NEWS

01 / 06

Inside this issue: MineWolf opening up roads in

Sudan MineWolf opening up roads in Sudan 1

Croatia MKA*DemING MineWolf team clears almost 1,400,000 m² in 2005 2

Airfield Task in Yei Bosnia & Herzegovina MineWolf supporting NPA to implement TAP Five AT mines detonated, nine AT mines As with previous tasks, MineWolf set up a in Brcko 3 milled into pieces and more than ten AP fully independent field camp was set up in

mines detonated on about 3 km of road. order to ensure the machine was Research & That was the result on opening one of the operational for the maximum time each day. Development Mini MineWolf completes most important transport lines from MineWolf Systems’ Uganda into South Sudan. product range 4

Based on last years excellent results the Coming up next 4 NPA MineWolf team was called to open up

the Yei-Juba road in Sudan. With Juba becoming the new capital of South Sudan, it is of great importance that it is opened for

safe passage in order to distribute food and MineWolf in the field camp

to build up infrastructure and enable local The MineWolf tiller design gave trade. The dangerous area was located on unprecedented results when used against

the old demarcation line between the both AP and AT-mines. The machine Government of Sudan (GOS) forces, and the successfully withstood several M 15 and Sudan People Liberations Army (SPLA) and TM 57 AT mines but also reliably destroyed

AP mines, like the No. 4, M 14 and was heavily mined from both sides. bounding fragmentation mines such as Type 69. No intact mines have been found Contact Information: behind the machine. The basket-type

MineWolf Systems GmbH segment structure allows the mine blast to Marsstr. 24 80335 Munich Germany expand through the tiller to avoid or reduce

Phone +49 (0) 89 543 435 10 damage. Nevertheless the tiller is designed Fax +49 (0) 89 543 435 15 in such a way that every 43 mm a chisel Email [email protected] Internet www.minewolf.com with a diameter of 44 mm hits the ground, Transport within South Sudan 1 News 01/06

ensuring that every piece of soil is processed. This guarantees that even the smallest AP mines will be hit.

Despite certain limitations due to the serious security situation in the area, the NPA MineWolf team cleared more than 280,000m² of high impact tasks within the first nine weeks of operation in Sudan.

View from the operator’s cabin

MKA*DemING MineWolf team clears almost 1,400,000 m² in 2005

After a presentation at the International MKA*DemING needed a machine that could cope with the Symposium in Sibenik and successful accreditation in two biggest demining challenges in , heavy Croatia, one of the main Croatian demining companies, vegetation and AT mine threats. Furthermore it was very MKA*DemING bought a MineWolf machine in 2005. important that the system could move around the country easily. It is quite typical for demining organizations in According to the LANDMINE MONITOR REPORT 2005, Croatia to have different task sites which are more than Croatia reported that there remained 1,174 square 800 km away from each other. kilometres of mined and suspected mined areas, affecting

That could mean that the entire equipment has to be moved several times per month from the south west to the north east of the country or vice versa. Another clear benefit for a commercial customer is the machine’s reliability, ensuring that deadlines are met and no project completion is delayed due to mechanical failure. Do to the elaborated technical design all servicing and repairs can be done directly in the field. Even major damages due to

detonations can be fixed in the field ensuring maximum MineWolf in Croatia output for the user. Additionally the majority of the spare 121 towns and municipalities in 12 counties. About 1.1 parts are locally available. million inhabitants live in the mined and suspected mined areas. The majority of mined areas are woods and forest In total the Croatian MKA*DemING mechanical team (about 54 %), followed by agricultural land (17 %), successfully cleared 1,399,149 m² within only 86 working underbrush (11 %), meadows and pastures (9 %), days. The 2005 average output of 2,189 m² per hour on infrastructure and houses (2 %), and with the rest described various terrains in Croatia is further proof of the cost as “other” areas. efficiency and reliability of the MineWolf technology.

MineWolf transport to Croatia

2 News 01/06

MineWolf Systems supporting NPA to implement TAP in Brcko

During the 1992-1995 war in , had a proven high level of productivity, was cost effective Brcko’s highly strategic location made it an area of bitter and and reliable in terms of quality. Due to the nature of the heavy fighting throughout the war and consequently one of terrain and the fact that MineWolf Systems (MWS) had the most heavily mine contaminated. already been working successfully in BH with HELP, MWS was approached by NPA to become a cooperating partner In 2005 the Bosnia and Herzegovina Centre and provide mechanical assets for the TAP project. (BHMAC) piloted a new methodology called Task Assessment and Planning (TAP) for addressing the problem of mine NPA managed the sites and MWS provided the machines contamination and mine action coordination in the country. and trained the operators. The MineWolf machine TAP is a process of mine action task selection which ensures conducted ground preparation by use of the tiller prior to that mine action activities are conducted based on the social NPA carrying out verification with deminers and mine and economic needs of the community. detection dogs.

The BHMAC chose the Brcko District and in particular the In Ulice MWS worked on 13 different tasks, eight for communities of Ulice and Avramovina as the areas to pilot technical survey and five clearance tasks. The map above the TAP concept and implement the resulting community shows the areas they worked on from August 2004 mine action plans together with Norwegian Peoples Aid through to September 2005. (NPA). In Avramovina, MWS worked on five technical survey and

two clearance tasks, mainly in agricultural areas, but also areas around houses of the village Avramovina, a Serbian enclave in a Moslem dominated municipality. This TAP project was smaller than before and the characteristics of terrain were totally different with two tasks in a valley with slopes up to 35%.

In the five months of operations with NPA from April to September 2005, 989,900sqm of ground was prepared

Tap Ulice by MWS. Over that long term test the tiller technology

In Bosnia the concept behind the TAP process was to follow has proven its cost effectiveness. on from the Landmine Impact Survey (LIS) to provide a detailed plan for mine action operations, with information gained from the LIS, existing data and information gained from the local community. Individual task areas were dealt with not according to the level of contamination but according to how the contamination of each hazardous area presents an obstacle for the local community (such as blocking access to agricultural land or hindering reconstruction and the return of refugees).

In order to carry out the demining tasks efficiently, NPA needed to source a mechanical mine clearance capacity that MineWolf Machine in Ulice 3 News 01/06

Compared with a flail machine in similar terrain the Having completed the NPA project MWS continued MineWolf tiller was maintained at less than 10% of the working in the Brcko area supporting local demining running costs. The average number of chisels replaced each companies. They mechanically prepared two clearance and day on the tiller was less than 2. four technical survey tasks, achieving maximum productivity of almost two hectares a day on a road clearance task.

MWS, in cooperation with national authorities, NGOs and commercial companies have brought cost effective clearance and technical survey into the mine action arena. Combined with new methodologies such as TAP, the productivity and quality of the MineWolf has enabled MWS to demonstrate the use of the mechanical tool to its best

Cleared tasks in Avramovina effect.

Mini MineWolf completes MineWolf Systems’ product range

The Mini MineWolf is the latest addition to the MineWolf The result is a tracked but lightweight remote control tiller family and perfectly complements the portfolio of mechanical system. The dimensions of the Mini MineWolf are such applications of MineWolf Systems. that the machine fits on any standard trailer and into a 20’’ container without detachment of the working tool. The engineering vision was clear: A clearance asset that is Therefore, it is suitable for rapid deployments to any small, reliable, quick to deploy, easy to maintain, with low remote area. running costs. Like the MineWolf and the MineWolf Bagger,

the Mini MineWolf relies on proven technology and standard The advantages of the patented open basket tiller industrial components. technology also apply for the mini MineWolf. The tiller

K rotates clockwise with a speed of 500 – 700rpm. It is designed so that every piece of ground is processed up to a depth of 250mm depending on soil conditions.

In contrast to comparable flail systems, the system is even effective against heavy vegetation and trees up to 15cm in diameter. The first machine will be presented and deployed in the Balkans in April 2006.

The Mini MineWolf

Coming up Next:

• Demining Symposium Sibenik 2006 • MineWolf Training program

MineWolf Systems GmbH Marsstraße 24 Phone +49 (0) 89 54 34 35 10 Email [email protected] 80335 Munich / Germany Fax +49 (0) 89 54 34 35 15 Internet www.minewolf.com 4