| Project Nr.: | 3.2.13 |
| Title: | HALO Trust mechanical equipment development and evaluation. |
| Description: | This is an ongoing HALO Trust partnership with the Mechanical Assistance Equipment (MAE) developing community. As a part of this project, the following operational field evaluations are ongoing:Rotary Mine Comb (RMC) in Angola. The rotary mine comb is capable of extricating and removing anti-tank mines from the soil and pushing them to the side of the vehicle path.Sifting technology to separate larger objects from soil for AP mine clearance in Afghanistan including Multi-Tooled Excavator (ITEP Project 3.2.20) sifter attachments.Tempest system in Cambodia (ITEP Project 3.2.6). STORM system in Cambodia (ITEP Project 3.2.40). MANTIS in Afghanistan (ITEP Project 3.2.5). |
| Aim: | Modify, test and evaluate mechanical equipment with HALO Trust. Outcome - Prototype hardware and test report. |
| Request: | Users, Donors, NGOs, NMAAs, Developer, Manufacturer, HALO Trust |
| Category: | Mechanical Assistance |
| Type: | Test and Evaluation |
| Equipment: | Rotary Mine Comb (RMC), Sifting attachments (ALLU Sifting/Grinding Bucket, Trommex Rotary Sifter Bucket and the Orbit Screener Stationary Sifting unit), Tempest, Storm, MANTIS |
| Development: | COTS/Prototype |
| Time Frame: | 2003-03-01 to 2010-12-31 |
| Place: | United States, CECOM-RDEC, NVESD, Angola, Cambodia, Afghanistan |
| Lead Nation: | United States |
| Partners: | HALO Trust |
| Status: | Ongoing at the end of the ITEP program. For further information, please contact the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) Humanitarian Demining Research and Development Program |
| Comments: | The Rotary Mine Comb began an operational field evaluation in Angola in March 2008. This operational field evaluation involves the clearance of 200 km of road to be finalised at the end of 2009. An article in the Journal of ERW and Mine Action (Issue 12.2, Winter 2009/09) provides more information on the Rotary Mine Comb and how it has been deployed in Angola to uncover minimal-metal anti-tank mines. The Tempest is still undergoing an Operational Field Evaluation in Cambodia (ITEP Project 3.2.6).The sifting technology was deployed to Afghanistan in 2007 as part of a "lift and sift" technology evaluation. Attachments of the Multi-Tooled Excavator are also being evaluated (ITEP Project 3.2.20).STORM began operations in Cambodia in February 2009 (ITEP Project 3.2.40).The MANTIS began an Operational Field Evaluation in Afghanistan in August 2008 (ITEP Project 3.2.5). |
| Results/Conclusions: | The Rotary Mine Comb has shown promising results in developmental testing (see ITEP Project 3.2.5 ) for safely removing mines from the road bed for which there are numerous applications in Africa and Asia. Basic information on the Rotary Mine Comb performance can be found in the Rotary Mine Comb test report and MANTIS test report published in 2005.The ALLU bucket was also tested by the SRSA/SWEDEC (ITEP Project 3.2.42) and the concerned test report was published in November 2006.The Orbit Screener Stationary Sifting unit was evaluated by the U.S. HDP in 2008 (test report). |