The Future of Mine Countermeasures

Abstract

Mines are small, cheap, easy to hide, easy to store, and can be clandestinely laid from virtually any type of platform. They have quickly become the favorite weapon of terrorists, and have been used by formal forces to protect and disrupt the coastline. The development of new concepts by the Marine Corps, such as Expeditionary Maneuver Warfare (EMW), Operational Maneuver from the Sea (OMFTS), and Ship-to-Objective Maneuver (STOM) have brought mine countermeasures (MCM) to the forefront. Considering the current mine threat, does the Marine Corps still have a forcible entry capability? The Navy is responsible for MCM missions in Deep Water (> 200'), Shallow Water (40'-200'), Very Shallow Water (10'-40'), and the Surf Zone (< 10'), which includes the High Water Mark. The Marine Corps is responsible for the MCM mission from the High Water Mark to the Beach Zone and the Beach Exit Zone. The problem areas for the Navy are Very Shallow Water and the Surf Zone because breaking and plunging waves make these areas noisy and nearly opaque to both acoustics and optics. The push is on to develop a system of MCM capabilities that will fill the gaps. In the near-term, an assault breaching system may be fielded will allow military forces to conduct surf zone and beach zone mine and obstacle standoff breaching. The Office of Naval Research has exploited existing precision guided bombs to be delivered by either Naval or Air Force bombers. This system uses innovative delivery and detonation control to breach assault lane threats of surface laid mines and light obstacles in the surf and beach zones. Far-Term solutions include the Standoff Delivery System (STODS). The warhead contains approximately 6,400 darts that are dispersed at a certain height and penetrate the surf and beach zone to neutralize mines. Other far-term efforts are surveillance and detection systems, like the Rapid Overt Airborne Reconnaissance (ROAR) system.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 13, 2004
Accession Number
ADA520515

Entities

People

  • E. A. Post

Organizations

  • Marine Corps War College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Counter IED
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Ground and Sea Platforms
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Amphibious Operations
  • Countermeasures
  • Deep Water
  • Detection
  • Detectors
  • Landing Forces
  • Logistics Support
  • Maneuvers
  • Marine Corps
  • Military Research
  • Shallow Water
  • United States
  • War Colleges
  • Warfare
  • Water
  • Weapons

Readers

  • Coastal Oceanography
  • Critical Infrastructure Protection in CBRN and WMD Threats.
  • Maritime Combat Support and Expeditionary Logistics.