BHUBANESWAR: Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has developed a mine clearing trawl system for the minefield area in the battle zone to meet the operational requirements of Indian Army.The trawl system designed by Research and Development Establishment (Engineers), a premier system engineering laboratory under Armament and Combat Engineering (ACE), achieved a major milestone with the successful completion of blast trials recently.
The trials were conducted in collaboration with Pune-based High Energy Materials Research Laboratory (HEMRL) and demonstrated the survivability of the equipment, when subjected to successive series of blasts directly underneath the system. The equipment consists of trawl roller, track width mine plough and electro- magnetic device, which cater to the need of all types of mines usually encountered by the battle tanks in war scenario.
The indigenously developed trawl system will help in breaching of landmines and creating a vehicle-safe lane through a minefield for the advancing columns of mechanised forces in combat zone. A defence official said the trawl system is capable of breaching a variety of landmines, including passive and active influence mines. “The field-able prototype of the system is in final stage of realisation and would be shortly ready for conduct of user evaluation trials by the Army,” he said.It is an important step towards achieving self-reliance in area of critical military equipment under ‘Make in India’ initiative and would result in saving of precious foreign exchange for the country, the official added.