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US 2004/0069133 A1Published application
Mine excavation method and apparatus
AssigneeQinetiq Limited
InventorsBrett Lowery, Thomas J Packard
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AssigneeQinetiq Limited
InventorsBrett Lowery, Thomas J Packard
Estimating the term…
This invention relates to the filed of land mines and in particular to devices and techniques for neutralising and/or retrieving land mines. Existing mine retrieval/neutralisation techniques include mechanical excavation or shaped charge attack and such techniques are either susceptible to blast damage in the event of inadvertent mine explosion or can produce ambiguous results (i.e. an operator can be unsure as to whether a mine has been successfully attacked or a non-mine target has been attacked in error). The present invention provides a mine excavation technique that involves excavation of the mine by means of an explosive charge.
A method of excavating a buried mine comprising the following steps:
A mine excavation device comprising an explosively tipped projectile, detonation means for detonating the explosively tipped projectile and propelling means arranged in use to be capable of propelling the projectile into the ground and into proximity with a mine to be retrieved wherein the explosively tipped projectile is arranged such that in use detonation of the explosive causes the mine to be excavated from the ground.
A mine excavation device as described herein and exemplified with reference to the accompanying drawings.
A method of mine excavation as described herein and illustrated with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.