TEXT: DOD OFFICIAL CITES PRACTICAL APPLICATION OF TECHNOLOGY
(Colonel Zahaczewsky discusses demining in Laos, Jordan, Cuba, Honduras)
Washington -- As part of President Clinton's 1996 mandate to eventually eliminate all anti-personnel landmines, the Department of Defense (DOD) has conducted an ambitious research and development program for demining equipment.
Army Colonel George Zahaczewsky presented the results of operational field evaluations from trials in Laos, Jordan, Cuba and Honduras during a June 17 conference in Washington sponsored by Jane's Information Group.
Zahaczewsky is the assistant for Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD), responsible for Munitions and Demining in the Office of the Assistant Secretary Of Defense for Special Operations and Low-intensity Conflict. He provides DOD oversight for all aspects of the department's research and development efforts related to humanitarian demining and has extensive field experience in all aspects of EOD and munitions, both within the United States and overseas.
He said the United States has spent over $153 million on demining training programs in 15 countries and has expanded its humanitarian demining assistance to Chad, Estonia, Guatemala, Lebanon, and Swaziland since the beginning of this year. The money also supports a research and development program.
The following is the text of Zahaczewsky's prepared remarks:
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After the signing of the Ottawa Treaty in December 1997, the politically and emotionally charged issue of landmines and demining seems to have faded from public view, and appears to have been relegated to the human interest section of most newspapers. This has possibly led some to believe that the problem has been solved, or that there is no longer any activity to remove the "hidden killers" still buried around the globe. Aside from a plethora of conferences focused on the "mine problem," the public, for the most part, is unaware of continuing international efforts by the United States and others to bring technology and resources to bear on removing the many thousands of mines that are still in the ground today.
What's Going On?
The United States remains fully committed to reducing the loss of life and alleviate suffering caused by landmines, as well as return arable land to productive uses after conflicts have terminated. To accomplish this goal, the U.S. established a humanitarian demining program in 1993 under the oversight of an Interagency Working Group (IWG) headed by the Department of State. Since that time, the United States has spent over $153 million on demining training programs in 15 countries, as well as an ambitious research and development (R&D) program for demining equipment. To provide an insight into recent U.S. efforts, this article will focus on Defense Department demining activities to assist Laos, Jordan, Cuba and Honduras with demining technology and equipment. These countries highlight the varying conditions, challenges and nature of the global landmine problem.
In Laos, for example, the first thing that becomes obvious is that, contrary to many media reports, Laos does not have a significant landmine problem. In fact, according to a 1997 survey by Handicap International, landmines make up only 4% of the unexploded ordnance (UXO) found in Laos. The most commonly reported explosive hazard encountered in Laos is unexploded anti-personnel bomblets. In 1995, the IWG approved the establishment of a program to assist the Laotians in creating an indigenous capability to deal with this problem. This program is representative of the comprehensive approach that the United States employs in helping to develop host nation capabilities in dealing with landmines and other UXO. The approach includes establishment of mine and UXO awareness programs, as well as training in munitions detection, identification, disposal and other traditional demining skills. Three weeks of medical instruction are also included in the training program.
During the past 12 months, the Department of Defense has established, as an integral part of its demining R&D program, operational field evaluations of its equipment prototypes in nations with significant mine and UXO problems. In late April and early May of this year, engineers from the Night Vision and Electronic Sensors Directorate at Fort Belvoir traveled to Laos to demonstrate several demining prototypes developed in DOD's demining R&D program. These included special shape charges, liquid explosive foam (LEXFOAM), a mine marking kit, rigid marking foam and an extended length weedeater to safely clear vegetation. All items met with varying degrees of success; however, LEXFOAM was particularly well received not only due to its ease of use, but also because the Russian TNT (dynamite) and plastic explosives provided by the Laotian military were extremely unreliable and difficult to use. The Defense Department is currently assisting the Laotians in obtaining additional quantities of some of the tested equipment.
Jordan was approved by the IWG to receive U.S. humanitarian demining assistance in 1996. The challenge facing Royal Jordanian Armed Forces engineers is clearing approximately 437,000 anti-tank and anti-personnel mines in an attempt to meet King Hussein's goal of a mine-free Jordan by 2000. The fact that these mines are contained in 492 minefields, which are well documented, is an aid in accomplishing this task. However, hampering the engineers' efforts are the fact that these minefields are located in a variety of inhospitable terrain, as well as a climate where temperatures can reach as high as 105 degrees Fahrenheit (40.6 Celsius).
In July 1997, at the request of the Jordanian government, the Department of Defense conducted a technical assistance visit to determine what, if any, equipment enhancements could be made to improve the Jordanian Armed Forces (JAF) demining capabilities. Subsequent to this visit, Fort Belvoir technology developers deployed a Demining Support System (DSS), five Mini-Mine Detectors and two Mini-Flails in December 1997 (a flail is a manual threshing device consisting of a long wooden handle with a shorter free-swinging stick attached to its end). These items are currently still operating in Jordan as part of an extended field evaluation while clearing mines and providing invaluable operational feedback to equipment developers.
In initial after-action reports, the JAF were said to be very "pleased overall with the DSS," and a subsequent visit has been made to translate many of the training modules into Arabic. Regarding the Mini-Mine Detector, it is reported that, "In side-by-side tests using the Mini-Mine Detector (MMD) and the AN/PSS-12, the MMD clearly outperformed the PSS-12." In fact, it "not only outperformed the AN/PSS-12 in its ability to detect mines but also discovered them at a much faster sweep rate." As for the Mini-Flail, while it demonstrated the capability to neutralize (detonate) 75 percent of the anti-personnel mines it encountered, there were some limitations in operating in a desert environment, and the "Jordanians made valuable recommendations for improvements to the existing prototype flails."
As part of President Clinton's 1996 mandate to eventually eliminate all anti-ersonnel landmines, the Department of Defense directed the United States Marine Corps to begin removing the approximately 60,000 landmines -- both anti-personnel and anti-tank -- contained in the minefields within the Guantanamo Naval Base in Cuba. This operation has been extremely successful, and has avoided serious casualties among the Marine Minefield Maintenance Section even though they have been confronted with some challenging terrain, and some mines that have been in the ground since 1961. The removal of the last known M16 anti-personnel mine and M15 anti-tank mine is scheduled to be completed by the end of 1998.
However, because area clearance is not a core competency within the U.S. military, the Marines in Guantanamo (GTMO) are faced with relatively few assets to proof the minefields once they have lifted all documented mines. Faced with this challenge, a technical assistance visit was conducted to "GTMO" in March 1998 to determine if any demining prototype equipment could be used to provide assistance. In this unique instance of the military cross leveraging off the technology of the demining R&D program, several recommendations were subsequently made and accepted by the Marine Corps.
In early 1999, NVSD (Night Vision and Electronic Sensor Directorate) personnel intend to deploy two pieces of demining equipment to Guantanamo that were developed "in-house" by Fort Belvoir engineers. The first item that will be provided for field trials is the mine-clearing blade, which is intended to remove anti-tank mines up to eight inches deep. Automatic depth control of the blade negates the need for a skilled operator. The second item to be deployed is the Mine Clearance Cultivator (MCC), which also employs a depth control system. Both devices interface with a Caterpillar D7R bulldozer with some slight modifications. The MCC is being developed as a kit containing a tine array, auger assembly, hydraulic power unit, linkage and pushbeam assembly, and an ultrasonic depth control system for the tine array. These prototypes are intended to lift mines from the soil, and deposit them to the side for subsequent disposal, without creating a berm or spoil. Additionally, in areas inaccessible to mechanical mine clearance equipment, the Marines intend to employ mine-sniffing dog teams to proof cleared areas. Eventually, this activity may prompt the Cuban government to likewise remove the many mines on its side of the Guantanamo fenceline. As these mines appear to be randomly scattered, their clearance will most assuredly pose a significant challenge for Cuban authorities.
In February 1998, SO/LIC (Special Operations and Low-intensity Conflict) and U.S. Southern Command personnel conducted a technical assistance visit to Honduras to determine if an opportunity existed for equipment enhancements for demining operations being conducted by Central American deminers. Under the oversight of the Organization of American States (OAS) and the Inter-American Defense Board (IADB), Brazilian, Colombian, El Salvadoran, and Venezuelan deminers assigned to the Assistance Mission for the Removal of Mines and Explosives in Central America (MARMINCA), are presently conducting demining operations in Costa Rica, Honduras and Nicaragua. The challenges confronting these deminers are numerous. They include mines that are randomly placed with no discernible pattern in mined areas that are located in dense sub-tropical rainforests. The rainforests are located in mountainous terrain at altitudes of up to 7,500 feet (2,360 meters). The majority of the mines encountered are PMN mines (PMN is the model number of a Russian antipersonnel mine), which have proven difficult to detect at times in the mountainous, highly mineralized soil.
As a result of the technical assistance visit, it was determined that primarily due to the terrain and environment, there was limited demining equipment that was suitable for field evaluation in Honduras. However, it was suggested that an attempt be made to use mine-sniffing dogs as a proofing method in the mountainous Honduran-Nicaraguan border area. MARMINCA, as well as OAS/IADB, personnel have also expressed significant interest in evaluating LEXFOAM later this summer when testing of a smaller, more compact aerosol dispenser is complete. Additionally, some interest was expressed in conducting field trials this year of the Teleoperated Ordnance Disposal System in Nicaragua. However, overall this technical assessment highlighted the fact that many mine-plagued areas exist where current technology can add little value or enhancement to manual demining methods.
The previous were just four examples of recent U.S. practical applications of technology in confronting the global humanitarian demining problem. The United Nations, as well as Canada, Germany, Japan, Norway and the United Kingdom -- and their NGOs (nongovernmental organizations) -- have also made significant contributions of both equipment and resources in countries such as Afghanistan, Angola, Mozambique and northern Iraq. These and many other nations have also contributed vast amounts of assistance to demining efforts in Bosnia during the past year.
What's Next?
There is still much to do. The soon-to-be-published update of the State Department's "Hidden Killers" report will likely show a reduction in the number of mines scattered around the globe. However, the remaining challenge will still be quite substantial. For its part, the United States intends to increase the number of countries, which will receive humanitarian demining assistance. It has added five countries since the beginning of this year -- Chad, Estonia, Guatemala, Lebanon, and Swaziland. The demining R&D program is currently evaluating 24 projects. Among these, the CAMCOPTER appears as a very promising candidate for a wide area detection platform.
In 1999, the R&D program will focus on developing, demonstrating and evaluating projects in specific areas that users have identified as critical -- individual deminer protection, vegetation clearance, mechanical mine clearance, handheld detection and wide area detection. Operational field evaluations will continue with efforts to deploy the air spade into Afghanistan, the Mini-Flail into Mozambique, the Mine Clearance Cultivator into Eritrea, and LEXFOAM and the Demining Support System into Guatemala.
Following up on several initiatives, the United States will also be seeking international partners for future cooperative ventures in developing demining technology. In January 1998, the United States -- as well as the European Commission -- held workshops to identify specific deminer equipment requirements. This was followed by a first-ever forum in March hosted by the Defense Department that focused on future technologies for humanitarian demining. This conference was attended by representatives from eight foreign countries, six of which provided briefings on their respective national demining R&D programs. In May, the Washington Conference further highlighted the need for international cooperation to reduce duplication of R&D efforts and ensure the efficient utilization of demining technology development resources. This conference will be followed up by meetings in Karlsruhe, Germany and Ispra, Italy to further develop opportunities for international cooperation in demining equipment research and development. One of the initiatives that will be pursued through these conferences is the development of internationally standardized statements of user requirements.
Far from being resolved, either by treaty or by a reassessment of the extent of the problem, the threat of residual anti-personnel landmines remains in upwards of 70 countries around the world. Ongoing efforts -- to include the Demining 2010 Initiative -- will help garner critically essential global support to continue providing assistance to hundreds of indigenous deminers.
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