Smart mine (original) (raw)

Smart mine refers to a number of next-generation land mine designs being developed by military forces around the world. Many are designed to self-destruct or self-deactivate at the end of a conflict or a preset period of time. Others are so-called "self-healing" minefields which can detect when a gap in the field has been created and will direct its mines to reposition themselves to eliminate that gap, making it much more difficult and dangerous to create a safe path through the minefield. The development of smart mines began as a response to the International Campaign to Ban Landmines as a way of reducing non-combatant and civilian injury.