The Spanish Marine Infantry shows the impressive Conger demining device in action

@DefAviation ES 12·12·2022 · 21:54 0

One of the problems with which a military force is usually found in the area of operations is the booby traps placed on highways and roads.

Sappers of the Spanish Army show their Bangalore torpedoes in action in Latvia
The training of the Spanish Marine Infantry in four high-quality videos

Those traps range from anti-personnel or anti-vehicle landmines to improvised explosive devices (IEDs). We have already seen the Bangalore torpedoes here, used for many years by various armies to clear obstacles, but to clear paths with booby traps there is another system: the Conger device or MCLC (mine-clearing line charge).

This system, which began to be used in World War II, is made up of a line of explosive charges in the form of a cord, which is fired from a rocket towards the path to be cleared. The device explodes on reaching the ground, setting off any booby traps that might be in the way. There are portable Conger devices, which can be operated by one or two soldiers to clear smaller paths, and there are also larger ones, which go in vehicles or on trailers and are used to clear wider and longer roads.

The Spanish Navy has published today a video of the exercise FTX BRIMAR 22 of the Spanish Marine Infantry, carried out recently, in which we can see the Conger demining system in action. I take this opportunity to say that the video is of excellent quality, congratulations once again to the Navy for the videos it is making:

Here you can see some screenshots of the video. The video begins by showing booby trap detection systems, which use metal detectors, dual detectors, large loop detectors, and magnetometers.

A sapper preparing the Conger demining device. The cordon with the explosive charges is stored in a rectangular backpack. Bottom center we see the rocket launcher that powers these charges.

"Charge activated and ignited. Fire! Fire! Fire!" A sapper activates the Conger device's launcher and quickly runs for cover.

A Marine watching the launch of the Conger device. The rocket is seen lifting the cordon of explosives toward the path to be cleared.

The impressive explosion of the Conger device upon reaching the ground.