The changing paradigm of global security and the tactics used by opposing factions has meant that traditional roles in areas of military mine clearance, explosive ordnance disposal (EOD), improvised explosive device (IED) disposal, humanitarian demining and emergency relief are increasingly being interlinked in operational theatres. This article argues that military and civilian humanitarian personnel are encountering similar threats from explosive devices, whether during or after a conflict, and that the requirement for equipment that is flexible enough to deal with the range of present explosive hazards and can prevent operator casualties is ever more paramount.

In conflict situations, troops need to protect themselves against hostile fire and minefields, but more frequently have to deal with IEDs being used as weapons of war. In Afghanistan, the current IED threat from insurgents is

causing more casualties to coalition forces than conventional fire. Soldiers need equipment that will help them both to locate and remove IEDs from patrol routes, as well as free up access to larger areas still contaminated with landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) from the previous decades of conflict in the country.

In the peacekeeping context, in the immediate aftermath of conflict, peacekeeping forces need equipment for clearing explosive hazards for their own force protection while carrying out their mandated duties. In some theatres, such as South Sudan and Somalia, they are also required to conduct humanitarian demining in order to open up routes and clear contaminated areas for the distribution of aid, and the rehabilitation of the country. In these instances, clearance equipment must also be capable of clearing ground to the International Mine Action Standards (IMAS).

MULTI-PURPOSE MACHINES FOR EOD, IED AND MINE CLEARANCERESPONDING TO NEW THREATS

By Belinda Goslin, consultant

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EOD, IED AND MINE CLEARANCE

Photo above: The German Army conducting route clearance in Afghanistan using a Mini MineWolf (MW240).

This article first appeared in Autumn/Winter 2012 edition of the Counter-IED Report published by Delta Business Media Limited

In the emergency relief and subsequent reconstruction and development phases following a conflict, civilian agencies (governmental, non-governmental and commercial organisations) are tasked by national authorities, the United Nations or donors to conduct humanitarian demining of hazardous areas. Traditionally, these organisations have used manual deminers, mine detection dogs and machines with flails or tillers to survey and clear large areas of land known, or suspected to be, contaminated with landmines or UXO. In more recent years, humanitarian demining personnel have also had to deal with the threat from scatterable munitions, sophisticated IEDs and hazards from unstable ammunition storage areas, none of which can be dealt with by traditional mechanical means. This has meant an increase in the use of manual clearance procedures with the associated increase in risk to operators.

Following civil war or periods of transition, countries that have previously been heavily militarised often have large quantities of munitions stored unsafely that pose hazards to local populations and the emergency relief personnel who respond to explosions from such sites. The devastating explosions at a munitions depot in the Republic of Congo earlier in 2012 led to 282 people being killed and 1,500 injured, highlighting the issue of poorly stored munitions and their impact on innocent civilians. According to Small Arms Survey, in 2011 the average number of ammunition site explosions

across the world was almost four a month, the highest ever annual rate. The aftermath of such explosions can be devastating and dangerous to relief personnel. They require equipment that is strong enough to withstand blast from unstable munitions, and robust enough to remove and sort through rubble efficiently to locate buried munitions. Machines that are also easy to manipulate can be used to remove the munitions to safer locations as part of preventative measures for safer munitions storage.

In Libya, the use of scatterable munitions and sophisticated conventional munitions during the recent war now poses a threat to the repair and reconstruction of the country. Unsafe munitions in depots are also a threat, and organisations conducting battle area clearance or demining could use remote-controlled platforms to access unsafe ammunition storage areas or search through rubble in areas already destroyed by NATO air strikes.

THE REQUIREMENT FOR MACHINESThe increasingly diverse range of explosive hazards facing both military and humanitarian personnel can certainly be dealt with safely and efficiently by using machines. Machines are not new and have always had the advantage of reducing EOD/IED/mine clearance operator casualties compared to manual disposal. However, they can be expensive to procure and maintain, and often pose logistical challenges in the remote and environmentally challenging locations in which they are usually required. In conflict scenarios, troops require easily manoeuvrable EOD equipment that will assist rather than hinder their primary operational task. For humanitarian organisations it is often justifying the cost outlay rather than manoeuvrability that deters the use of machines over people in EOD, IED and landmine clearance, but this can be detrimental to the life expectancy of the EOD technician.

The change in nature of recent conflicts and the increasing and more sophisticated use of IEDs and other weapons pose new threats to military forces and humanitarian organisations. A more progressive approach needs to be developed by using mechanical solutions if loss of life is going to be minimised in the future.

EOD, IED AND MINE CLEARANCE

2 Counter-IED Report, Autumn/Winter 2012

Humanitarian demining using a Mini MineWolf (MW240) with tiller attachment.

... THE CHANGE IN NATURE OF RECENT CONFLICTS AND THE INCREASING AND MORE SOPHISTICATED USE OF IEDs AND OTHER WEAPONS POSE NEW THREATS TO MILITARY FORCES AND HUMANITARIAN ORGANISATIONS…

Present solutions to combat the continual threat from booby-trapped UXO and IEDs are constantly being evaluated and updated. IED ‘robotic’ machines have been around for many years and are being developed to detect and disrupt devices in the urban and rural Afghan countryside. Some NATO forces are using rollers for route proving and area verification while others use a flail. The German Army uses a ground-penetrating radar detector on a remote-controlled vehicle and a second vehicle with a manipulator. The interesting fact about all of the above applications, plus some others which are still classified, is that they are all ‘tools’ which are basically operated from a remote-controlled platform to find, locate and disrupt IEDs in the various scenarios that the coalition forces operate in. All are accepted methods for counter-IED (C-IED) operations, but not all are always available to the coalition commander on the ground, who may only have the one tool available.

This limitation gives the insurgent the advantage, as the C-IED procedure will always be known, and the insurgent can then alternate his plan of attack giving the element of surprise and a higher chance of success if he knows how the coalition commander will react. To remove this advantage, it might be worth considering having one remote platform with several tools or attachments to choose from, so that each time the local commander deploys his platform he can alternate his ‘tool’ depending on a known threat or tactical situation. If, for example, the remote platform is armoured against small arms fire, can take the blast from detonation to the front, has a good remote range of 1 kilometre (0.6 miles) or more with suitable camera systems, then it only needs the tool to complete the operation. The tools can be almost anything already out there: small disruptors, mechanical arms and grippers, flails, tillers, rollers, dozer blades and varying types of detectors.

THE MINEWOLF SOLUTIONOne solution developed by Swiss company MineWolf Systems has been the production of multi-purpose clearance systems to address all potential explosive hazards that may be encountered ‘in the field’. Its range of German-manufactured

machines, which were initially developed for the humanitarian demining market, now comes with a selection of interchangeable tools for the clearance of various explosive devices in a Swiss Army knife toolbox concept. MineWolf Systems has developed the MW240, a small, versatile platform that can support a selection of various tools and is currently operational in 15 countries.

The MW240, known as the Mini MineWolf, is a lightweight tracked vehicle initially designed to meet the requirement of the humanitarian demining market for a smaller, more compact and cheaper version of its flagship MineWolf machine (MW370). It is a remote-controlled vehicle that weighs around 8.5 tonnes and can be fitted with an optional remote video guidance system. The complete system and its supporting workshop can be accommodated inside a 6-metre (20-foot) ISO container for storage and transportation without the need to detach the working tools, thereby increasing mobility in restricted areas. The standard MW240 platform is supplied with interchangeable flail or tiller option to suit different mine threats, and can clear up to 12,000 square metres (129,167 square feet) per day depending on ground and vegetation conditions. The interchangeable ‘tool’ concept has made it popular with demining organisations wishing to reduce downtime by changing tools after detonation, keeping the platform operational.

Building on its toolbox concept and in response to the market need for a remote controlled solution for IED removal, MineWolf Systems developed a robotic manipulator arm attachment for IED clearance that can be interchanged with the tiller and flail. In 2010, the British and Germany armies both decided to procure this multi-purpose mechanical solution. After a series of rigorous tests and some specific design changes, the British Army purchased 10 MW240 systems, and issued them with the flail, tiller and robotic arm attachments to the Corps of Engineers who are using them for area proving and the removal of vegetation, low obstacles, mines and IEDs.

The Royal Engineer operators use the robotic arm and vegetation cutter attachment to remove hedges, trees and other vegetation in and around ditches that harbour or provide cover for the

EOD, IED AND MINE CLEARANCE

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A British Army MW240 with robotic arm and vegetation cutting tool clearing IEDs in Afghanistan.

... BUILDING ON ITS TOOLBOX CONCEPT

MINEWOLF SYSTEMS DEVELOPED A ROBOTIC

MANIPULATOR ARM ATTACHMENT FOR IED

CLEARANCE THAT CAN BE INTERCHANGED

WITH THE TILLER AND FLAIL …

laying of IEDs. This is done remotely from a Husky vehicle using the remote camera system and a large monitor. The arm can then be fitted with the gripperbucket attachment for the actual removal of known or suspicious items. The robotic arm can be exchanged for flail or tiller if the verification of larger suspected areas is required.

The German Army also conducted rigorous testing of the MW240 and bought seven systems with a variety of attachments for route clearance, C-IED and general engineering tasks. The

MW240s were issued to EOD personnel to work directly on routes suspected or known to have IEDs present using the robotic arm and gripperbucket. As part of the German Route Clearance Package in Afghanistan, the Mini MineWolf clears any item detected by the preceding detection machine. In the first few months of operation, the first two systems deployed cleared over 40 IEDs. The use of separate detection and clearance vehicles has raised the issue whether this could instead be combined on one vehicle, and the company is currently developing a detection tool that can be added to the MW240 system. The other interchangeable attachments currently available include the dozer shield, bucket, sifter and forklift, which the German Army is also using for more general engineering tasks back at camp.

PROTECTING OPERATORS AND CIVILIANSThe use of remote-controlled machines for route clearance and IED disposal removes the operator from the device and the immediate danger area as he can investigate, probe and disrupt suspected known IEDs from a distance. With its four-screen display and zoom, the camera system clearly helps operators assess any suspect device, route or area prior to taking follow-up action. This methodology not only saves lives of counter-insurgent forces, but also expedites safety and security while operating in a potentially hostile environment. Multi-purpose machines that can clear land of legacy landmines and UXO from previous conflicts as well as recently laid IEDs are also rendering land safe and improving conditions for local inhabitants.

With the withdrawal of coalition forces in Afghanistan over the next few years, these weapons will become ‘legacy’ IEDs that will continue to be a serious hazard to civilians and an obstacle to the rehabilitation and development of the country for years to come. Unlike traditional minefields or battle areas containing UXO, the unknown and improvised nature of IEDs makes manual clearance more hazardous. The placement of IEDs also tends to be in areas that traditional mechanical tools, such as flails and tillers, cannot access. Humanitarian organisations will need to

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MineWolf Systems’ gripperbucket tool handling a suspect device.

Counter-IED Report, Autumn/Winter 2012

EOD, IED AND MINE CLEARANCE

Integrated camera system on an MW240 for video-guided remote operation.

work remotely if the loss of life is to be minimised, and will increasingly require the tools used by the military to deal with these sophisticated devices.

The multi-purpose concept is already in operation in other countries such as Somalia, where IEDs were used extensively by Al Shabab. Two Medium Minewolf (MW330) machines are now being used by peacekeeping forces to clear IEDs, open up routes and enable humanitarian operations to proceed. The MW330s have the same versatility as the MW240 and are fitted with the dozer blade for clearing debris and suspected devices from roads, and with the tiller attachment to conduct humanitarian demining. The MW330 can also have the robotic arm attached for the remote manipulation of devices. It can be manually operated with an armoured cab protecting the operator, or remote controlled, making it suitable for use in areas where there is risk from mine/IED blasts and also still some risk from conventional fire.

CONCLUSIONThere is an obvious advantage to military and humanitarian operators of having an armoured machine in their fleet that can be fitted with different tools depending on the type of hazard faced: a tiller or flail when required to process mine contaminated land to international standards; a robotic manipulator arm to remove suspicious explosive devices; or a dozer blade and bucket to remove larger obstacles from suspected areas. A fully remote-controlled vehicle which is high-tech enough to be manipulated using camera systems yet robust enough to withstand blasts from anti-tank mines or IEDs would not be idle for long in any conflict or post-conflict environment.

MineWolf Systems’ multi-purpose concept offers an organisation operator safety as well as the flexibility of one machine for many tasks. MineWolf products are tested to military standards and are proven and operational in over 20 countries. The company has built its reputation on providing quality products with effective service support to keep machines operational in the toughest conditions. It expands its product portfolio in response to emerging needs in the field, and is currently developing additional attachments to its existing

prime movers for new applications such as range clearance, and responding to recent interest in the development of a smaller, more agile platform with a similar multi-purpose role.

With the list of EOD operator casualties ever growing, investment in progressive mechanical applications for IED/EOD and mine clearance is critical. An investment in armoured vehicles that can be used for a variety of tasks, can be transported easily, controlled remotely and are robust enough to deal with the impact from explosions is a value-for-money option for both military and humanitarian organisations. ■

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Since 1994, Belinda Goslin has worked in management and

advisory positions in the humanitarian mine action sector, for the UN, Cranfield University, several NGOs and commercial companies and latterly, as a freelance consultant. This article is written based on her recent work with MineWolf Systems.

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A Medium MineWolf (MW330) with dozer shield clearing debris in Somalia.

EOD, IED AND MINE CLEARANCE

For more information please visit:www.minewolf.com