MINE HUNTER

- The targets of this work, abandoned mines. We are looking for abandoned explosives, whose purpose has expired. According to their original purpose, they can be categorized into three types, antipersonnel mines (APM), antitank mines (ATM), and unexploded ordnance (UXO).

- Generally, UXO means misfired shells or bombs that should have been already exploded but still remain for some reason. UXO are usually found under the former battlefield. MD can easily detect them because they were not intentionally hidden. Many ATM include metallic material, and their size is bigger than the size of APM. Since they have been designed to destroy only vehicles, they are detonated by high pressure or the existence of a big metallic object. Thus, this demining work for ATM is relatively safer than the APM case. Also, detection is relatively easier because of their size and material.

- APM are most difficult to find and remove, and have damaged the most civilian victims. Most APM are made of nonmetallic material, and their size is much smaller than the size of ATM.

- The detonator is very sensitive to pressure. APM can be divided into three types; blast, bounding fragmentation, and directional fragmentation. The blast type mines are the most common targets for the humanitarian demining work. Their size is relatively smaller and lighter than other types. Sometimes they move by floating on rivers. They are usually buried underground, but some models can be installed by scattering from an airplane.

- Therefore, they can be found in any place, underground, on the surface, at a riverside. Since their mechanism is simple and their material is cheap, small military groups have been able to manufacture this type of mine. This fact has resulted in serious mine problems for some poor countries that cannot afford the investment for the demining work. The bounding fragmentation type mines are relatively bigger than the blast type, but they can destroy a larger area, while the blast type mines damage only the target within a limited distance.

- They are buried underground or fixed on the ground. Direct pressure or a trip wire activates their detonator. Once the trigger is activated, they bound up to some altitude and explode spreading out their fragments up to an area of 30m in radius, which is very lethal. Most directional fragmentation type mines are set up on the ground, and they spread their fragments in a specific direction. Some model’s lethal range is more than 200m. Since they are detonated by manual operation as well as a trip wire, sometimes this type of mine is considered an active weapon.