Anti Helicopter Mine - As if missiles and anti-aircraft weapons were not enough, helicopters began to face a new threat: the anti-helicopter mine.
No, these are not ordinary landmines buried in the ground, waiting for an unwary helicopter to land. They are actually sophisticated radar-controlled air defense weapons that have been developed by several nations, most notably Russia and Bulgaria.
Anti Helicopter Mine
And now the US military is worried enough about them that it wants some sort of countermeasure. In a new research proposal, titled "Anti-Helicopter Mine and Improvised Explosive Device Countermeasures," the Army compares the threat posed by helicopters to that faced by infantry soldiers and IED vehicles. Just as buried explosives led the US military to develop anti-IED technology, such as jammers that neutralize radio link monitoring devices, now the military wants something similar to disable anti-helicopter mines and common improvised explosive devices used in an anti-helicopter role.
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Not that the US doesn't already have a lot of experience with anti-helicopter mines. The North Vietnamese and Viet Cong used a variety of anti-helicopter booby traps, including pole-mounted explosives, which detonated when a helicopter landed. For their part, the Americans bombed the landing zones to detonate mines before the helicopters could enter.
An Islamic terrorist group also released a video in 2013 of what appears to be an improvised anti-helicopter fragmentation mine. And of course, antiquated machine guns and RPGs were the nemesis of helicopters for a while.
However, purpose-built anti-helicopter mines are far more sophisticated and dangerous. The military specifically mentions "the use of anti-helicopter mines by Russia and Bulgaria." Bulgaria, which appears to have been developing these devices until the late 1990s, offers several mines such as the AHM-200, a 200-pound device that looks like a mortar tube mounted on a tripod. The mine, which is located on the surface rather than buried in the ground, has an acoustic sensor that arms the weapon when it detects the sound of the helicopter up to 1,500 feet. At a distance of 500 feet, a Doppler radar tracks the target. When the helicopter reaches 300 feet, the mine detonates both an explosively shaped projectile and an explosive charge filled with steel balls.
A Russian news video from 2012 shows what appears to be a similar device. A Russian expert in the video says anti-helicopter mines were developed because shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles are ineffective against helicopters flying below 300 feet.
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The Army project will have three phases, starting with identifying what anti-helicopter mines and improvised explosive devices are available, their detonation and killing mechanisms, and how they are used. Eventually, a prototype will be developed and then the Pentagon will decide whether to go ahead and build the system.
Interestingly, the US military's proposal gives no indication of what kind of defense it thinks would stop anti-helicopter mines. It acknowledges that "rotor-wing aircraft have technical and operational vulnerabilities that include flying below 1,000 feet above ground level (AGL), a unique set of audio signatures, and the operational requirement to land on short notice in non-terrestrial terrain protected".
Perhaps one approach would be to spoof the mine's sensors so that it detonates prematurely, or to mask the acoustic signature of a helicopter so that the mine doesn't recognize a helicopter as a helicopter.
Considering how dependent the US military is on helicopters, especially when IEDs make roads too dangerous for vehicles, anti-helicopter mines are bad news. The news will be even worse when rebels and terrorists inevitably get their hands on them. But there's a silver lining: The military says "it is preferable to identify the best possible countermeasures before this emerging threat can adversely affect U.S. and allied operations." Which suggests that the Pentagon sees these mines as an imminent danger, but not yet affecting US operations. Mines are usually associated with destroying ground targets, but helicopters will now have to watch out for innovative projectiles.
File:anti Helicopter Mines At Engineering Technologies 2012.jpg
Imagine a mine that can hit a flying target. It may sound like science fiction, but the anti-helicopter mine could soon be used to defend military posts and routes against low-flying targets.
“It works in any climate and in any environment. So you can defend sea and land routes, "the creator of the weapon and adviser to the managing director of the company FKP "GkNIPAS" told Vladimir Niyazov.
Mines are laid on the ground, so soldiers don't have to waste time digging holes. Each mine contains 12 explosives that go off when an enemy helicopter comes within 100m.
"These mines have an acoustic system that detects the sound of the helicopter blades. When it flies within a certain radius, each mine is triggered, sending 12 explosives into the sky and piercing everything in its path at a speed of two to three km/s," Niyazov added.
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He also said friendly helicopters will be able to fly over the mines without activating them: "The minefield is activated and deactivated by a military base operator. So once commanders are notified of friendly helicopters or UAVs in a 'danger zone,' the operator shuts down the mines remotely.
However, experts believe that Russia will not use this weapon in its operations abroad, fearing the possibility of friendly fire.
"ISIS terrorists don't have helicopters and their UAVs can be shot down by our army's portable air defense systems. So these mines will probably spend most of their time in storage," said Alexei Ramm, a military analyst at the Izvestia newspaper .
Meanwhile, Niyazov believes that this innovation has export potential: "We have already met with military delegates from China, the United Arab Emirates and Iran. But we will start negotiations only when Rosoboronexport completes all the formalities and gives us permission to sell these mines to partners foreigners from Russia".
August 25, 2012, Higashi Fuji, Japan
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