Re: Mine Probing

In a message dated 9/30/02 7:55:28 PM Eastern Daylight Time, 
Beth.Fulton@csiro.au writes:

> G'day,
> 
> Another question while we're on the topic of mines. Can any current
(or
> potential future) mine types explode when something is just within x
radius
> instead of right on top? I was talking with a South African friend of
mine
> how's worked with the species of rat they're using to do the mine
stuff and
> she'd heard (so heaven knows how reliable this is) that you can get
the 
> rats
> to sit on top of the mines and thus "map the nearby field". With that
in
> mind it wouldn't be so useful if the mines were just set off by heavy 
> enough
> movement nearby. Mind you with the development of mines that move
about I
> think there's a whole new batch of mine probing nightmares to worry
about 
> ;)
> 
> Cheers
> 
> Beth

I can't speak for the ground pounders, but naval mines use MAD and such
to 
explode near ships, rather than having to actually hit them. Some even
have 
counters that keep them from detonating till several ships have passed
by. I 
cant imagine why it couldn't be done on land. Tanks must have a magnetic

signature of some kind. 

John Rebori ETN2 (Discharged)
USN 1976 - 1982
ex-USS Pegasus PHM-1