During the aftermath of any conflict, specialist crews move in to clear away dangerous mines, IEDs and other Unexploded Ordnance left behind by the conflict.
There could be a lot of unexploded ordnance to detect and deactivate before it is safe to release the land back into the hands of the local civilian population.
It is not uncommon for forces to leave behind explosive devices as they sweep through war-torn areas to cause as much devastation as possible. It is a harsh legacy of war that local people have to contend with in the aftermath of any hostile military occupation.
This is why it is crucial to use specialist mine clearance machinery, tools, and equipment from professional mine sweeping suppliers to remove these devices from urban and rural areas to remove the risk of death or severe injury to people and livestock in the local community.
Dealing with hidden unexploded danger
When you are faced with thoroughly checking every building, road and surrounding rural terrain for hidden explosive ordnance, it is usual for the local authority to work with their internal defensive military forces to form a disaster response team or task force to remove any threats.
This can be a painstakingly long process, especially if you work with volunteers, including civilians with no formal training in mine clearance or bomb disposal. With teams spending several hours carefully examining formally occupied buildings, command centres, abandoned vehicles and transport links – sometimes inch by inch – it is a tremendous and dangerous job.
You don't know where the occupying force left the mines, and chances are, everywhere they went, they would have left explosive devices behind that can potentially take weeks or even months to discover and effectively demine by hand.
There could be threats everywhere, hidden within buildings, vehicles, shallow munitions caches, roads and roadsides, fields and scrubland. In recent conflicts, disaster response teams were reported to remove and dispose of between 2,000 to 6,000 mines a day.
Utilising mine sweeping equipment
In this industry, a general rule of thumb is that one day of war results in one month of demining work. This is a long time for the local community to wait to move back into their homes and start putting the affected land back into productive use.
Mine Sweeping is a slow process; it takes a methodical and thorough approach by response teams often armed with metal detectors. In many cases, teams will sweep the roads and fields using detectors and simply stop to carefully excavate the ground when something is detected.
There is always a risk of setting off unexploded devices while investigating unexploded explosive devices. Human mine sweeping teams are putting life and limb at risk investigating such devices.
Manual clearance to remove such threats can be enhanced with specialist mechanical minesweeping equipment remotely controlled from a safe distance. Something that Armtrac specialise in.
Armtrac mine clearance machinery
We design and manufacture mine sweeping machinery, tools and equipment to help detect and safely dispose of landmines and other explosive devices without putting human operators at risk.
As a key market player in the mechanical mine clearance industry, our mine clearance products have been saving the lives of countless disaster response team members and local community members for many years.
We have created a range of machinery, tools, and equipment that help response teams discover, remove, and safely neutralise the threat these devices pose to life and limb.
Our diverse range of minesweeping and disposal products is constantly being added to and adapted to meet the changing designs of new explosive devices.
You can look at our range of mine clearance products and unmanned machinery to get more information about what we do and how we can help with your mine clearance operations.
