Camera kit smartens up Claymore land mine

Like most underground anti-personnel mines, above-ground Claymore land mines (notorious for having "front toward enemy" spelled out on their housings), are considered "dumb," since they're incapable of distinguishing innocent bystanders from the enemy. Claymore Camera Kits add the brains that Claymores have been missing since their introduction over 50 years ago, transforming the weapon from tragically stupid to useful and intelligent (or at least as useful and intelligent as something that's designed to kill and maim can be). The compact camera unit is mounted atop the mine, enabling command-detonation upon proper identification of the target. A motion-detecting sensor can be added to ensure that no one sneaks past the mine and there's even an option to record video feedback with GPS positioning. The infrared camera has outputs from 380 to 600 TV lines and connects to standard Giraffe tactical ruggedized display units with cable reels ranging from 50 to 200 meters in length -- not exactly new technology, but at least you can see who you're blowing up.

[Gil @ Mar 3rd 2007 5:21AM]

Uhm... overkill?

[Michael @ Mar 3rd 2007 5:50AM]

Not when several enemies are walking up the stairs and they get a claymore to the face.

Anyways...
In Soviet Korea, Camera kit smartens up YOU!

[Fenrir @ Mar 3rd 2007 6:11AM]

People cry when you shoot someone, they cry when you replace pistols with tazers, they cry when you use tear gas, they cry when you equip anti-personell mines with cameras in order to prevent accidental kills...

I propose that any weapon capable of injury be added to the Geneva Convention, and all wars be fought with nerf bats from now on. That way nobody will get hurt. Untill someone who doesn't care about the Geneva Convention shoots everyone or blows them up.

AND THEN someone will complain we didn't properly equip our soldiers...

[Bob @ Mar 3rd 2007 11:32AM]

Of course they cry when you use tear gas that is what it is for! :-)

[Harry Pinna @ Mar 3rd 2007 6:40AM]

Why are people complaining that a weapon has just been made LESS likely to kill innocent people? Yes, violence is bad, war is bad, etc. but there bad people who like to hurt good people no matter how much the good people don't like violence or war. It's human nature and will probably continue to be so for at least a couple thousand more years.

Oh, and Get a nerf bat wet before using it and you can do some serious damage, better outlaw those too.

[mentalsticks @ Mar 3rd 2007 6:59AM]

Landmines are evil. The only thing interesting about them is how to rid the world of them. That's all there is to say.

[LS @ Mar 3rd 2007 7:00AM]

how depressing :-(

[Jalnor @ Mar 3rd 2007 8:39AM]

I think Fenrir and Harry said it. Weapons not good. Bad guys even less good.
For the psycho pacifist Nox-wannabes out there, I offer this quote of me:
Pacifism's great. I lean that way. But it only works if EVERYONE wants to play. Until then, he who desires peace must be prepared for war.

...and considering that invention's a way to reduce civilian casualties, I say rock on.

[mathew @ Mar 3rd 2007 8:45AM]

Well, EVERYONE agreed to ban land mines... except for one rogue state.

[crypt @ Mar 3rd 2007 9:05AM]

Build a better mouse trap....

[tau zero @ Mar 3rd 2007 9:07AM]

wtf

just looking at the title and picture of this article, i was expecting a DIY mod which would convert an old mine housing into a webcam.

that is.. until i read the article.

[TouchSky @ Mar 3rd 2007 9:27AM]

Ummmm... Claymores are NOT landmines

[tom @ Mar 3rd 2007 9:27AM]

land mines are the worst weapon... even worse than the A-Bomb, which I beleive is a nessessary evil

[Dixonij @ Mar 3rd 2007 9:36AM]

Sheesh people. The Claymore is not classified as a landmine. Claymores used to work with either a trip wire detonation (granted this way is classified as a 'land mine' and thus illegal under the Mine Ban Treaty), a time delay detonation, or a hidden soldier could trigger it when an enemy walked by. It is classified as an antipersonnel mine.

Wikipedia it!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M18A1_Claymore_Antipersonnel_Mine

[NovaLand @ Mar 3rd 2007 9:49AM]

Land mines are banned because they usually don't kill you but hurts you really badly (often blowing up your legs in a terrible way.. blowing up the skin around your legs like baloons while insering sharp metal pieces... or arms...)

Claymore's doesn't have the ballon-legs-effect and are more human to their victims.

Most human would be anti-tank-mines which would kill you instantly on close range, but that's overkill.

[Pedro @ Mar 3rd 2007 10:35AM]

generally, claymores aren't as bad as other landmines. Landmines are 'evil' because they dont get cleared up after a conflict and can be triggered by cilvilians. Claymoresm however, are rarely left unattended (i.e. to be detonated by tripwire) - they're usually left by a soldier who remains in place and detonates the device remotely.

[Mischa Lockton @ Mar 3rd 2007 11:38AM]

I can't wait for peace and justice.... maybe in the next world...

[Charles R Hamilton @ Mar 3rd 2007 12:19PM]

Yes, everyone but the good ol' US of A agreed to ban land mines. On a related note, Hitler agreed not to invade Russia, and North Vietnam agreed to the Geneva Convention. Treaties and agreements are useless if the other side pays no attention to them.

[Fenrir @ Mar 3rd 2007 12:22PM]

Bob, good point. :P

Claymores aren't set-and-forget like land mines. They're a tactical weapon, something you lay down in a firefight or preparing for an ambush or setting up defenses around a camp. Putting them in the same category as land mines is a mistake, as land mines are intended to be planted and left until someone trips them. I doubt many soldiers leave their claymores lying around, armed, if they aren't detonated. They are designed to be removed and reused if they are no longer needed somewhere.

[D. MacArthur @ Mar 3rd 2007 12:44PM]

The best part about this mod is that you could have pictures of the people you just blew up to send to their loved ones with some flowers and a nice card. Maybe a BEFORE they were ripped to shreds by teensy pieces of metal travelling at high velocity and an AFTER they were ripped to shreds by teensy pieces of metal. People like to have photos of precious moments.

Keep up the good work, DoD contractors! Maybe the next version could have facial recognition software and MMS capabilities so you could just text a video with a clip of Mozart's Requiem in D Minor to the families.

[ethana2 @ Mar 3rd 2007 12:46PM]

If we implemented direct teledemocracy, what effect would that have on world politics? I think we should have done it a long time ago. Concentrated power bases are just too volatile. If we did, I'd give the RIAA, maybe two months of existence. Sounds good to me.

If anyone has ideas that could help with that, please contact me at [e-mail]

Good day.

[Lunar Dog @ Mar 4th 2007 12:30AM]

How about sharks with friggin lasers?

[I LOVE THE CAPS LOCK KEY @ Mar 4th 2007 12:55AM]

When Video from these mines reaches the internet, it could produce public out cry and possibly be the demise of the Claymore that saves the Lives of US forces by indirectly engaging the enemy. Bring these bad boys to production, but keep the video heavily classified.

[brutal @ Mar 4th 2007 1:15AM]

you can watch live video of some poor slob getting his nutz blown off. Great.

[Wolfticket @ Mar 4th 2007 10:43AM]

Meh, no hi-def, no sale.

[R @ Mar 8th 2007 1:57AM]

What a terrific idea- I'll bet they'll get some great candids with that thing!

[Devin Kettle @ Jun 10th 2008 3:07AM]

Wars are never waged to protect the innocent. War is about power, nothing more. Were any nation-state actually concerned with preventing harm and protecting the innocent from slaughter, Darfur would be a memory, rather than a blaring reminder to all who cling to the fantasy of 'humanitarian intervention' of the absurdity of such a concept.

[Fenrir @ Mar 3rd 2007 11:57PM]

The perogative of a government is not to look after "the innocent". It is to look after the interests of it's citizens. That means 1 citizen is worth more than 1 citizen, to .

How that has any relivance to a device designed to minimize unintended injury and death in a conflict is beyond me, however.

Please, people. A tool is a tool. A Claymore doesn't belong to a polital party. It doesn't vote. Politics have no place in this thread.