RealAudio clip:Click to hear John MacInnis 

 

Land Mine Detection 

As was noted above by John MacInnis, the root of the problem in clearing land mines is in detecting the precise location of mines, and also detecting the absence of mines. 

Ideally, what is required is a land mine detection system that is 100% effective, very low cost, fast, and easy to use. To date, no such solution exists although hundreds of science and engineering firms around the world continue to work on the problem. 

A note on humanitarian detection of land mines: 
Humanitarian demining is by definition a total clearance of the land. It is not sufficient to clear adequate space to allow troop movement or vehicle access as this just perpetuates and even increases the danger to civilians. 

With the advent of world recognition of the seriousness of the land mine problem, and the growing amount of money available for detection, many organizations have become involved in land mine detection. In order to qualify as humanitarian detection, it is important that the companies offering detection devices not in fact also be land mine manufacturers - this particularly offensive attempt at cashing in on a problem of their own creation is termed "double-dipping". 

Land Mines -- What Are They? 

An anti-personnel mine is a device designed to kill or injure anyone that comes into contact with it through direct pressure or a trip-wire. Over 600 different varieties of anti-personnel land mines exist, all essentially a container with explosives and a fuse in it. Most AP land mines are one of the following three types: 

Blast: The blast rips off the lower half of the leg and projects shoe, dirt and bone higher up into the leg, causing secondary infection and higher amputation.

Fragmentation: This type of mine is packed with fragments, which are projected by the explosion to cause extensive damage to the legs, stomach and chest. 

Bounding: If you disturb the trip wire connected to this kind of mine, a primary explosion lifts it to chest height (1 - 1.5 metres) before a second explosion propels hundreds of fragments over a wide area. 

There are almost as many mine detection methods as their are types of mines. These include: 

• high-tech electronic (ground penetrating radar, infra-red, magnetic resonance imaging) 
• biological detection (dog sniffers and insects or bacteria) 
• brute force detonation methods (flails, rollers and plows) 

Obviously there is enormous need for an effective and inexpensive solution. The following web-sites are just a very few examples of some interesting approaches to the problem: 

DeTeC 
A Swiss company whose first objective is listed as "To develop by the end of 1997 a man-transportable anti-personnel mine sensor that significantly reduces the false alarm rate compared to presently used sensors." 

Stiftung Menschen Gegen Minen (The Humanitarian Foundation of People against Landmines) 
A German organization with an English site which has information on the standards and best practices of demining with currently available technology 

Other interesting sites: 

Speech given at the Organization of African States conference in May, 1997 by Rae McGrath, former Director of the UK Mines Advisory. In his speech he challenges governments to address the land mines issue with budgets which are more directly proportional to total military budgets. 

International Committee of the Red Cross site devoted to land mines. Excellent site with concise, current information. 
 

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