Mine-clearing line charge
Encyclopedia
History
The British and Commonwealth developed their systems during the Second World War. The Canadians developed "Snake", an oversized application of the Bangalore TorpedoBangalore torpedo
A Bangalore torpedo is an explosive charge placed on the end of a long, extendible tube. It is used by combat engineers to clear obstacles that would otherwise require them to approach directly, possibly under fire...
in 1941 to 1942. A more flexible development was "Conger", developed in 1944, a tube that could be fired across the minefield and then filled with explosive before detonation.
Conger was a 2 inch woven pipe launched by a five-inch rocket. The tube and rocket were mounted in a Universal Carrier
Universal Carrier
The Universal Carrier, also known as the Bren Gun Carrier is a common name describing a family of light armoured tracked vehicles built by Vickers-Armstrong. Produced between 1934 and 1960, the vehicle was used widely by British Commonwealth forces during the Second World War...
which had been stripped out to reduce it down to an armoured tracked trailer that could be towed by a tank, often a Churchill AVRE. The rocket was fired, trailing the hose across the area to be cleared. Compressed air was then used to pump the high explosive - just over a ton of 822C - into the hose before it was detonated. Conger was used in Normandy where there were instances of premature detonation.
In the post war period the British introduced Giant Viper
Giant Viper
The Giant Viper is a trailer-mounted, vehicle-pulled, mine clearance system, designed to be deployed in areas containing land mines. It was developed for the British Army in the 1950s...
.
Current use
Systems in current use include the British PythonPython Minefield Breaching System
The Python Minefield Breaching System is used by the British Army to clear minefields. It replaces the Giant Viper, and has the ability to clear a safe lane in minefields 180–200m long and 7.3 m wide through which vehicles can pass....
, which can clear a 220m long path, and the American M58 Mine Clearing Line Charge. Both are large, heavy systems that are deployed in a vehicle–towed trailer.
The US Army also uses the Antipersonnel Obstacle Breaching System
Antipersonnel Obstacle Breaching System
The Anti-Personnel Obstacle Breaching System is an explosive line charge system that allows safe breaching through complex antipersonnel obstacles, particularly fields of land mines. The Anti-Personnel Obstacle Breaching System is joint DOD program for the U.S. Army and the United States Marine...
, which clears a path 0.6 to 1.0 meters by 45 meters, and is light enough to be carried by two soldiers.
Some modern mines, such as the Italian SB-33 mine
SB-33 mine
The SB-33 is a small Italian minimum metal blast type anti-personnel mine formerly manufactured by Misar, that entered service in 1977. The SB-33 can be emplaced by hand or scattered using the helicopter mounted SY-AT system....
, have a fuze mechanism that detonates the mine if subject to gradual, steady pressure, but locks the fuze if subject to a sudden shock. This can defeat the use of mine-clearing line charges to clear such mines.
Examples
- Charge Line Mine Clearing (Vehicle)-Indian
- UR-77 Meteorit Mineclearing System (rocket launched explosive hose), replacement of the UR-67 system based on the BTR-50BTR-50The BTR-50 The BTR-50 The BTR-50 (BTR stands for Bronetransporter (БТР, Бронетранспортер, literally "armored transporter") is a Soviet amphibious armored personnel carrier (APC) based on the PT-76 light tank. The BTR-50 is tracked, unlike most in the BTR series, which are wheeled. The BTR-50...
PK chassis.