Traditional, persistent landmines are no longer in use as they remain active and a danger to civilians for years after being laid. The Army has developed a new landmine with man-in-the-middle technology to eliminate the continuing dangers. The new landmine is called the XM7 Spider.
Description
The XM7 is designed as an anti-vehicle device rather than anti-personnel. The XM7 Spider landmine consists of six tubes each containing a Miniature Grenade Launcher (MGL) and pointing out at a 60 degree angle. The first version of the XM7 is a stand-alone munition consisting of a remote control unit, repeater for extended remote control and the Spider with six launchers. The Spider requires an operator so each unit’s location is known and can be retrieved when no longer needed. The unit lets the operator know when someone is in range so it can be activated. In addition, if the Spider is left in place for an extended period of time the unit automatically deactivates.
The second phase of Spider development is to incorporate networked communications and allow the use of multiple lethal and non-lethal types of munitions.
Manufacturer
The XM7 Spider was developed and manufactured by Alliant Techsystems and Textron Systems Corp. Production of the miniature grenades is at Holston Army Ammunition Plant in Kingsport, Tennessee and production of the completed XM7 units is at the Milan Army Ammunition Plant in Milan, Tennessee. Initial production was eleven units per month beginning in late 2007. Initial deployment was to be along the North and South Korea DMZ.
