The modern military is borrowing an idea from Robin Hood to deal with unexploded landmines. Patents filed by US defence contractor Raytheon concede that current landmine clearance is ineffective, especially if mines are in sand or under water.
NS Forum
What do you think about these latest innovations? Give us your views today
Discuss this story >>
But the company has developed a shell containing hundreds of steel 'arrows' – 155 millimetres long and 15 mm in diameter – that can trigger landmines with a single shot.
Each rod has a flared rear end, like the feathers of an arrow, and hundreds can be packed into a single cylindrical shell. This shell can be lobbed into a mined area and just before impact a charge behind the arrows will fire them downwards. The metal flights will keep the arrows on a straight course so that they pepper the area at high velocity and at regular spaces.
Tests show that a shell containing hundreds of arrows can wipe out every mine in an area several metres square, even when the mines are buried under sand or under nearly a metre of water. GPS can also be used to guide the shells into overlapping patches in order to safely clear a wide area.
Read the landmine arrows patent here.
Smart dressing"
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment