YAG laser zaps landmines

17 Jul 2002

The US Army is about to start testing a landmine-clearing armoured car fitted with a high-power laser.

An armoured car that uses a solid-state laser to clear unexploded bombs and landmines is about to start tests in the US, reports New Scientist magazine.

Zeus

The Zeus system, developed by US company Sparta, uses a diode-pumped Nd:YAG laser to designate the target and destroy the mine.

When a camera mounted on the armoured car spots a surface-laid mine, the laser's frequency-doubled green beam (532 nm) is aimed at the target with a joystick. Next, the mine-destroying 1064 nm fundamental beam is switched on.

This infrared beam, as powerful as 2 kW heats up the landmine's explosive filler until it combusts and destroys the device. As well as surface-laid mines, unexploded cluster bombs and grenades can be destroyed at distances up to 250 m.

However, Zeus cannot destroy buried landmines, as the laser cannot penetrate soil.