Mil Tech — Along Came a Spider
Jan 05 2009
Controllable land mines, also called remote-controlled explosive devices, are preferable to the typical place-and-forget land mine, and with the XM-7 Spider system, servicemembers have the ability to set up and control up to 84 munition control units at one time.
The XM-7 Spider, a joint venture between Textron Systems Corp. of Providence, R.I., and Alliant Techsystems Inc. of Minneapolis holds up to six reloadable canisters that form a circle around the device, each covering a 60-degree arc to give 360-degree coverage. Payloads include steel balls, fragments, non-lethal gasses, and goo. The unit also has adapters to tie into Claymores.
“The Spider consists of three major pieces — a command and control system, a sensor, and a munition,” says Jay Johnson, Textron’s senior director of business development. “It weighs about 20 pounds and can go in a [servicemember’s] rucksack. A [servicemember] can put in his Spiders with GPS so he knows where they are and which one gets tripped.”
The Spider uses six trip lines 10 meters long — either standard steel Army trip line or an extended-range trip line that deploys as fishing line with small hooks for a hasty setup. When 40mm grenades are used, they’re launched six meters at about a two-meter height.
The Spider is operated from a remote control station, controlled by a laptop with a touch screen. Communication range is one mile, although that distance can be extended.
“Onscreen, the [servicemember] can circle all six tubes and fire all of them together or in any combination,” Johnson says. “Because these are defensive weapons, a military unit may have Spiders out that only have sensors in them, then a line of Spiders with grenades and then another line attached to Claymores to give a commander a series of final protective fires he can employ.”
However, it is the servicemember in the loop that’s important, Johnson points out. “The Spider is always under control of a [servicemember] who must make the decision to do something based on the rules of engagement,” he says. “The soldier determines if it’s friend or foe, combatant or non, animal or friendly.”
About the author: Alan M. Petrillo is a Tucson, Ariz., freelance writer who works in a wide variety of fields, writing for national and regional magazines and newspapers. He’s also the author of the historical mystery, Full Moon.
