forested areas, mines like these can be hard to spot until the tripwire is triggered. The US M18A1 Claymore was designed to propel its payload of metal balls towards the target when triggered remotely or by a tripwire. Many are pressure-activated, with anti-tank (AT) landmines requiring a large weight (100+ kg) to push on them before they will trigger, while anti-personnel (AP) mines are much smaller, designed to detonate upon a foot treading on them and containing enough explosives to cause extensive injuries. Landmines are a good example of this, featuring a wide range of configurations. While many of these munitions did not initially detonate due to a manufacturing, deployment or other fault, some are designed to only trigger when certain parameters are met. The M18A1 Claymore mine with the M57 firing device and M4 electric blasting cap assembly. Some of these sub-munitions feature protrusions that enable them to be armed on descent, but as UXO may look like toys to children who will pick them up, often resulting in severe injuries. In 2010 three bomb disposal experts in Germany died while trying to defuse an 1,100 pound WWII Allied bomb, and last year four were injured when another WWII aircraft bomb exploded in Munich, more than sixty years after they were dropped.Ĭluster munitions forms a special group in this regard, as this type of ordnance is characterized by a large number (potentially hundreds) of sub-munitions, with generally 1% or more of them failing to detonate. While there’s a chance that these duds will remain good at not doing the thing they were designed for, there is also a good chance that the shock of the impact and environmental factors like water ingress may have destabilized them. During construction work in Europe it’s not uncommon for large 500 kilogram bombs – originally carried by bomber planes – to be found meters deep in the soil. Even so, they can be buried centimeters or even meters in the ground, as many an unfortunate farmer near France’s Zone Rouge and similar regions with large concentrations of unexploded ordnance (UXO) has found out. These duds are an expected occurrence, and since they were not purposely hidden can generally be found fairly easily. (Credit: Gero Breloer/AP)Ī certain percentage of ordnance – whether in the form of artillery shells or other explosives – fail to detonate upon usage. Clearing these areas, to make them safe for a return of their inhabitants has already begun in Ukraine, but just like elsewhere in the world, it is an arduous and highly dangerous process with all too often lethal outcomes.īoom Later Bomb-disposal experts load a bomb after defusing it on Museum Island in Berlin. While European nations stumble over ordnance from its two world wars, nations in Africa, Asia and elsewhere struggle with the legacy from much more recent conflicts.Ĭurrently, in Europe’s most recent battlefield, more mines are being laid, booby traps set and unexploded shells and other ordnance scattered where people used to live. Sadly, this a pattern that is repeated throughout much of the world. Clean-up of the Zone Rouge is expected to take hundreds of years. To this day much of the original area remains off-limits, though injuries from old, but still very potent ordnance are common around its borders. Within this zone, contamination with heavy metals is so heavy that some areas do not support life, while unexploded shells – some containing lethal gases – and other unexploded ordnance is found throughout the soil. Perhaps the most extreme example of this lasting effect is the Zone Rouge (Red Zone) in France, which immediately after the First World War came to a close comprised 1,200 square kilometers. Most of this comes in the form of unexploded ordnance, including landmines and the severe pollution from heavy metals and other contaminants that can make large areas risky to lethal to enter. Long after the enemy forces have laid down their arms, peace accords have been signed and victories celebrated, there is still a heavy toll to be paid.
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