My current editorial project is a big, fat book about Canadian operations in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan. IEDs are all over it.

The modifier "home-made" disappeared from the lexicon very early because the devices were, and are, assembled in secret factories (not homes), using designs, manufacturing techniques and materials distributed through insurgent networks. The triggers and detonators, in particular, are frequently manufactured elsewhere -- i.e., Pakistan, Iran, or pick your own favourite sponsor of terrorism -- and smuggled into the theatre of operations. The plastic jugs, canisters and drums in which the explosive charges are packed are used everywhere for agricultural and industrial products such as fuels, pesticides and lubricants.

In the world of munitions, the word "bomb" is a term of art that does not describe all IEDs precisely.

Also, acronym. If a military person has a choice between a common noun and an acronym, the acronym wins every time.