil industry there.