claymore - more dangerous

[Chulo]

Macroswiss Claymore Camera makes a dumb mine much smarter

from Military (122 articles) (http://www.gizmag.com/military/)
March 1, 2007 Anti Personnel (land)mines (http://www.gizmag.com.au/go/6155/) cannot distinguish between the footfall of a child and a soldier. The banning of landmines by the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty has left civilised military forces with a problem – landmines have traditionally been used to cover dead ground in the 20 to 200 metre range. The weapon of choice to replace the landmine has subsequently become the Claymore (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claymore_mine). Named after the 700 year-old two-handed Scottish sword, the Claymore is based on the Misznay-Schardin effect in that its blast is primarily in a single direction. The U.S. Army developed the design half a century ago during the Korean War into an anti-personnel weapon that would fire 700 ball bearings propelled by 650 grams of plastic explosive with lethal effect to 100 meters across a 60° arc in front of the 8 x 3 x 1.5 inch box. Claymores are not buried like mines – they are anchored above ground pointed towards the likely location of the enemy, and are now known the world over for the words "Front Toward Enemy" embossed on their olive plastic casing. For the first 50 years of their existence, Claymores have been dumb – but an ingenious telecommunications system that can be fitted to any Claymore looks set to give new life to the fearsome weapon. The newly available Macroswiss Claymore Camera consists of a video camera attached to the Claymore, which relays information to a remote receiver through a cable system so an operator can monitor events in front of the mine, and detonate it when the time comes. If the user wants to keep a record, the video feedback can be recorded with the GPS position and its even possible to ensure no-one can sneak past the mine by adding a motion detection system that will raise an alarm if there is any movement in the camera’s field of view.
An age-old problem in battlefield scenarios is collateral damage (i.e. casualties caused by traditional anti-personnel land mines), nowadays the problem is still, to some extent, present due to the imprecise detonation of the command-detonated Claymore mines which have taken the place of old-fashioned AP mines.
This innovative and inexpensive product is a great tool to avoid the loss of innocent lives by mistake, solving the problem of not knowing what the mine is detonated against, but, above all, it turns regular dumb mines into intelligent mines which represents a revolutionary progress in minefield technology. A Claymore Camera Standard Kit is composed of a 50 meters reel of cable connected with MIL connectors to the standard Giraffe tactical ruggedized display unit. The camera is a 380 TV lines IR unit (higher definitions, up to 600 TV lines are available as well as lengths of cable up to 200 meters).
Advantages of the Claymore Camera
1. Grants better operational effectiveness in use of Claymore-type AP mines 2. Reduces likelihood of collateral damage and instances of friendly fire 3. Upgrades AP mines from “Dumb” to Intelligent weapon status 4. Competitively priced 5. Easy to use and transport 6. Rugged 7. Quick deployment 8. 100% man-portable 9. Long battery life 10. 90% of components can be re-used over and over again 11. With optional recording systems grants full accountability of the use of the weapon 12. With optional motion detection system grants that any movement in the claymore camera field of view generates an alarm (impossibility to sneak past the mine

lots of pics here http://www.gizmag.com/go/6911/gallery/

http://img452.imageshack.us/img452/6082/69111030712515812125c7dwf3.jpg
http://img452.imageshack.us/img452/4898/69111030712515381266f7dco9.jpg
http://img452.imageshack.us/img452/3710/69111030712521428126f1eko9.jpg

[Beowulf]

They got money for this ****, but they can't seem to "find" some of my soldiers' civilian clothing allowance. ghey.

[prebanman]

for those who have manhandled claymores before, any educated opionons on if the camera will survive to be reused (if rescuable)?

-patry

[Laworkerbee]

Christ I can see it now

uTube Claymore videos

[Xaito]

the camera makes the mine much more visible - they could just as well put a bright red flag on the mine so people - including the enemy - see them and don't get hurt by accident.

[Chulo]

the camera makes the mine much more visible - they could just as well put a bright red flag on the mine so people - including the enemy - see them and don't get hurt by accident.
by the time its visible enough to know its a claymore im sure there isnt too many pieces of them to say anything about it.. cover it up with a shrub and its still as dangerous

[ShakesFIST]

Where are these going to be used?

Last I heard they couldn't be used in Iraq or Afghanistan, has that changed or am I just wrong?

[Nrjetix]

for those who have manhandled claymores before, any educated opionons on if the camera will survive to be reused (if rescuable)?

-patry

Must........hold........ back......... sarcastic......... reply.........

Its worth noting that this is essentially a webcam strapped to a large chunk of Plastic Explosive.

Having seen a few detonate (PADMINES)The short answer is NO.

[Tiger75]

In OZ......we just changed the name from a 'mine' to an 'anti-personnel weapon'.......



The u have it.....now totally legal to use

[gafkiwi]

Same in NZ, Its no longer referred to as a "MINE" but a "C.D.F"
"Charge Directional Fragmentation" The Canadians we had with us in Timor couldn't use them because some greenie politition back in Canada found out they were using "MINES" and the Government at the time didnt differentiate between a normal land mine and something thats on command det.

As for camera on claymores it seems to be a waste of time, money, and smarts why have individual cameras on claymores, if cameras are involved at all it should be set back observing the kill area, inside the arcs of the claymore. When you consider how many claymores you can have set up in an ambush that a lot of cameras. More stuff to cam up more stuff to carry

[kangur]

well... yes and no. the main difference is that M18A1 is in general COMMAND DETONATED, unlike conventional mines. (of course you can use a tripwire) so it passes the convention that way. Also Australia reserves the rigth to use landminee in homeland defence (we will just mine everything west of Bourke... ;-) )

Also claymores are unlikely to be deployed in fields 500km by 20km or dropped from aircraft...

In regards to the camera - coooooool! You could set up whole new mechanical ambushes with this device - NV option is a must. Simple way to make a camere re-usable (don't ask me why) is to dismount it from the mine itself and place it some distance away from it, in the similar field of view. The camera transmits on a seperate channel, and the mine is still detonated via cable.

As for camouflage - I dont see a big problem, standard claymores have to be camouflaged anyway, camera is not THAT big.

What is that ground seismic system used in the ADF now? ADSIC? Can't remember - that was also used to remotely wire up claymores - If I am not mistaken.

K.

[martinexsquaddie]

I thought the australia defence plan was to fcuk off lett the invading army roam around aimlessly getting bitten by poisonous things or eaten by crocs till they had enough and go home:0

[kamarian]

I thought the australia defence plan was to fcuk off lett the invading army roam around aimlessly getting bitten by poisonous things or eaten by crocs till they had enough and go home:0

Nah, it's actually making Patricks (the wharfies) go on strike.

That way, no f^cker will get into australia.

Or get out.

[Mr Gently Benevolent]

I could be wrong here but I thought I saw a PIR add on for Claymores.

[Tiger75]

Besides....how much more time outside the 'wire'.....is going to be needed to setup if any?

[Tiger75]

I thought the australia defence plan was to fcuk off lett the invading army roam around aimlessly getting bitten by poisonous things or eaten by crocs till they had enough and go home:0

I reckon that we have been here for at least 200 yrs and cant live in most of the country without masses of electricity wires and water pipes........

So how on earth could an invading force ever hope to sustain anything as all supplies would have to be shipped in? (and we are a far distance from most except for one main country to our northwest I suppose)

[Cheky]

I thought the australia defence plan was to fcuk off lett the invading army roam around aimlessly getting bitten by poisonous things or eaten by crocs till they had enough and go home:0

we also do that with touristsp-)

i have heard of a 40mm with a camera on it, it launches exactly like a illum. round but instead of lighting up the battle area it takes pictures or video footage and sends it back to the soldier via a pda.

[Chulo]

i have heard of a 40mm with a camera on it, it launches exactly like a illum. round but instead of lighting up the battle area it takes pictures or video footage and sends it back to the soldier via a pda.
yea.. i think it was a "dragon fly" or something like that.. a 203 lanuched UAV

[Sabre]

This is such a bollox idea. Anyone who's used claymores know how they work. Yes they fvck up the lead scout, but anyone more than 10m away probably just has brown shreddies and a headache. A claymore covers an approach route/obstacle and must be observed by the sentry directly who will follow it up with fire from the unit MG. There is no need for a camera.

How this stops a command det weapon from killing innocents is beyond me. The sentry makes the decision to det the claymore after ID'ing the enemy, a camera wont change that. Apart from all that, not only do you have to tab in with a claymore, but you also need a bloody telly with you too!

Utter crap.

[TacoDelRio]

Sooo... it's smarter now because it blows up when a computer wants it to, not the soldier?

[angry cow]

Absurd, this would only work for some kind of remote detonation, in which case you won't have a wide enough field of view to see what kind of unit you are engaging anyways, nor would you get enough lead time to use it against vehicles.

Claymore's are command detonated, meaning somebody is in visual contact, up until detonation and follows that up immediately with sustained rifle and MG fires.

Putting IR cameras along a suspected supply route and lining it with multiple claymores isn't a bad idea. But US doctrine is that claymores can only be used with a timer or with command detonation. (Except along the DMZ in Korea of course)

[velvet-cream]

I don't think the camera will survive the detonation. If the claim that 90% of the parts are reuseable, then there must be a lot of ancilliary equipment to go with this system. Which equates to more stuff for the soldier to carry, worry, forget or lose.

I think its usefullness is very limited. I would rather use the camera to cover dead ground or areas of approach where observation by friendly soldiers is difficult / impossible. I think it would be a waste to mount it on the claymore, when you could probably position the camera in the vicinity of the claymore, which is close enough to observe the killzone without been destroyed in the explosion.

The only other useful feature is the motion sensing feature, which I would hazard to guess, is where the camera detects movement in the picture, and alerts the operator. Then again, this would only be useful if the solider is not concentrating on picket.

Sabre, I know this is a weak, weak argument, but I think this is a scenario which this camera may reduce innocent civilians from being killed:
- Soldiers need to cover dead ground. In the past they have used mines or claymores rigged to tripwires (or other ****y traps).
- What this camera on a claymore does is offer soldiers another solution by allowing a command detonated weapon to be used in a role that in the past could only be done by using mines/ ****y traps.
- So now, "touchy-feely" countries can have a good conscience by using claymores with cameras which require a soldier to squeeze the clacker, rather than using "dumb" mines.

So I don't think this reduces the chance of innocent civilian casualties from claymores specifically. But indirectly it may reduce civilian casualties in the long run, because PC countries have an alternative solution to the problem that does not involve minefields or ****y traps. I know this is a weak argument (and I don't agree with it myself), but I think this is what the inventors want to argue.

[velvet-cream]

And I forgot to mention the batteries. You'll need to use one set of batteries a night per claymore. Which adds up to a lot!

[Sabre]

v-c: I realise the utility of this for covering dead ground, but any country that signed up to the land mine treaty is prohibited from using any device that is initiated by the 'victim'. All such 'anti personal weapons' must be command det anyway. It is still possible to have a claymore in dead ground and det it manually. An example would be a possible escape route from an ambush site or a drainage ditch in dead ground from the killer group, somewhere that you would want to cover but can't from the ambush position.

As you say though, the camera adds an extra element. Why it needs to be mounted on the claymore is unclear. It could be an entirely separate measure for maintaining a defensive perimeter.

[shingo_tln]

Christ I can see it now

uTube Claymore videos

OMG
A+ rofl

[BT_Recon]

i think its good to be able to see whats going on, but the det cable is only 30 meters long... sure if it's around a corner but ****... its just adding ANOTHER cog in the system thats no doubt bound to break down sooner or later.

i'd probably use the camera as a seperate unit.

[Fiber]

OMG
A+ rofl

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