US: Trialing novel Mine clearing system.

(Yuma) Mine warfare is where a military force plants small explosive devices (mines or Improvised explosive devices aka IEDs) in which to form a barrier so as to force the other feller to do as directed , be it halt their advance, be channeled down a path not of their choosing and in the case of nuisance mines just be a pain in the ass resulting in forces to be redeployed in the anti insurgency role .

Or the other fellow could do neither of the above and simply carve a path through the minefield and upset the applecart. This was done by hand as immortalised by Hollywood with a soldier (always American) prodding the ground in front of him with a bayonet until the British after the debarkle of the Dieppe raid in (Of the 29 tanks landed on the beach, only 15 made it off the beach) 1942 set up a department led by Major General Percy Hobart in which to develop specialised armour in which to overcome the issues that the Canadians suffered at Dieppe and develop he did coming up with the Hobarts funnies which were used to great advantage on D-day when the allies landed in Normandy. 2 of the vehicles were designed specifically to combat mines, there was the British Sherman Flail tank  aka "The Crab" which saw fitted a 10 foot spinning cylinder at the front of the tank to which were affixed 3 foot long heavy metal chains which beat the ground in ground detonating any mines in the tanks path

The other was the Bullshorn Plough tank which saw a plough fitted to the front of the tank (in this case the Churchill tank)  which pushed any mines in its path to the side where they either detonated ot were cleared by sappers following up.

Both concepts are still in use today but in modified formats, however the use of such vehicles leaves them vulnerable to attack from any overwatch forces, this has resulted in alternative forms of clearance Giant Viper (a giant tube filled with explosives fitted to a rocket which launches it and then once deployed detonates clearing a huge path) There is the fuel air mixture concept where a dense fuel vapour is released over an area which when detonated hopefully takes any mines out in the area, and finally there is the trained soldier with a metal detector and a bayonet (actually its a aluminum pike on a handle) which I do believe is what I started with.

Well its a new age with lots of new technologies that can be utilised and the US has come up with the  Ground Obstacle Breaching Lane Neutralizer concept which uses a UAV to fly over the area using its  sensors to spot any hidden mines, then it will direct a automatic mortar system to target it with a round to either destroy or  disable that mine.

 

Ok, its still a concept, but if succesful it would allow for the rapid clearence of paths through a minefield in extra quick time without placing troops lives at risk.