Mechanical Assisted Demining

Manual methods have traditionally been the core of mine clearance.

MgM has developed machines and techniques that have improved the efficiency and safety of manual deminers tremendously.

One of today's major tasks is the development of better tools and the optimization of mine clearance techniques. This aim was included among the principles of MgM on the day that MgM came into existence.

Because they are active and experienced deminers, MgM's innovations have been firmly grounded in utility. They illustrate an immediate practicality that is often lacking in the "genius" of theoretical drawing board solutions of scientists and engineers who have never worked in a minefield themselves.

The three MgM devices introduced here have had a fundamental influence on the development of humanitarian demining.

Although these machines are in use, the results are constantly being tested by a Quality Control system using manual deminers and explosive detecting dogs.

It is part of MgM's official safety standard that every clearance method is verified by using many other procedures over the same area. Only after this kind of quality control do we feel able to return the cleared area to the population as 'mine free'.

It is MgM policy not to register patents for its innovations or to collect royalties. All humanitarian organizations are are expressly invited to freely copy MgM's devices and procedures.

Our machines

The MgM ROTAR picks up mine infested soil with its rotating sieving drum. While sieving out the soil, objects with a diameter greater than the grid-size get left behind. The grid can be sized so that these objects including all known mine types. Should the mines detonate during the sieving process there is no danger to the driver or the vehicle. Extremely strong armoured steel and armoured glass protect the operator from the explosion and any fragments. The mines and pieces of unexploded ammunition that do not detonate as the ROTAR spins are dealt with safely later in a specially developed disposal system.

The MgM Grader is a modified, strongly armoured, road construction machine. Here armoured steel plates and armoured glass ensure the survival of the driver in case of any mine exploding beneath the blade or the wheels. After a manual mine clearance of roads, or suspect areas, the grader is often used for a final pass. It flattens the roads and makes them usable again for trucks. If any mines had been missed (never happened) the weight of the machine and its grading action would expose or detonate it. The low mounds of soil tossed to the left and right of the graded area or road clearly mark the edges of the part that is now mine-safe.

The MgM Mulcher solves a big problem for deminers, especially in tropical and sub-tropical areas. This is where lush vegetation spreads over uncultivated areas very quickly, impeding the work of manual deminers and the MgM dog teams. Because of the extremely high danger from fragmentation mines amid the undergrowth, it can be very risky and so time-consuming to cut the undergrowth by hand. MgM’s special armoured vehicle with its hydraulically powered vegetation mulching tools attached to a long crane arm speeds up the process considerably and greatly enhances safety.

Overview mine clearance:

1. Metal Detection
2. Dog Detection
3. Manual Demining
4. Mechanical Assistance
5. Security
6. Fleet of Vehicles
7. Communication
8. First Aid
9. Survey
10. Mine awareness
11. Research