A demining robot is a robotic land vehicle that is designed for detecting the exact location of land mines and clearing them.[ citation needed ] Demining by conventional methods can be costly and dangerous for people. [1] Environments that are dull or dirty,[ clarification needed ] or otherwise dangerous to humans, may be well-suited for the use of demining robots. [2]
Uran-6 is a demining robot model used by Russian Federation [3] in Syria and Ukraine. [4] The Uran-6 is a short-range and remotely piloted robot. [4] Limitations of this robot include the need for human operators to be within a few hundred feet. [4]
MV-4 Dok-Ing is a demining robot model used by Republic of Croatia. [5] [6]
A land mine, or landmine, is an explosive weapon concealed under or camouflaged on the ground, and designed to destroy or disable enemy targets, ranging from combatants to vehicles and tanks, as they pass over or near it.
A mine roller or mine trawl is a demining device mounted on a tank or armoured personnel carrier, designed to detonate anti-tank mines. It allows engineers to clear a lane through a minefield which is protected by enemy fire.
Military robots are autonomous robots or remote-controlled mobile robots designed for military applications, from transport to search & rescue and attack.
The HALO Trust is a humanitarian non-government organisation which primarily works to clear landmines and other explosive devices left behind by conflicts. With over 10,000 staff worldwide, HALO has operations in 28 countries. Its largest operation is in Afghanistan, where the organization continues to operate under the Taliban regime that took power in August 2021.
Unexploded ordnance and unexploded bombs (UXBs) are explosive weapons that did not explode when they were deployed and remain at detonative risk, sometimes many decades after they were used or discarded. When unwanted munitions are found, they are sometimes destroyed in controlled explosions, but accidental detonation of even very old explosives might also occur, sometimes with fatal consequences.
In anti-tank warfare, an anti-tank mine is a type of land mine designed to damage or destroy vehicles including tanks and armored fighting vehicles.
Demining or mine clearance is the process of removing land mines from an area. In military operations, the object is to rapidly clear a path through a minefield, and this is often done with devices such as mine plows and blast waves. By contrast, the goal of humanitarian demining is to remove all of the landmines to a given depth and make the land safe for human use. Specially trained dogs are also used to narrow down the search and verify that an area is cleared. Mechanical devices such as flails and excavators are sometimes used to clear mines.
An unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) is a vehicle that operates while in contact with the ground without an onboard human presence. UGVs can be used for many applications where it is inconvenient, dangerous, expensive, or impossible to use an onboard human operator. Typically, the vehicle has sensors to observe the environment, and autonomously controls its behavior or uses a remote human operator to control the vehicle via teleoperation.
A mine flail is a vehicle-mounted device that makes a safe path through a minefield by deliberately detonating land mines in front of the vehicle that carries it. They were first used by the British during World War II.
A mine clearance organization, or demining organization, is an organization involved in the removal of landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) for military, humanitarian, or commercial reasons. Demining includes mine clearance, as well as surveying, mapping and marking of hazardous areas.
The region of Nagorno-Karabakh and areas around it are considered to be some of the most heavily mined regions of the former Soviet Union. Mines were laid from the early 1990s by both Azerbaijani and Armenian forces during and after the First Nagorno-Karabakh War. The worst-affected areas are along the fortified former contact line between Azerbaijani and Armenian forces, in particular in the districts of Aghdam, Fuzuli and Jabrayil. According to military experts from both Azerbaijan and Armenia, the ground in those areas is covered with "carpets of land mines." The region has the highest per capita rate in the world of accidents due to unexploded ordnance.
The Corps of Engineers (ENGR) is the military engineering branch of the Defence Forces of Ireland. The Corps is responsible for combat engineering, construction engineering, and fire fighting services within the Defence Forces. The main role of the combat engineers is to provide engineering on the battlefield; the Corps has successfully leveraged its skill and expertise in several of the Irish Army's deployments on United Nations operations.
The Husky VMMD is a configurable counter-IED MRAP vehicle, developed by South African-based DCD Protected Mobility and American C-IED company Critical Solutions International. Designed for use in route clearance and de-mining operations, the Husky is equipped with technologies to help detect explosives and minimise blast damage.
A mine-clearing line charge is a device used to create a breach in minefields under combat conditions. While there are many types, the basic design is for many explosive charges connected on a line to be projected onto the minefield and then exploded, detonating any buried mines, thus clearing a path for troops to cross.
DOK-ING d.o.o. is a Croatian company which manufactures unmanned multi-purpose vehicles, electric vehicles and robotic systems, established in 1992. Its products make up 80% of the worlds robotized mine clearing machines.
MineWolf Systems provides machines and services for the mechanical clearance of landmines and other explosive devices. Its customers are mine clearance agencies in the commercial, humanitarian and military demining field. British company Pearson Engineering Ltd, a leading provider of Combat Engineer equipment, announced acquisition of the IP and Assets of MineWolf Systems in 2016.
The Mine Kafon Drone is a drone for demining, led by Afghanistan-born Massoud Hassani. The drone is designed to map an area for land mines, detect the mines, and then detonate them remotely. It has been field-tested with the Dutch Ministry of Defence. The use of a drone is safer and less expensive than typical methods for mine removal, which endanger trained mine disposal experts and dogs. The Mine Kafon Foundation, established by Hassani in 2013, is based in Eindhoven, Netherlands.
The UR-77 Meteorit is a Soviet mine clearing vehicle, based on a variant of the tracked 2S1 Gvozdika chassis.
There were approximately 30,000 land mines laid in British overseas territory of the Falkland Islands by Argentinian forces following their 1982 invasion. Some of the mines were cleared immediately following the successful British operation to retake the islands, but following a series of accidents, demining operations ceased. In the following years the mine fields were fenced off and, with human access limited, became havens for Falklands flora and the native penguin population. The British government ratified the Ottawa Treaty in 1998 that required the removal of all mines within its territory. Demining operations, which had to be carried out by hand due to the climate and local condition, restarted in 2009. The last mines were cleared in November 2020.
Ukraine globally ranks as one of the states with the highest civilian casualties from landmines and unexploded ordnances, and the highest for anti-vehicle mine incidents. As of April 2023, it is estimated that approximately 174,000 square kilometers of Ukrainian territory are contaminated by landmines. Many types of landmines have been found in use in Ukraine, including novel variants. Though landmines have been in use since 2014 in Ukraine during the War in Donbas (2014–2022), their use was relatively sporadic until the Russian invasion of Ukraine. According to Human Rights Watch, both Russian and Ukrainian government forces have utilized antipersonnel and anti-vehicle mines.
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