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Will shooting a land mine cause it to go off?


Alpo

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Novel.

 

The area where they wish to land the helicopters looks inviting. TOO inviting. They suspect it is mined.

 

This caused me to wonder if they flew above it and shot the hell out of it with mini guns, would this set off any mines that happen to be there?

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Perhaps. Depends on the mine. I would say probably not...unless cameras are rolling. :D
 

Actually, I really don’t know. My experience with mines is only from watching TV and movies and places I was told not to walk when visiting the base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. 

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18 minutes ago, Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 said:

It’d be stupid to assume no and it’d br stupid to think you got them all by shooting up the area.

I agree. 

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Didn't Rock Hudson do it in a WW2 movie about North Africa?  

 

My only experience with mines was I was taught to lay det cord through a  mine field and set it off , who was going to run through the mine field to lay the det cord was the question.   I figure the various runners would be what actually cleared the way. 

 

 

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42 minutes ago, Trigger Mike said:

Didn't Rock Hudson do it in a WW2 movie about North Africa?  

 

My only experience with mines was I was taught to lay det cord through a  mine field and set it off , who was going to run through the mine field to lay the det cord was the question.   I figure the various runners would be what actually cleared the way. 

 

 

A marine!!!

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As mentioned, it depends on the type of mine. Anti personnel mines are generally pressure or pressure/release activated.  A nearby explosion will usually  set off a sympathetic detonation of hearty mines. A bullet may or may not.  You don’t need a volunteer to carry the diet cord through the mine field anymore.

 

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1 hour ago, Utah Bob #35998 said:

As mentioned, it depends on the type of mine. Anti personnel mines are generally pressure or pressure/release activated.  A nearby explosion will usually  set off a sympathetic detonation of hearty mines. A bullet may or may not.  You don’t need a volunteer to carry the diet cord through the mine field anymore.

 

Is it foolproof?  Seems to me that even if only a few mines are not fooled, you can destroy the confidence of an attacking force.

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24 minutes ago, Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 said:

Is it foolproof?  Seems to me that even if only a few mines are not fooled, you can destroy the confidence of an attacking force.

By foolproof you mean perfect? Nothing is perfect. Not rifles, hand grenades, torpedoes, aircraft, or nuclear bombs.

Well except my wife.

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50 minutes ago, Injun Ryder, SASS #36201L said:

From my redneck upbringing, my first thought was that the Python mine clearing system would be great for fishing!:lol:

Yup. Probably better in a pond than a river though. 
(not a lightning strike. det cord and charges to break up a log jam)

:wacko:

 

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2 hours ago, Utah Bob #35998 said:

As mentioned, it depends on the type of mine. Anti personnel mines are generally pressure or pressure/release activated.  A nearby explosion will usually  set off a sympathetic detonation of hearty mines. A bullet may or may not.  You don’t need a volunteer to carry the diet cord through the mine field anymore.

 

 

What about the 10% that the Python System misses?????

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That python thing is similar to what they did in the novel. (The minigun was just my wondering).

 

They had Coast Guard line throwing guns, and threw ropes to the far side of the field. Then they pulled the ropes across the field. The ropes had 1/3 pound blocks of c-4 attached to them with sandbags sitting on top of it. When they had the field crisscrossed with these ropes/c4/sandbag things they exploded the c4.

 

It seems to me that if they had a third of a pound of anything, with a several pound bag of sand on top of it, and they dragged it on a rope across open ground, the weight of the sandbag would probably roll it around so that the bag would be on the bottom and the explosive would be blowing up into the air. In other words, I don't think what they used in the book would actually have worked.

 

Their plan was to explode any mines that happened to be underneath the explosives and sympathetic detonation would make all the others go off. But lucky for them there were no mines in the field. All that planning and effort for nothing. :lol:

 

 

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23 minutes ago, Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 said:

Det cord across a minefield would be a modern version of a Bangalore torpedo?

Bangalore was designed to breach barbed wire.

 

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29 minutes ago, sassnetguy50 said:

An RC truck pulling the det cord across would be much more efficient.   Cost less than the rocket, quicker to set up, precise cord location (around an obstacle like the convoy must travel).

But what if the rc truck blows up?

 

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4 hours ago, Utah Bob #35998 said:

By foolproof you mean perfect? Nothing is perfect. Not rifles, hand grenades, torpedoes, aircraft, or nuclear bombs.

Well except my wife.

:lol: Smart move, Bob. 

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6 hours ago, Utah Bob #35998 said:

Bangalore was designed to breach barbed wire.

 

You'd have to be pretty stupid to push the bangalore torpedo through a mine field.  If the torpedo was pushed directly over an AP mine it may set it off which would detonate the torpedo.

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Hose a lz with a minigun? Then I hope nobody expects the enemy to just ignore that action and let troop ships land unopposed. It is kind of a giveaway.

 

Imis

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My former CO had his chopper come in low to recon a possible LZ. There was a 155 mm shell suspended in the trees. The explosion brought the Huey down. Everybody on board was KIA. Not all mines are underground.

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As far as hosing it down, the procedure is to have artillery pound the area. Followed by rocket runs by gunships, followed immediately by slicks landing the troops. Shock and awe scenario.

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12 hours ago, Utah Bob #35998 said:

By foolproof you mean perfect? Nothing is perfect. Not rifles, hand grenades, torpedoes, aircraft, or nuclear bombs.

Well except my wife.

I'm not sure your wife is perfect.  Look who she married.  Of course she may have felt sorry for you, too.

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3 hours ago, sassnetguy50 said:

Then the truck did its job.  That would be a very sensitive land mine, those trucks have practically no ground pressure.

But if it only get a few meters into the mine field, you’ll need another truck. ;)

 

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8 hours ago, Forty Rod SASS 3935 said:

I'm not sure your wife is perfect.  Look who she married.  Of course she may have felt sorry for you, too.

She thought she could fix me. Managed to train me. But I still need fixin. :rolleyes:

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15 minutes ago, Utah Bob #35998 said:

But if it only get a few meters into the mine field, you’ll need another truck. ;)

 

True, figured they would reuse that rocket’s trailer to haul 40 trucks.  It’d be the same size carrier box, $3,000 and offer more uses.

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