Written question asked by Gerald Howarth (Conservative) on Thursday, 16 February 2006, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 27 February 2006. It was answered by Adam Ingram (Labour) on Thursday, 2 March 2006 on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.

Mine Clearance

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment his Department have made of the use of unmanned surface vehicles in mine clearance.

Answer: During war fighting operations minefields are breached rather than cleared, to maintain our tempo and freedom of manoeuvre. On non-war fighting operations comprehensive mine clearance is generally undertaken by humanitarian organisations, rather than the armed forces. Unmanned surface vehicles have some utility in such mine clearance, and humanitarian deminers use unmanned flails as part of the process. However this is still followed up with hand clearance for complete assurance that the area is clear.Within our armed forces, Royal Engineer Explosive Ordnance Disposal teams use the Redfire remotely controlled vehicle to deal with mines that have strayed out of minefields in the Falklands. Our future armoured minefield breaching vehicle, Trojan, and the Terrier engineer vehicle also have a capability to be fitted for remote operation during minefield breaching operations.

Secondary information