Pre/post-explosion chemical analysis of explosives preferred in explosive laden unmanned aerial vehicle attacks

It is inevitable to see the effects of developing technology in the fields of national and international security, as in all areas of life. Especially the rapid developments and changes in the aviation industry have increased the interest in unmanned systems and this has increased the curiosity of terrorist organizations and non-state armed actors (NSAA) to gain this capability. As a result of this change in the conflict environment, it has been recorded that Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) are preferred by criminal and terrorist organizations for reconnaissance and surveillance, directing artillery fire to the target and attempting attacks by modifying them as Improvised Explosive Devices (IED). These developments, which threaten our national security, have necessitated the acquisition of new investigation and analysis methods for forensic units in order to illuminate the attacks that have occurred or may occur. It is known that the presence of explosive materials after attacks with UAVs, and especially after the explosion, is difficult to detect. Within the scope of this thesis, a new method has been developed for the combined qualitative analysis of 11 different explosive substances with LC/MS-MS. During the study, negative ions were monitored in Multiple Reaction Monitoring mode (MRM) by choosing the chemical ionization (APCI) method at atmospheric pressure. Separation and determination of explosives in the chromatographic column was carried out in as little as 11 minutes. Within the scope of the study, the results of RDX and TNT were given, and the retention time was determined as 8.2 min for RDX and 9.7 min for TNT. With the developed method, two different samples taken from the crime scene were analyzed. The first of these samples is the sample taken from the explosive-laden UAV used for offensive purposes, and the other is the soil sample taken from the explosion pit as a result of the explosion of the UAV that was dropped in a controlled manner. RDX and TNT were detected in both samples.