The Vector mine plough has been trialled on a Spanish Army Dragon Wheeled Combat Vehicle (VCR). (Pearson Engineering)
Pearson Engineering has unveiled its Vector mine plough at Eurosatory 2022 in Paris.
The system is designed to provide light- and medium-weight forces employing wheeled armoured vehicles with the ability to independently clear a path through minefields.
Nicola Irving, head of strategic marketing and communications at Pearson Engineering, told Janes that Vector was developed using experience the company had gained in developing mine ploughs for tracked vehicles. According to Irving, the main challenge in applying this technology to wheeled vehicles was carrying out “dynamic analysis of the vehicle and plough together to optimise the system as a whole and to reduce the effort required from the vehicle”.
Vector consists of two plough blades, each with four tines, mounted on the front of the host vehicle. As the host vehicle moves forward, these blades dig out buried mines located in front of the vehicle's wheels and deposit them in heaps on either side of the vehicle, clearing the way for other vehicles in the formation to follow.
The system weighs approximately 1,500 kg, although its dimensions depend on the host vehicle as the blades need to be wide enough to ensure that the mines are pushed a safe distance away from the cleared route. Pearson Engineering states that the blade can continue to operate in the event of a mine detonating, but the system's level of blast resistance has not been disclosed.
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