Mine detection vehicle

I am currently reading a book entitled 'Pamwe Chete' about the Selous Scouts and their exploits during the insurgency in Southern Rhodesia.

Apparently, whilst conducting Operation Virile during November & December 1977, the Selous Scouts used a vehicle they called a 'Pookie'.

This was an intriguing, Rhodesian-designed, mine clearing vehicle fitted with sensors that enabled it to locate, by electronic means, landmines buried in the road. Its equipment was built into a converted Volkswagen Beetle.

Do any of our friends from Zimbabwe or South Africa or anybody else for that matter, have any knowledge of this 'Pookie' or similar type of vehicle?

A question does spring to mind............................. If the Selous Scouts had this technology way back in 1977, why on earth can't something similar be developed for use in Iraq or Afghanistan?

did a search on Google for "pookie mine clearing vehicle" and here's what came up:

Originally used in Zimbabwe in the 1970s, the Pookie earned its stripes in the battle against anti-tank mines, which at one point were being laid on the roads at a rate of 200 a day. While more than 600 people were killed and countless more injured by landmines on the roads and runways in Zimbabwe, prior to its independence, the toll would have been much higher but for the invention of the Pookie, a small detection vehicle, designed to travel ahead of military and civilian convoys and light enough not to detonate anti-tank mines.

Link

Pookie rides again

guess this one's the pookie you mean, huh?
sorry just couldn't resist

so why develop something similar when the pookie already exists? why not just buy some pookies? seems like they say that R&D costs a lot of money anyway, so methinks it makes better sense to just go ahead and buy an already existing product.

[edit on 12.28.07 by toreishi]

IED's and Mines are two different animals.....an IED is a command detonated device ie:cell phone, where mines are pretty static and rely on pressure. IED's can be made from any material, but the human triggering is the key here, the "Pookie" would be usless and/or destroyed upon encountering an IDE and could not rely on its light wieght.

Cheers Toreishi. I do not like using Google because of the spy/keystroke thingy. Great post though and many thanks.

Originally posted by TooRisky IED's and Mines are two different animals.....an IED is a command detonated device ie:cell phone, where mines are pretty static and rely on pressure. IED's can be made from any material, but the human triggering is the key here, the "Pookie" would be usless and/or destroyed upon encountering an IDE and could not rely on its light wieght.

Actually, an IED is any form of Improvised Explosive Device and as such, can be triggered by command, trip, light, pull, tilt or lift.

Mines can also be command detonated, so your argument is somewhat moot. What I was suggesting is, a vehicle such as 'Pookie' - given todays technology, would or should be able to detect even IEDs.

[edit on 28-12-2007 by fritz]

actually this proposal is feasible considering that the whole concept has been proven a couple of decades ago in various conflicts. here are a couple of technologies which can be considered as upgrades to the generic "mine detection and clearance vehicle"

Magnetic Anomaly Detector

During the Vietnam War the original AC-130A Spectre gunships employed the "Pave Mace"/"Black Crow" magnetic anomaly detection system to detect truck ignition coils in vehicles hidden under heavy jungle canopies. The electric field of the truck coil, rather than its magnetic disturbance, was detected, giving another clue to the nature of the MAD sensor.

i gather that some IEDs do use electrical triggers so can they be detected?

SiroPulse

CSIRO's innovative radar system can probe distances from less than one centimetre to several metres and will pick up both metallic and non-metallic objects.

let's just hope there aren't any stealth IEDs yet

Ground penetrating sonar

A ground-penetrating sonar echo locating device uses acoustic energy to locate underground structures...

yo mic test!! all the IEDs in the underground!!! say hooo!