Free Republic

The U.S. Navy, which has long avoided dealing with it's greatest danger; naval mines, believes it has found the answer. Instead of the current system, where a small force of mine clearing ships and helicopters are kept in readiness at a base in the United States, new mine clearing equipment will be on warships at all times. Currently, it can take days or weeks to get mine clearing equipment to ships overseas that need it. For more intense mine clearing, the current two dozen mine hunter ships will eventually be replaced by LCS (Littoral Control Ships) carrying mine hunting and...

THE US Marines have suffered an embarrassment with reports last night that one of their most prized investigators may have defected. Takoma, the Atlantic bottle-nosed dolphin, had been in Iraq for 48 hours when he went missing on his first operation to snoop out mines. His handler, Petty Officer Taylor Whitaker, had proudly showed off Takoma’s skills and told how the 22-year-old dolphin was among the most pampered creatures in the American military. Takoma and his fellow mine hunters have a special diet, regular medical checks and their own sleeping quarters, which is more than can be said for the...

US Navy's 'Flipper' goes AWOL Staff Sgt. Justin Roberts escorts K-Dog, a Bottle Nose Dolphin belonging to Commander Task Unit. In Bahrain, sea lions are being used to detect unauthorized swimmers near U.S. Navy ships. A sea lion moves through the water with a training device during a harbor-patrol exercise. Photo Credits: Courtesy U.S. Navy March 31, 2003 AUSTRALIAN military divers yesterday questioned the effectiveness of the US Navy's mine-clearing dolphins, revealing one had disappeared for two days. The polite way to express their scepticism about the mine-clearing skills of the dolphins is to question their reliability and cost-efficiency, but...

BAGRAM, Afghanistan (AP) - It's a bad day for U.S. soldiers David Paulk and Bryan Allen when they don't hit a land mine. We're having so much fun when the mines are exploding," says Paulk, a 24-year-old National Guardsman from Vick, La., who operates a Hydrema 910 MCV, a massive armored truck with flailing chains designed to trigger mines, at Bagram Air Base, the U.S. military headquarters in Afghanistan ( news - web sites). "Days like these, when we ain't hitting a thing, it's like we're just driving a truck," adds Allen, 30, who monitors the Hydrema's computerized systems and...

An armoured car fitted with powerful laser beam designed to blast landmines and cluster bomblets from the battlefield will shortly begin testing at an army proving ground near Waynesville, Missouri. The US Army is developing the laser-based de-mining method, dubbed Zeus, as a way of clearing mines left on airfields and roads during battles or by retreating enemy forces. The trials will be the first chance for the Army's de-mining experts to see if the technique works as planned. The idea is to clear the numerous devices that modern warfare leaves strewn around on the ground. Small mines are often...