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Mini-Deminer
Objective
To safely clear light to medium vegetation, perform area reduction, neutralize
surface laid AP mines, and provide deminers with a quality assurance capability.
Description
The Mini-Deminer is a radio-controlled ground based system designed
to clear vegetation and neutralize simple-fuzed and tripwire initiated
AP mines from off-road areas inaccessible to large area mine clearers.
The Mini-Deminer incorporates improvements to the U.S. Army's original
Mini-Flail identified during field evaluations in Kuwait, Bosnia,
and Jordan. The Mini-Deminer system consists of a commercial off-the-shelf
skid steer loader chassis powered by a 37 kw diesel engine, a two-meter
wide detachable flail head, and an RF remote control subsystem that provides
for reliable operation at distances of up to 500 meters. Blast and fragment
survivability technology has also been integrated onto the chassis and
includes blast shields, Air Boss non-pneumatic wheels, and protected hydraulic
lines and hoses. The system uses an industry standard quick detach mounting
plate which makes it simple to remove the flailing head for maintenance
or to mount any other standard material handling or earth moving implement.
The system also has a dual purpose capability: with the flip of a switch,
the Mini-Deminer can go from radio control to a manual control
mode and can be used as a standard skid steer loader.
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Contractor/Developer
U.S. Army
CECOM Night Vision
and Electronic Sensors Directorate
10221 Burbeck Road, Ste. 430
Fort Belvoir, VA
22060-5806
ATTN: Beverly Briggs
Phone: (703) 704-1073
Fax: (703) 704-3001
Email:
beverly.briggs@nvl.army.mil
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Performance
Development testing of the Mini-Deminer
took place at Fort A. P. Hill, VA during the spring and summer
of 1999. The system cleared light (50 cm tall grass) to moderate
(thick underbrush up to 2 cm diameter) vegetation with little
problem. The Mini-Deminer has demonstrated the capability
of neutralizing simple pressure fuzed, tripwire fuzed, and bounding
mines. The system's flail has been tested against live mines of
29 g, 143 g, and 256 g of TNT equivalent and suffered only the
occasional loss of a chain. The Mini-Deminer was also tested
against blast hardened AP mines. The vehicle was driven over TS50,
VS50, and VSMk2s and suffered only minor damage to the wheel segments
or the wheel rim. All damage was easily reparable in 15 minutes.
The flail is self articulating and follows the contours of uneven
ground to ensure full coverage.
Limitations
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Not intended to be used
in areas where AT mines are present.
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Not effective against blast
hardened mines, e.g. PMN-2, VS-50, TS-50, VS-Mk2.
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Requires line of sight operation.
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Can inadvertently scatter
mines into previously cleared areas.
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May not be usable in steep
or rocky terrain.
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Demonstration of Mini-Deminer
capability to neutralize mines.
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Close-up of flail head.
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Status
To discuss the possibility of
obtaining this item for field testing through the U.S. Humanitarian Demining
Program, contact the DoD point of contact listed
on page 65 of this catalog.
| Specifications |
Dimensional Data:
Length:
420 cm (165 in.) w/Flail attachment; 300 cm (118 in.) w/o Flail
Width:
250 cm (98 in.) w/Flail; 160 cm (63 in.) w/o Flail
Weight:
3370 kg (7430 lbs.) w/Flail; 2890 kg (6372 lbs.) w/o Flail
General:
Vehicle Chassis: Modified JCBTM 165
Robot Series 3 Skid Loader
Fuel Capacity: 60 liters
(15 gallons) diesel tank - operates about 6 hours
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Humanitarian Demining Developmental Technologies
2000 - 2001
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