Mines - Types / Placement / Disarment

[General Pain]

I read this article (http://badassoftheweek.com/aki-ra.html) and thought a thread with discussions on landmines and other explosive devices used in T2K.

[General Pain]

[General Pain]

[General Pain]

[General Pain]

This map shows in orange the locations of where the American military dropped bombs in Cambodia during the Vietnam War. The data was supplied by the U.S. government.

Looking at it you can probably see the chance of a lot of unexploded ordnance scattered in the jungles.

[General Pain]

[General Pain]

Mine Detection Dogs

From what I could see, mine detection dogs could significantly reduce the cost of demining in Lebanon. There does not seem to be a cultural problem in using dogs (compared with some other countries in the region). There is no local capacity at the moment, but there are many well-educated people who could contribute to building local capacity. Some plant species are prickly at certain times of the year, restricting the use of dogs.

The soils are light, dry and sandy (with limestone rocks) which seem to be good conditions for dogs to work in.

The climate (in the appropriate season) is benign with few environmental risks for the dogs.

Recommendation

In my opinion, of all the technologies considered, mine detection dogs offer the best chance of significant improvements in clearance production rate and quality level. Because of cultural sensitivities and cost factors, the most attractive options to pursue this are:

• A trial of Afghan or Iraqi mine detection dogs (with handlers) in Lebanon. Such a trial should be coordinated with similar trials in Yemen, Egypt and Jordan where similar problems exist and dogs could make effective contributions.

• Investigate whether sufficient dog capacity exists in Lebanese Customs and counter-terrorist organisations to build an indigenous mine detection dog capacity.

Dogs are now used in several countries for mine and UXO clearance operations. Procedures vary from one country to another, but the following general principles apply in all of them.

First, each dog requires extensive training, together with his handler. This is usually done at a combined dog breeding and training centre. The dogs are tested within a few weeks of birth to assess their potential. After a few months, as skills improve, a selected dog will live with his handler 24 hours per day. (This is recommended by most experts but is not always the case.) The dog comes to see himself as another type of human, and the partnership formed with the handler will be a lifelong one. So strong is the bond between handler and dog that if the dog is killed or injured in a mine accident, the handler may be emotionally upset for many months afterwards. The dog becomes acutely sensitive both explosive vapour smells and human behaviour around him. This becomes important in testing the dog's performance later.

Once a dog and his handler reach the required level of performance for field work after about 2 years, they will be assigned to a demining dog field centre. This centre has appropriate accommodation and medical support for handlers and veterinary support for the dogs. The cost up to this stage is about US$8,500, though more recently, it is claimed, the training cost has been reduced to $1200 (in Afghanistan, where typical deminer pay is US$150 per month – costs are substantially higher elsewhere).

Afghanistan Puppy Training Program

1-6 Month Social training and ball play

6-12 months Obedience

12-18 months Ball & explosives

18-20 months Mines

20-22 months Handler

Other training programs use similar techniques, but it appears that each is different.

The dogs work best in dry, clear open country with vegetation no higher than calf to knee height (depending on vegetation and dog abilities). In Afghanistan, dogs are not used in wet conditions, thick vegetation or residential areas where, it is thought, the profusion of strong scents is likely to confuse the dogs.

The dogs will need supplementary training all the time, particularly if they are to work with different mines and/or devices containing different kinds of explosives. There is some debate about the length of training needed to 'convert' a dog to a new type of explosive or mine. In Afghanistan, daily refresher practice is part of the normal schedule, and a major refresher course is scheduled every two months.

The dog's reward for finding explosive is not food. It is a ball — "the Dutch method" — and this seems to be common to Afghanistan, South Africa, USA (Ronco) and European trained dogs. It is the appreciation and excitement of the handler which rewards the dog. Affection and food are always provided by the handler. Since finding explosives is, for the dog, a game or form of entertainment, the dog's performance will depend on his mood and level of interest in playing. On some days, a particular dog may not feel like playing (or may be unwell), in which case other dogs will be needed. Naturally, if the handler is not well, the dog cannot work. After some time, usually between 1 and 2 hours, the dog will be bored and will need some time to recover his interest in the 'game'.

A clearance task for dogs is set up by manual demining (which may require hand prodding if minimum metal mines cannot easily be detected by metal detectors). The manual deminers will clear safe access lanes (usually a metre wide) around the task area. The width of the task (across the wind direction) must be no longer than the length of the leash on the dog. In Afghanistan this is 8 metres. In Bosnia 10 metre and 15 metre lengths are common.

Another reason for manual clearance around the task is to check for tripwires. Some dogs have been trained to find tripwires, but there is disagreement on whether they can do this safely, particularly if the tripwire is extremely thin, or half buried under fallen vegetation. Since the average tripwire is 15-20 metres long, the size of any area to be checked by dogs must be less than this. In instances where short tripwires are encountered, dogs should not be used.

The dog is introduced to the task and commanded by the handler to traverse the upwind edge of the task. The handler then steps about 60 cm sideways, and the dog performs another traverse, and so on. If one dog completes an entire task area (see diagram), another dog is introduced with his handler and again checks the same task area. If neither dog indicates explosives, the task area is declared to be safe and clear.



A dog is trained to indicate the presence of explosive by calmly sitting a short distance from the location where the scent was discovered. When any dog indicates, the location is marked by placing markers on the edges of the task area. If this is the first dog, another dog will be introduced and will traverse the area up to the indicated location again. Manual deminers can safely approach the location across ground which has been 'cleared' by both dogs. Maybe the second dog will indicate a location which was missed by the first dog. In this case, it is this location which is checked first by manual deminers.

In Afghanistan, procedures require deminers to check an area 2 metres square around the location point, to a depth of up to 50 centimetres, or greater if there is evidence indicating a suspect target. They will use metal detectors (if possible) and manual prodding or probing (if possible). At all times they will only stand on the side which has been cleared by both dogs. Often this process reveals a shell fragment with a tiny piece of unburnt explosive adhering to the inside. However, the false alarm rate is low, and the total clearance cost using dogs is about one quarter (or less) that of manual demining using conventional methods. (Approx US$0.15 per sq metre with dogs, $0.65 per sq metre using manual demining).

After a location is checked by manual demining, clearance resumes from the location point, continuing to work downwind. The task is 8 metres (m) wide across the wind direction, but can be quite long along the wind direction. Ronco use 15 m x 15 m square boxes (a dog works at it from both sides on an 8 m leach, which allows for 1 m overlap.)

In Bosnia and Croatia (and Northern Iraq) deminers use 10 m x 10 m square boxes. If one dog indicates an explosive device in a square, then current procedures require the entire square to be cleared manually. Well organised dogs can check up to 3,000 sq metres per day each. However, this is very rarely achieved because manual deminers can never clear safe lanes and mark working boxes at this rate. The normal arrangement is one dog team (2 dogs/handlers) to a demining team of eight men. Some demining groups bring dogs in only on selected days after manual teams have cleared sufficient boxes to provide the dog team with enough work.

Another common kind of dog task in Croatia is ruined houses which have been deserted for up to 10 years. When the houses were wrecked, some militias left some mines to deter people from trying to return to their homes. Other times, fighting in the area resulted in UXO being left inside or around the houses. Typically it costs about US$2,000 to check a house and yard with dogs, including the cost of clearing vegetation beforehand. Often the exterior vegetation can be cleared mechanically using a remotely controlled mini-flail. Clearing the interior is more time-consuming. One operator explained to me that "dogs don't know where to expect booby traps so they check everywhere….my men think they know where the booby traps would have been placed so they don't look elsewhere".

Known Problems in Using Dogs

Dogs do not find every mine. Even in Afghanistan, where the mine detection dog program has been operating since 1989, there are reports of missed mines from time to time. Elsewhere, the results are varied. Recent testing in Bosnia and Herzegovina has shown very poor performance by dogs. However, there are other test results which show satisfactory results. There are no standards which apply to dog performance testing.

The depth at which dogs can find mines also varies. There are reports of dogs finding AT mines as deep as 1 metre beneath unsealed roads, but then there are also reports of dogs missing similar mines less than 20 cm below the ground elsewhere (and even on the surface in some regions).

Dogs have not always been successfully introduced into demining theatres. Several known problems have been encountered, and it is important to be aware of these.

First, there may be disease problems. In Africa, mosquito and insect-born diseases have caused severe problems for dogs (and handlers too!). Food supplies need to be checked very carefully, and hygiene standards appropriate for 'foreigners' are essential. Veterinary support can be helpful in preventing some diseases through vaccination.

Quarantine restrictions can be troublesome in some countries, particularly if the dog needs to be keep quarantined for some time before entry. The handler needs to be with the dog during this period.

Dogs need to acclimatise after arrival in a new country and environment. They need time to orient themselves to a new world of sights, sounds and smells, just as the handler will. There is much disagreement, and few objective tests on the length of time needed. Times claimed for acclimatisation are between 2 weeks and 6 months.

Dogs will need to be trained on the types of mines and other targets they are expected to find. It is important to remember that the dog does not only smell explosive. In fact there is much discussion on what the dogs actually do smell. In some instances, dogs have been trained to find metal fragments when their number is small, and there has been trouble with training them to find particular UXO types. Some people claim that the dogs are sensitive not so much to explosives, but also to chemical by-products contained in the explosives or other parts of the mine, and even the smells associated with plastic packaging of the mine, or lubricating oils in the casings of UXO's. Some hardened skeptics claim that it is the human odor that the dogs pick-up and that is why they tend to find recently buried items that their trainer deposit but seem to miss even the landmines that are uncovered.

Training sites need extreme care. Practice targets need to be buried several weeks (at least) before the dogs are tested (or trained). The targets must be representative samples of the mines which the dogs are to locate. We do not know exactly what the dogs smell. Some people argue that the smell of additives in the plastic mine casing dominates the smell of explosive, but we know that human noses can smell some compounds much easier than others present in the same concentration.

The targets need to be handled carefully and with clean plastic gloves to avoid human scents contaminating them. Dummy targets need to be buried as well to ensure that the dogs are not simply finding places where something has been buried recently. Some targets can simply be hidden rather than being buried - this helps to avoid unnecessary distractions for the dog. Another issue is the order in which targets are placed. Some people attempt to arrange the targets such that the dog will encounter the hardest targets to detect first. Finally, there must be adequate separation between the targets - at least 20 to 30 metres.

There is some suspicion that dogs cannot work in certain soil and vegetation conditions where most if not all the explosive vapour is absorbed by the soil, running water, or plants, and cannot then be found by the dog. This may be associated with heavy clay soils with extremely fine particles.

Many of these issues are the subject of ongoing arguments between different people in the international demining community. Inevitably there are some vested interests which colour opinions stated from time to time. However, it is apparent that there are performance problems and more research is needed, with careful testing by dog users. Given our very limited understanding of canine physiology and behaviour, these issues may not be resolved clearly for some time.

from here:http://school.mech.uwa.edu.au/~james...n/leb-rpt.html

[General Pain]

http://www.derechoshumanos.gov.co/mi...oquiaminas.jpg

(edit kato13: image too wide converted to a link)

[pmulcahy11b]

A couple of months ago I read something interesting in Popular Science (or was it Popular Mechanics?) -- apparently some civilian mine-removal companies are experimenting with using trained rats for use in detecting mines, and they're having pretty good success with the experimentation. The rats are smart, easily-trainable, have an excellent sense of smell, the breed they're using (some giant breed, IIRC from Africa) is sociable and responds well to praise and treats -- and they are too light in weight to set off any known mine (they aren't even strong or heavy enough to set off tripwires). They can set them loose in minefields and they will just sit on top of mines they detect in a certain posture until the mine disarming personnel get to them.

[Targan]

Giant African Pouched Rats - excellent mine detection system. Apparently they are superior to dogs in several ways. They are too light to set off anti-personnel mines and they are not as easily distracted as dogs because they are not as intelligent and are entirely food-driven. They will work and work and work because they REALLY want their goodies at the end of their detection session.

[Legbreaker]

There are some triggers which the rats will be able to set off. Fortunately those are rather rarer then the stardard step on and go boom type commonly used in your generic mine field.
Unfortunately those triggers are most commonly associated with bounding type mines which spray shrapnel over a wide area - the handler will be in almost as much trouble as the newly shredded rat...

[pmulcahy11b]

Originally Posted by Legbreaker

There are some triggers which the rats will be able to set off. Fortunately those are rather rarer then the stardard step on and go boom type commonly used in your generic mine field.
Unfortunately those triggers are most commonly associated with bounding type mines which spray shrapnel over a wide area - the handler will be in almost as much trouble as the newly shredded rat...

According to that article I read, those rats are too light and not strong enough to detonate those types of mines either. I would think that if they did, though, that they may get by without being harmed by the shrapnel -- bounding AP mines tend to spray their shrapnel in a relatively flat pattern. (The concussion would probably kill them, though.) Most antipersonnel mines through history have been designed to maim instead of kill, so you can kill enemy troops trying to recover their fallen comrades with the machineguns that normally cover minefields, or force them to slow up and use human resources to care for and evacuate the wounded.

[Targan]

Check out this article. I love these little guys! Its like a rodent remake of The Hurt Locker. http://images.google.com.au/imgres?i...26tbs%3Disch:1

[pmulcahy11b]

And now we get to add a new T2K skill: Animal Handler (Rat).

I'm looking at that first picture, and the mine looks like a POMZ-2 stake mine. Those aren't normally buried in the ground; they're stake mines. Guess it's OK for training...

[Legbreaker]

An animal that size will definately be able to set them off. They're touchy little buggers, one of the features that makes them so damn dangerous!

[pmulcahy11b]

Originally Posted by Legbreaker

An animal that size will definately be able to set them off. They're touchy little buggers, one of the features that makes them so damn dangerous!

Actually, that's not as likely as you might think. Mines, particularly antipersonnel mines are designed not to be set off by any random small animal -- that's why it takes a certain amount of weight and pressure to set one off, usually in the neighborhood of 20-30 kg for pressure detonators and 2-5 kg for tripwires and rod-type detonators. You don't want your mines to go off prematurely, before they can blow up the bad guy...

[Legbreaker]

This is generally true, however a few types I've played with back in the day were so touchy that simply brushing it it about a kilo of pressure would set it off.
Note that these aren't all that common, but they are out there....

I'll have to check my notes to find out what the one I'm thinking of is called.

[pmulcahy11b]

Originally Posted by Legbreaker

This is generally true, however a few types I've played with back in the day were so touchy that simply brushing it it about a kilo of pressure would set it off.
Note that these aren't all that common, but they are out there....

I'll have to check my notes to find out what the one I'm thinking of is called.

The Russian "Butterfly" (also called a "Parrot") FASCAM toepopper -- can't remember the nomenclature, is one like you're thinking of. Only takes a couple of hundred grams -- you're just breaking a vial of acid through a thin plastic shell when you step on it; the acid detonates the liquid explosives.

[Legbreaker]

http://www.5rar.asn.au/narrative/mines.htm

The wounds shown in the photos were caused by an M16 mine which the wounded man (Rod Lees) trod on with his left foot. I actually served with him in the early 90's (he was a Warrant Officer Class 2 by then). Besides a slight limp he was still a very effective infantry solider. Surprising, he had a son a couple of years later inspite of having his genitals minced by the blast (his son was another machinegunner in my platoon).

http://www.5rar.asn.au/narrative/dat_do.htm
http://www.5rar.asn.au/narrative/longhai.htm

[Legbreaker]

A quick search of the net found this:

"The M16 is a bounding fragmentation type mine consisting of a mine fuse, a propelling charge and a projectile in a sheetmetal case. The mine is approximately 4 inches in diameter, 7-5/8 inches in height with the fuse installed, and weighs 7-7/8 pounds. Pressure of between 8 and 20 pounds acting on one or more of the three prongs of the fuse, or pull of between 3 and 10 pounds on a tripwire attached to the release, will activate the mine. The principal difference between the M16, M16A1, and M16A2 versions are in the construction of the detonators and boosters. The casualty radius is 27 meters for the M16 and M16A1 and 30 meters for the M16A2. A pressure of 3.6 to 9 kilograms applied on one or more of the three prongs of the M605 fuse or a pull of 1.4 to 4.5 kilograms on the trip wire will activate the mine."

As can be seen, anything beyond about 3 pounds pressure (8 pounds direct) and you've got real problems.

[headquarters]

We had a bunch of older AT mines that had a screw in detonator ( or 3-4 actually including on on the bottom /under ).

They could be brought down from vehicle type weight to detonate to person weight by placing metal objects like a bolt inside the hole were the detonator sat . ( The detonator was quite touchy -the metal surrounding it needed a certain pressure -adding the bolt it acted like a primitive firing pin ).

I also saw a lot of different types in Jugoslavia- Jugos,Italian,US ,CCCCP , etc etc.

Many could be tampered with by filing a notch away here ,cutting a spring in half there etc .I guess that even if it looks to be your standard PROM type mine ,there is no telling straight away what will make it go boom -if indeed it does.It could be old,modified,faulty in a good/bad way etc .Mass produced stuff -maybe of poor quality - that is left outside in the ground etc for months,years...Variables add up to a big ?

Another thing -when I took my demining -mining course we were clearly instructed that placing mines required careful mapping in 4 copies-squad,platoon,company and batallion.(To be forwarded by co platoon) . Also -the minefield was to be marked by signs ,fenced of by barbed wire or fencing wire, marked by tape .This is required by the laws of war -failure to do so is in fact a war crime.

I think I need to get my party into a minefield soon - the suspense as they perform their COMBAT ENGINEER CHECK : Average difficulty time after time to get out should make for suspense and good times all around.

[Marc]

Some day, previously to my first deployment in the Balkans, me and other members of the Signals Company of the Spanish Airborne Brigade assisted to a meeting given by our combat engineers. They informed us about the different configurations of the minefields we must expect to encounter in the zone of operations. When we leave the meeting room, the engineers show as a large, U shaped table, full of all kind of mines and explosive devices used by warring factions. Without fear of exaggeration, there were nearly a hundred of devices exhibited on these table, from conventional AT mines and AP mines to home made booby-traps. All kind of materials (metal, wood, plastic...), all kind of systems to detonate the explosive (strings, torsion sticks, pressure triggers...). The engineers warned us about the fact that any of the warring factions were one step ahead of us in the dubious art of booby trapping, an “art� they have been intensively developing as an effective way to deny a zone, paralyze enemy movements and cause fear, both in military and civilians (trapped toys or “war souvenirs� were a current resource). Our engineers induced us a healthy paranoia that was somewhat softened once in the area but help us to keeps our eyes opened.

Some of the minefields were marked in our maps. If I remember well, there was some kind of treaty where the warring factions must show the minefields for the peacekeeper forces. The nation or faction who has deployed the minefield assumed the responsibility to remove it, too. But given the kind of “irregular war� and the role of the militia units in the conflict, added with the rough terrain and the “low cost� of a mine or a booby trap, sometimes the first notice of an unmarked minefield was an explosion and in nearly all the cases, affecting civilian population.

[Targan]

Originally Posted by Legbreaker

"The M16 is a bounding fragmentation type mine consisting of a mine fuse, a propelling charge and a projectile in a sheetmetal case. The mine is approximately 4 inches in diameter, 7-5/8 inches in height with the fuse installed, and weighs 7-7/8 pounds. Pressure of between 8 and 20 pounds acting on one or more of the three prongs of the fuse, or pull of between 3 and 10 pounds on a tripwire attached to the release, will activate the mine. The principal difference between the M16, M16A1, and M16A2 versions are in the construction of the detonators and boosters. The casualty radius is 27 meters for the M16 and M16A1 and 30 meters for the M16A2. A pressure of 3.6 to 9 kilograms applied on one or more of the three prongs of the M605 fuse or a pull of 1.4 to 4.5 kilograms on the trip wire will activate the mine."

As can be seen, anything beyond about 3 pounds pressure (8 pounds direct) and you've got real problems.

Well the rats are too light to set off one of those through direct pressure and I think it would be pretty rare for a rat to snag itsself on a tripwire or put its full weight on a trip wire. Still, I do take your point that it would theoretically be possible for a pouch rat to set off some AP mines. When you said that an animal that size could set off some mines I thought you were talking about those mines you see in WWII films with the little prongs that stick up out of the dirt. They seem like something a rat could set off. I've never looked into how they work (the prongs I mean). Does anyone here know?

[pmulcahy11b]

Originally Posted by Targan

Well the rats are too light to set off one of those through direct pressure and I think it would be pretty rare for a rat to snag itsself on a tripwire or put its full weight on a trip wire. Still, I do take your point that it would theoretically be possible for a pouch rat to set off some AP mines. When you said that an animal that size could set off some mines I thought you were talking about those mines you see in WWII films with the little prongs that stick up out of the dirt. They seem like something a rat could set off. I've never looked into how they work (the prongs I mean). Does anyone here know?

This is the M-16 bounding AP mine; you can kick a prong by accident or step on one, the effect is the same -- BOOM! We were also taught that using a tripwire on a post in the center of the prong cluster is more effective for the M-16. But they prongs not nearly as sensitive at they are depicted in most movies.

[Legbreaker]

One thing that really annoys me is pressure release mines - they simply DO NOT EXIST no matter what the movies want you to believe!

This is not to say there aren't pressure release triggers for booby traps though, just no production mines designed to blow up AFTER lifting your foot.
What possible use would there be after all for a mine that actually gives the target a chance to disarm it?

[headquarters]

Originally Posted by Legbreaker

One thing that really annoys me is pressure release mines - they simply DO NOT EXIST no matter what the movies want you to believe!

This is not to say there aren't pressure release triggers for booby traps though, just no production mines designed to blow up AFTER lifting your foot.
What possible use would there be after all for a mine that actually gives the target a chance to disarm it?

some mines has a lift trigger / pressure release trigger that goes off if the pressure is relieved.

As you say - why would you have such a trigger ? But they can be set to go off if you relieve the applied pressure.


The old "click" -uh-oh! I am on a mine etc .. isnt very real I agree.But fully possible.

[Legbreaker]

Anti-lift devices yes, but the mines themselves - no.
An anti-lift device is just another version of a booby trap. There are no mines issued with, or even produced with a release type trigger mechanism.
At least there weren't back when I was working with them in the early to mid 90s.

[Webstral]

Some outstanding information here, gentlemen! General, that's some great stuff on mine-sniffing dogs. I've enjoyed learning about the rats, too.

Poland is going to need a massive mine-clearing effort. It would be interesting to get hold of a document from an alternate 2020 detailing some of the methods used by the Poles.

Improvised mines will be widespread in CONUS in 2001. The manufacture and employment of basement-made mines would be an... interesting line of work. Come to think of it, there's another commodity that Colorado might be able to offer loyal cantonments: mines manufactured to a reasonable standard, such that they could be recovered and redeployed as required.

Moving tangentially, minefields, machine guns, and mortars/grenade launchers would have a big impact on marauders. As communities become increasingly well-fortified, marauders will have to become more sophisticated. They will have to be able to handle mines in a way that does not expose them unduly to fire. By 2001, "Armies of the Night" may apply to a lot more bad guys than the gangs on Manhattan. I could see mines, mortars, and machine guns compelling marauders to band together into the hordes I mentioned a couple of years ago out of necessity.

Webstral

[pmulcahy11b]

You know, I really should look at my own web pages:

Belgian NR-413 Stake Mine: 2kg pressure on the tripwire
Belgian PRB M-966: 1kg pressure if a tripwire is used, 4.5 kg if pressure-detonated
Bulgarian PSM-1: 1 kg with a tripwire, or 8 kg with pressure
Chinese Portable Bounding APERS Mine: 1.5kg on the tripwire
Chinese SAPEM: 2 kg of pressure
Chinese Type 69: 1.5kg on a tripwire or 7 kg of pressure
Czech PP Mi-Sr: 3 kg of pressure
Egyptian Bounding APERS: 2 kg on a tripwire
Russian POMZ-2: 1kg on a tripwire
US M-16A1/A2: 3.6 kg on a tripwire or pressure

These are just the "light-touch" mines I found on my own site; I should trust my own research (and keep better track of what's on my own site). Note also that the typical tripwire-triggered mine is set for 5-8 kg of pressure, which is also not really that much. (I still don't think a rat is likely to set off any but the lightest of tripwires -- maybe in the 1-2 kg range at best, and he just might be likely to walk right under a tripwire without triggering it. Do they train those rats to recognize tripwires?)

[Legbreaker]

Either way, I'd much rather trust a human to do the job. It's a dangerous one admittedly, but at least a humn is going to understand that they can't loose focus for even a moment - one slip, one missed mine and it's all over.