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A mine-clearing line charge (abbreviated MCLC or MICLIC and pronounced or "''mick-lick''") is used to create a breach in minefields under combat conditions. While there are many types, the basic design is for many explosive charges connected on a line to be projected onto the
minefield A land mine is an explosive device concealed under or on the ground and designed to destroy or disable enemy targets, ranging from combatants to vehicles and tanks, as they pass over or near it. Such a device is typically detonated automati ...
. The charges explode, detonating any buried mines, thus clearing a path for
infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and m ...
or armor to cross. The system may either be human-portable or vehicle-mounted. Man portable are primarily used to clear smaller paths for dismounted infantry while the larger vehicle mounted are used to clear paths for vehicles such as tanks, and infantry fighting vehicles or Armored Personnel Carriers. The systems do not guarantee clearance of all types of mines.


History

The British and Commonwealth developed their systems during the Second World War. The Canadians developed "Snake", an oversized application of the Bangalore torpedo in 1941 to 1942. A more flexible development was "Conger", developed in 1944, a tube that could be fired across the minefield and then filled with explosive before detonation. Conger was a 2-inch (51 mm) woven hose launched by a five-inch (127 mm) rocket. The tube and rocket were mounted in a
Universal Carrier The Universal Carrier, also known as the Bren Gun Carrier and sometimes simply the Bren Carrier from the light machine gun armament, is a common name describing a family of light armoured tracked vehicles built by Vickers-Armstrongs and other ...
which had been stripped out to reduce it down to an armoured tracked trailer that could be towed by a tank, often a Churchill AVRE. The rocket was fired, trailing the hose across the area to be cleared. Compressed air was then used to pump the liquid explosive - just over a ton of "822C" nitroglycerin - into the hose before it was detonated. Conger was used in
Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...
where there were instances of premature detonation. In the postwar period the British introduced Giant Viper. In 1991, during the First Gulf War (aka the
Persian Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a Coalition of the Gulf War, 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Ba'athist Iraq, ...
) MICLICs, such as the Giant Viper, consisted of rocket launched lines containing roughly 800 kilograms of explosives, stretching some 100 meters long. These MICLICs were used by Coalition forces to penetrate extensive
Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
i minefield along the Saudi-Kuwait border. During the
South African Border War The South African Border War, also known as the Namibian War of Independence, and sometimes denoted in South Africa as the Angolan Bush War, was a largely asymmetric conflict that occurred in Namibia (then South West Africa), Zambia, and Angol ...
, South African forces employed the use of the Plofadder system to clear paths through Angolan and Cuban minefields.


Current use

Systems in current use include the British Python, which can clear a wide by long path, and the American M58 Mine Clearing Line Charge, which can clear an 8 m wide by 100 m long path. Both are large, heavy systems that are deployed in a vehicle-towed trailer. The US Army also uses the
Antipersonnel Obstacle Breaching System The anti-personnel obstacle breaching system (APOBS) is an explosive line charge system that allows safe breaching through complex antipersonnel obstacles, particularly fields of land mines. The APOBS is a joint DOD program for the U.S. Army an ...
, which clears a path 0.6 to 1.0 meters by 45 meters, and is light enough to be carried by two soldiers. The have been reports of Russian and Syrian forces using their UR-77 Meteorit MICLIC systems as offensive weapons, to destroy buildings during urban fighting.


Countermeasures

Some modern mines, such as the Italian SB-33 mine, have a fuze mechanism that detonates the mine if subject to gradual, steady pressure, but locks the fuze if subject to a sudden shock. Such mines are resistant to clearing by line charges.


Examples

* M58 MICLIC (MIne Clearing LIne Charge) vehicle *
Antipersonnel Obstacle Breaching System The anti-personnel obstacle breaching system (APOBS) is an explosive line charge system that allows safe breaching through complex antipersonnel obstacles, particularly fields of land mines. The APOBS is a joint DOD program for the U.S. Army an ...
(APOBS) * Python Minefield Breaching System * Charge Line Mine Clearing (Vehicle) - Indian *
UR-77 The UR-77 Meteorit (russian: УР-77 «Метеорит», lit=Meteorite) is a Soviet mine clearing vehicle, based on a variant of the 2S1 Gvozdika chassis. Description The vehicle is armed with a launcher and two mine-clearing line charges. When ...
( УР-77) Soviet Meteorit Mineclearing System (rocket launched explosive hose), replacement of the UR-67 system based on the BTR-50PK chassis. *Turkish MKE TAMGEÇ and MKE TAMKAR. Tracked with
FNSS ACV-15 ACV-15 is the designation of an amphibious Infantry fighting vehicle family developed by the Turkish defense company FNSS Savunma Sistemleri A.Ş. This vehicle is also manufactured by DRB-HICOM Defence Technologies (DefTech). The design is an att ...
mounted on trailer.


See also

* Bangalore torpedo * Canadian pipe mine


References

;Bibliography *


External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mine-Clearing Line Charge Mine warfare countermeasures English inventions