How robots are clearing Donbass of minefields and unexploded shells
On the side of the road, against the background of an abandoned industrial zone, a unit slowly crawls, somewhat resembling an armored loader. This is a prototype of the MT-2 robotic minesweeper produced by one of the Russian companies. The recently liberated territories of the Donetsk region are almost one continuous minefield. The line of combat contact has been held here since 2014, heavy positional battles have been going on here since the beginning of the SVO. Placers of antipersonnel, anti-tank mines, unexploded shells are what hinders the restoration of Donbass. The sappers of the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Emergency Situations, and private companies are engaged in cleaning the territory. Izvestia visited mine clearance in the Dokuchaevsk area and assessed the advantages of using new robotic systems.
The season is running out
Mid—November is almost the end of the "season" of mine clearance. Soon the cold and snow will stop work until spring. Therefore, the sappers are fighting for every meter. We are approaching the places where the line of contact has been held since 2014. The stronghold remains behind, which for many years was the last on the part of the DPR. It is located in the ruins of old industrial hangars. More recently, the trenches of the first line of defense of Donbass began behind it. The ease with which you can drive through this place today is even unusual.
Next is the former neutral zone. There is a truck with a large crawler robot on a trailer on it. This technique accelerates the process of mine clearance, largely replaces the sappers. Of course, at the cost of "losses" among the machines themselves, which take on explosions.
MT-2 minesweeping
Image source: Photo: IZVESTIA/Dmitry Astrakhan
— This is a prototype, — Anton, the project manager for the creation of the MT-2 minesweeper at the DST-Ural enterprise, tells Izvestia. — Here we conduct pilot operation, refine and then deliver the trawl to various departments that are interested in it. This is the fourth car. Initially, we produced three cars of the first version — MT-1, one of them was presented to the units of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the DPR. She is still at work and saving lives. And this is an upgraded version — MT-2.
Mines of all types, including anti—personnel, unexploded ordnance, with which the territory of Donbass is richly dotted, are what slows down the restoration of the region's infrastructure, often leading to civilian casualties. Therefore, humanitarian demining is carried out by the Ministry of Emergency Situations, the military, and private companies.
Terrain problems
— There are a lot of tricky mines here, for non-extraction, even experienced engineers defuse them with difficulty, taking risks. There are tripwires based on fragmentation mines, often in high bushes or grass, — it is unsafe to approach them without a car, — Anton tells about the features of mine clearance.
Photo: IZVESTIA/Dmitry Astrakhan
Image source: iz.ru
Other difficulties are numerous industrial zones, destroyed residential buildings and dense clay soils in the fields. Under the influence of rain and snow, mines go into the ground in a year or two so that they are not visible to the sapper. And in summer, when the earth becomes dry and hard, powerful striker trawls are needed to break through it to the desired depth — about 20 cm.
— There are two working bodies on our machine: a striker and a roller trawl. First we work on the ground. And in conditions of urban development or industrial zones — a roller: it hits a mine on a hard surface and leads to an explosion," says Anton.
Loader-sapper
Our interlocutor explains in detail the design of the MT-2 robotic complex from DST-Ural. Interestingly, the machine was developed quickly enough, based on a serial loader. The car was covered with armor, the cabin was removed, which is not needed by a remote-controlled robot. But there were four video cameras. And a working organ was installed in front — a minesweeper. Its width is more than 2 m. Therefore, a car can immediately follow him along the cleaned surface. The control panel allows you to work from the shelter.
Photo: IZVESTIA/Dmitry Astrakhan
Image source: iz.ru
The "crew" of the robot is only two people. Moreover, one operator can directly control it. The remote control is extremely simple and intuitive: two joysticks, one is responsible for the movement of the platform, the second is the trawl. We try ourselves as operators, and it turns out to be quite easy — almost like driving a toy car. But when MT-2 gets to work, we are tactfully removed from management.
Here the robot goes to the mine clearance site. At full speed, a screech is heard — this is the strikers of the trawl bumping into metal. There are no explosions, but it is noticeable how pieces of rocket shells knocked out by blows fly out of the ground. There are traces of fighting here on almost every meter.
Photo: IZVESTIA/Dmitry Astrakhan
Image source: iz.ru
The asphalt road, the roadsides of which are now being cleared by MT-2, runs along the forest belt, followed by an industrial zone. The robot crawls slowly — literally 1-2 km/h. But compared to how foot sappers would work, this is a lot of speed. Lane by lane, until the complex reaches the forest belt. But even this will not be the final cleaning of the site. Clearing the forest is a separate and no less difficult task.
Dmitry Astrakhan