Mine clearance organizationA mine clearance organization, or demining organization, is an organization involved in the removal of landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) for military, humanitarian, or commercial reasons. Demining includes mine clearance (actual removal and destruction of landmines/UXO from the ground), as well as surveying, mapping and marking of hazardous areas. The broader realm of mine action also includes advocacy, victim assistance, antipersonnel mine stockpile destruction, mine risk education and research.
Improvised explosive deviceAn improvised explosive device (IED) is a bomb constructed and deployed in ways other than in conventional military action. It may be constructed of conventional military explosives, such as an artillery shell, attached to a detonating mechanism. IEDs are commonly used as roadside bombs, or homemade bombs. The term "IED" was coined by the British Army during the Northern Ireland conflict to refer to booby traps made by the IRA, and entered common use in the U.S. during the Iraq War.
Cluster munitionA cluster munition is a form of air-dropped or ground-launched explosive weapon that releases or ejects smaller submunitions. Commonly, this is a cluster bomb that ejects explosive bomblets that are designed to kill personnel and destroy vehicles. Other cluster munitions are designed to destroy runways or electric power transmission lines. Because cluster bombs release many small bomblets over a wide area, they pose risks to civilians both during attacks and afterwards.
Combat engineerA combat engineer (also called pioneer or sapper) is a type of soldier who performs military engineering tasks in support of land forces combat operations. Combat engineers perform a variety of military engineering, tunnel and mine warfare tasks, as well as construction and demolition duties in and out of combat zones. Combat engineers facilitate the mobility of friendly forces while impeding that of the enemy. They also work to assure the survivability of friendly forces, building fighting positions, fortifications, and roads.
Mine actionMine action is a combination of humanitarian aid and development studies that aims to remove landmines and reduce the social, economic and environmental impact of them and the explosive remnants of war (ERW). Mine action is commonly represented as comprising five complementary groups of activities: Humanitarian demining, i.e. mine and ERW survey, land release, mapping, marking and clearance Risk education (RE), i.e.
Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian DeminingThe Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD; Centre international de déminage humanitaire - CIDHG) is an international organisation working in mine action and explosive ordnance risk reduction, with a focus on landmines, cluster munitions and ammunition stockpiles. Based in the Maison de la paix in Geneva, it is legally a non-profit foundation in Switzerland. It was established by Switzerland and several other countries in April 1998.
List of land minesThis is a list of commonly used land mines. C3A1 mine C3A2 mine Abwehrflammenwerfer 42 Flame fougasse X-200 mine XM-54 mine Livens Projector see note KhF-1 bounding gas mine KhF-2 bounding gas mine M1 chemical mine M23 chemical mine Spruh-Buchse 37 Yperite mine M93 HORNET mine 4AHM-100 mine AHM-200 mine AHM-200-1 mine AHM-200-2 mine Anti-Transport Mine Helkir mine PMN-150 mine PMN-250 mine TEMP 20 Blue Peacock Medium Atomic Demolition Munition Special Atomic Demolition Munition FMK-1 mine FMK-3 mine FMK-5 mine MAPG mine MAPPG mine Helkir mine 4AHM-100 mine AHM-200 mine AHM-200-1 mine AHM-200-2 mine Anti Transport Mine (Bulgaria) PMN-150 mine PMN-250 mine C3A1 mine DM-21 mine AT-8 (Cuban mine) PMFH-1 mine PMFH-2 mine PP Mi-SK mine (A Czechoslovakian copy of the POMZ-2 mine, used with an RO-1 fuze.
TopfmineThe Topfmines were a series of German circular minimum metal anti-tank blast mines that entered service with the German army in 1944, during the Second World War. The mines used a case made of compressed wood-pulp, cardboard and tar along with glass plugs and components designed to be undetectable by Allied mine detectors. Often the only metallic part of the mines was the detonator. To enable the mines to be found by friendly forces, the mines were painted with a black sandy substance called Tarnsand (camouflage sand).
Bomb disposalBomb disposal is an explosives engineering profession using the process by which hazardous explosive devices are disabled or otherwise rendered safe. Bomb disposal is an all-encompassing term to describe the separate, but interrelated functions in the military fields of explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) and improvised explosive device disposal (IEDD), and the public safety roles of public safety bomb disposal (PSBD) and the bomb squad. The first professional civilian bomb squad was established by Sir Vivian Dering Majendie.
Booby trapA booby trap is a device or setup that is intended to kill, harm or surprise a human or another animal. It is triggered by the presence or actions of the victim and sometimes has some form of bait designed to lure the victim towards it. The trap may be set to act upon trespassers that enter restricted areas, and it can be triggered when the victim performs an action (e.g., opening a door, picking something up, or switching something on). It can also be triggered by vehicles driving along a road, as in the case of improvised explosive devices (IEDs).
