Why isn more use made of robots and animals in bomb disposal?
Because a flock of sheep herded into a minefield will run like the Devil was after them the first time one of them stood on a mine; not terribly efficient and rather messy. The only really clever approach I’ve heard of to mine clearance is a group in Africa (a continent absolutely blighted by mines) has found a species of giant rat that can be trained to detect mines by smell. They are exposed to the various odours which come from different types of explosive and rewarded when they then pick the right item from a control test set. Ok, people then have to go in and deal with the mines, but it stops anyone having to wander through a minefield looking for them first. This, of course, would not work in an active combat zone, but they could be used to search out IED’s in controlled areas. Sadly, in the case of disposal experts getting blown to bits, it wouldn’t work. If there’s a bomb bloke defusing it, it’s already known to be there. Even experts occasionally get it wrong, sadly. And findi
