Infantry: September 14, 2004

Archives

India has not been able to clear all the mines its troops planted along the Pakistan border in late 2002. The two countries almost went to war back then, and India laid hundreds of thousands of mines along a 400 kilometer stretch of the border in Punjab and Rajasthan. Most of the mines were safely lifted, but the lightweight (3.5 ounces) NMM 14 has continued to cause problems because these mines have moved from where they were planted. Indian troops carefully recorded the location of mine fields, as many were planted on farmland, or other areas frequented by civilians. Soft soil and rain, or even dry weather and wind, can cause mines to shift their location. Mines are planted close to the surface, and lightweight mines are particularly vulnerable to this kind of movement. The situation was compounded on the Indian border by the presence of rodents who like to pick things up and move them. Thus a combination of weather and rats have spread the NMM 14 mines outside the areas where they were laid. This was discovered when NNM 14 fields were cleared, and the number of mines lifted did not match the number recorded as laid. Indian engineers brought in a flail device to beat the area around the mine fields to set off the missing NNM 14s, but this failed to get them all. So the Indians brought in the Danish Hydrema mine-clearing vehicle. This vehicle was successfully used by in Afghanistan last year for similar work.


 


Article Archive

Infantry: Current 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 


X

ad
0
20

Help Keep Us Soaring

We need your help! Our subscription base has slowly been dwindling. We need your help in reversing that trend. We would like to add 20 new subscribers this month.

Each month we count on your subscriptions or contributions. You can support us in the following ways:

  1. Make sure you spread the word about us. Two ways to do that are to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
  2. Subscribe to our daily newsletter. We’ll send the news to your email box, and you don’t have to come to the site unless you want to read columns or see photos.
  3. You can contribute to the health of StrategyPage. A contribution is not a donation that you can deduct at tax time, but a form of crowdfunding. We store none of your information when you contribute..
Subscribe   Contribute   Close