Well, now that I am qualified to jump into this thread . . .
cyclesurgeon, I’m sorry to hear that about your brother. IEDs are even more insidious bastards. I’m assuming your brother is still doing well, seeing as how it looks like he’s doing some public work.
Tripler,
Thanks! Yes, my brother retired from direct EOD work. Among the things he is involved with are various pieces of equipment to defeat IEDs from distance without the BOOMs. He also trains various law enforcement agencies on counter terrorism and he teaches kindergarten as part of a teaching team part of the year.
BTB, yesterday he celebrated his anniversary of not being killed.
Since the article I talked about no longer exists, I should have clearified that there was no disarming the device (as in the Hollywood scenario) that my brother stepped on in the field. The best they could do was put him a bomb suit on him, a cuff on his leg to stop him from bleeding to death, and then jerk him off the device with a long rope and a vehicle (not exactly the most elegant solution). The mine DID NOT detonate, and that is the miracle. As I mentioned before, they bench tested the detonator in the shop and it worked every other time. The only injuries that my brother suffered were from the solution, not the bomb. He could have just as easily walked away.
I’m currently trying to get an archived copy of that issue of Airman Magazine.
As noted earlier, one of the issues with mines is their longevity. Is it possible to economically make a mine that detonates automatically after a certain time - say a year?
It is–for some of the more industrialized countries. As a matter of fact, there’s several international agreements that require it on many of the newer-produce mines. These agreements stipulate that either the landmine is command detonated, or it’s got a time limit. Not everyone is a party to these agreements, but those that are do help “the big mess.”
Now the poorer countries, or countries with insurgency problems . . . the guy taping two hacksaw blades close to each other with a car battery onto a charge? That won’t go away after time. But the state-sponsored manufacturers of landmines can construct timed elements.
Tripler
. . . and there’s all sorts of delay mechanisms as well.