HUNTER/KILLER COUNTERMINE SYSTEM

THE DETECTION AND NEUTRALIZATION OF LAND MINES HAS BEEN A GOAL OF RESEARCH FOR NEARLY 50 YEARS. PRESENTLY, ONLY METALLIC MINES CAN BE DETECTED, AND THEN ONLY AT A LOW SEARCH SPEED USING A HAND HELD DETECTOR. NEUTRALIZATION TECHNIQUES AVAILABLE ARE THE MINE ROLLER AND THE MINE PLOW, BOTH OF LIMITED EFFECTIVENESS AND THE LINE CHARGE, WHICH CLEARS A NARROW LANE. ADVANCES IN THE GENERATION AND SCANNING OF INTENSE ELECTRON BEAMS HAVE OPENED UP PREVIOUSLY IMPRACTICAL METHODS OF MINE DETECTION INVOLVING GAMMA-INDUCED ACTIVATION OF NITROGEN. LINACS CAPABLE OF ELECTRON ACCELERATION RESULTING IN ENERGY GAINS OF MORE THAN 5 MEV PER METER HAVE BEEN DEMONSTRATED. DETECTION AND LOCALIZATION OF A BURIED NON-METALLIC MINE WITHIN A FEW CM APPEARS POSSIBLE. RECENT DEMONSTRATION OF THE PROPAGATION OF INTENSE ELECTRON BEAMS THROUGH AIR OPEN UP THE POSSIBILITY THAT REASONABLE LOCALIZATION OF A MINE FUSE WOULD PERMIT SUCH A BEAM TO AFFECT IGNITION WITH HIGH PROBABILITY. CONSERVATION ESTIMATES OF THE POWER DENSITY IMPLY THAT A 100 KW PULSE WITH A DURATION OF 1 SECOND, COVERING AN AREA OF 10 SQUARE CM WOULD BE SUFFICIENT TO INITIATE THE SENSITIVE COMPONENTS IN A FUZE.