Terrorist Innovations in Weapons of Mass Effect: Preconditions, Causes, and Predictive Indicators

Innovation is a constant feature of terrorism, yet little is known about how terrorists innovate, the factors that drive them to innovate, and the indicators that could help predict their trajectory toward innovation.

On August 5-6, 2010, experts gathered for a workshop sponsored by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, Advanced Systems and Concepts Office (DTRA-ASCO), to discuss the preconditions, causes, and predictive indicators associated with terrorist innovation in weapons of mass effect (WMEs).1 They presented their research findings on seven historical and contemporary cases of terrorist innovation, ranging from airplane hijackings by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) to the current threat emanating from Al-Qaeda’s mass casualty attacks.

These case studies generated a number of generalizations about what motivates innovation, how terrorists come to innovate, and whether it is possible to anticipate innovations in WME terrorism.

Continue scrolling for more...

 

Terrorist Innovations in Weapons of Mass Effect: Preconditions, Causes, and Predictive Indicators, October 2012 [211 Pages, 5.96mb]

https://documents.theblackvault.com/documents/terrorism/a556986.pdf

 

Follow The Black Vault on Social Media:

This post was published on March 3, 2015 4:11 am

John Greenewald

Recent Posts

FOIA Appeal Adds New Dog Bite Details from Biden White House, Confirms Video Evidence Withheld

Newly obtained Secret Service records continue to shed light on the numerous biting incidents involving…

September 26, 2025

DoD Redacts Nearly All Records Explaining AARO’s Use of Law Enforcement Exemption for UAP Files

The Department of Defense (DoD) has released a set of heavily redacted emails in response…

September 25, 2025

Pentagon Denies Existence of “Yankee Blue” Memo Reported by Wall Street Journal

A Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) response has raised new questions about a widely circulated…

September 16, 2025

DoD Says Aerospace Firms Went “On the Record” About UAP — Then Refuses to Acknowledge Records Exist

In March 2024, the Department of Defense (DoD) published publicly its Report on the Historical…

September 6, 2025

NASA Cites FOIA Exemption to Withhold James Webb Briefing Content Despite Public Hearing

In September 2024, a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request was filed with NASA seeking…

September 3, 2025

FBI Files: Historical Figures & Groups

Background Welcome to the FBI Files on Historical Figures & Groups archive at The Black…

August 31, 2025