Macroswiss Claymore Camera makes a dumb mine much smarter

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March 1, 2007 UPDATED IMAGES Anti Personnel (land)mines cannot distinguish between the footfall of a child and a soldier. The banning of landmines by the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty has left civilised military forces with a problem – landmines have traditionally been used to cover dead ground in the 20 to 200 metre range. The weapon of choice to replace the landmine has subsequently become the Claymore. Named after the 700 year-old two-handed Scottish sword, the Claymore is based on the Misznay-Schardin effect in that its blast is primarily in a single direction. The U.S. Army developed the design half a century ago during the Korean War into an anti-personnel weapon that would fire 700 ball bearings propelled by 650 grams of plastic explosive with lethal effect to 100 meters across a 60° arc in front of the 8 x 3 x 1.5 inch box. Claymores are not buried like mines – they are anchored above ground pointed towards the likely location of the enemy, and are now known the world over for the words "Front Toward Enemy" embossed on their olive plastic casing. For the first 50 years of their existence, Claymores have been dumb – but an ingenious telecommunications system that can be fitted to any Claymore looks set to give new life to the fearsome weapon. The newly available Macroswiss Claymore Camera consists of a video camera attached to the Claymore, which relays information to a remote receiver through a cable system so an operator can monitor events in front of the mine, and detonate it when the time comes. If the user wants to keep a record, the video feedback can be recorded with the GPS position and its even possible to ensure no-one can sneak past the mine by adding a motion detection system that will raise an alarm if there is any movement in the camera’s field of view.

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