The Terrorist Threat and Its Implications for Sensor Technologies

Keywords terrorism al Qaeda chemical terrorism biological terrorism radiological terrorism nuclear terrorism state sponsored terrorism threat sensors. 

The deadly terrorist bombings of July 7, 2005 in London again demonstrated that even sophisticated terrorists capable of planning and executing multiple, coordinated attacks continue to rely on traditional weapons rather than risk the technical and political uncertainty of chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear (CBRN) weapons. While terrorists have the motivations and capabilities to conduct large (and small) attacks worldwide, we have not yet witnessed the use of so called weapons of mass destruction (WMD) foreshadowed by the 1995 Sarin attacks in 

Advances in Sensing with Security Applications, 23-54. 2006 Springer. Printed in the Netherlands. 

The threat described in the first part of this chapter spurred increased investment in research and development technologies to prevent, detect, and respond to terrorist attacks. One specific area of research, sensors, particularly for chemical and biological agents and radioactive materials, in addition to radar and sonar, is the subject of this book. After describing the threat, this chapter goes on to discuss the use of sensors, fielded sensor capabilities, and existing gaps in sensor capabilities. 

There is no single definition of terrorism, and even when one can agree upon a definition, there may be disagreements about the classification of a particular incident. This chapter is written from a U.S. perspective (as the author is from the United States) and the author refers the reader to the definition of terrorism as defined by statute of the United States Government (Title 22 Chapter 28 Section 2656 f(d))  

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