Landmine arrows for mine clearing
Patents filed by US defence contractor Raytheon offer a new way of clearing minefields. The company has developed a shell containing hundreds of steel "arrows" – 155 millimetres long and 15 mm in diameter – that can trigger landmines with a single shot.
Each rod has a flared rear end, like the feathers of an arrow, and hundreds can be packed into a single artillery shell. This shell can be lobbed into a mined area and just before impact a charge behind the arrows will fire them downwards. The metal flights will keep the arrows on a straight course so that they pepper the area at high velocity and at regular spaces. |