Taking a peak inside your Baofeng wont hurt, probably
They going to tear open the battery while they are at it? It’s not like there’s going to be a small lump labeled “RDX” with wires sticking out of it.
While they’re at it, why not incorporate the explosive into the body of the device? Has no one else seen Up in Smoke?
I suspect that's not far off from what Israel did, from my understanding they modified a device's at a production level, it sounds like they essentially redesigned the pager.
It will be interesting to see how they did it with the radios.
I feel like a broken record reminding people that the TAO (Tailored Access Operations, now Computer Network Operations), part of the NSA, has been doing this for 20 years. Except they implant spyware instead of explosives. Probably.
They blew up a Soviet pipeline by leaking bad pipeline turbine designs via the Line X program. Nothing to do with the NSA hacking supply chains and more due to double agents leaking deliberately bad designs, and the Soviets failing to stress test them.
The NSA was created in the 50s and was around at this point; this was the CIAs show.
See also: the Farewell Dossier
It doesn't predate the nsa, but the Cia contracted out the work through a Canadian firm iirc.
The nsa doesn't have the mandate for clandestine activities, only reconnaissance.
You could get a new battery from a known good source (or light a couple on fire to make sure they're not explosive). It should be relatively easy to check the rest of the components for anything near a dangerous amount of explosive, and the body can be replaced with a custom one and/or subjected to the fire test.
Even a fire test may not produce accurate results (see C4). Better to not have distinct supply lines from the civilian population you're already hiding in.
I don’t know why you think this will be an isolated event, a civilian you probably don’t have anything to worry about in the same way you don’t need to worry about getting poisoned or shot but this is now an attack method governments will take advantage of.
I believe it's ICOM, not Baofeng.
https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/article-820735
What are the ICOM IC-V82 radios exploding in Lebanon?
On that note, one review on eham.net from twelve years back for this radio is amusing:
https://www.eham.net/reviews/view-product?id=5046
Watch out for fake v82's! Only buy from authorized retailers or someone who did.
Wait, what frequency sets off the....
BOOM
BAOFENG transmits on all frequencies, it's just louder on the ones they intend
protip: if you're not connected to a terrorist group targeting israel, you've got nothing to worry about
It's interesting who we call terrorists and who we don't. If an Arab nation or organization had done this it would have been called a terrorist attack. Israel does it and people defend it.
Terrorist is a meaningless scare word for "people we don't like".
Ok, but this is NCD. Would you like a flute of Trader Joe's finest champagne? It's not very good, but it's free.
We read on the news 'Hezbollah pagers' and assume that this was a targeted attack. But are we sure? What does it even mean? Who and how got those devices?