Mining Machinery Developments (MMD) builds innovative mining equipment. Now they create machine that can eat landmines. MMD cooperates with HALO Trust. HALO Trust is non-profit organization which removes debris left behind by war, in particular land mines. So receptive, in fact, that they offered to not only donate one of their vehicles to the HALO Trust, but to actually build an entirely new scaled-down machine which could be easily deployed on minefields around the world.
This machine is designed to eat landmines. HALO’s mine-munching tank can sort through 50 tons of soul every hour and uses steel teeth called “sizers” to collect and detonate landmines in its inside chamber. Each mine packs 150 grams of high explosive, but it only has the impact of a tractor going over a tiny pothole.
Due to war and conflict, thousands of unexploded landmines exist worldwide killing between 15.000 to 20.000 people each year. HALO has been working to create a landmine-free planet since 1988. The company searches for these explosives using metal detectors and digging them out by hand. But some mines are made from plastic and can be in wet and sticky soil making it hard to be detected and removed. HALO says it plans to bring the machine to different countries. And with just one truck, it could destroy up to 100.000 mines by 2025.
Photo credit & source: MMD, Halo Trust
