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TURKEY-SYRIAN BORDER MINE CLEARANCE PROGRAM AND AARDVARK

The Latest Situation - in Turkish - (603 K)

Aardvark Mechanical Mine Clearing System JSFU MkIV, had been tested on September 2003 in Nusayibin area by Land Forces Command, within the project regarding clearing of mines at the Syrian Border. As the result of successfull performances during the tests in real mine fields, Aardwark Company was invited on April 2004 for contract negotiations by Land Forces Command but due to a requirement to further work on the organizational structure of the project, contract negotiations which were about to be completed, were frozen. Aardvark Company would like take role and make inputs to this very important Turkish project and within this context, would like to cooperate with related authorities and Turkish companies.

During the test conducted at Nusaybin Aardwark authorities have seen the area and learned about natural characteristics, mine fields in great detail and mines that have been laid to some extent. Aardvark authorities think that mine fields in the Syrian Border will be cleared more easily and faster because of the nature of the ground, mines that have been laid and availability of the keys, compared to mine fields in other parts of the world.

During the test conducted at Nusaybin Aardwark had previously shown that a 1.800 m² area can be cleared within an hour to depth of 30 cm. Clearance depth may go as deep as 50 cm. During mine clearance operations conducted by the French in Mozambique, it was seen that one JSFU was able to clear 5.000 mines in one month, that means approximately 30 mines every hour. Dimensions of clearance area of JSFU MkIV is approximately 1.500-3.000 m², depending on environment conditions and clearance depth.

Aardwark Company, abiding in UK, which the designer and producer of Mechanical Mine Clearance Unit, has been producing since 1982. They produce Aardwark Mine Clearance Units known as Joint Forces Mine Clearance Unit (JSFU). Aardwark Company can also provide other support equipment such as flatbed transporters, mobile work shops, fuel and water bowsers, ambulances and spares, if required. These units are the most widely used systems through out the world and presently over 200 Aardwark JSFU's are being used by mine clearance companies, armed forces, non-governmental organizations and humanatarian aid organizations. United Nations and Norwagian Humanatarian Aid Organization are the main system users. British and American ISAF in Afganistan and British, Canadian and French SFOR forces in Bosnia are among JSFU's employement areas.

MkIV is a state-of-the-art technology product, which is the most recent and most developed model of JSFU, is being produced since 2001 and has been subject to almost 150 upgrades and modifications. Aardwark JSFU's technical, test and operational data can be found at Aardvark (www.landmineclearance.com), Altay (www.altay.com.tr), and Geneva International Centre For Humanitarian Demining (www.gichd.ch) web sites or by us if requested.

Other important matters that need to be mentioned about JSFU are safety, transportation, ease of repair and maintenance and the system's cost effectiveness. Safety and security to the highest extent and no personal casualties is a must during clearing of mined areas. JSFU has an impeccable safety record and during 24 year and thousands of hours of operations, thousands of mines were cleared and there were no personal injuries or deaths. With 15-ton weight, JSFU MkIV is a lighter system compared to other similar systems and can be transported by C-130, C-17, G-5 type of cargo aircraft. The system can travel short distances on road or off road by using a combination of pallet and wheels, medium distances by using only wheels and long ranges it can be transported by using commercial trailers. It does not require special trucks for transportation. Another important characteristic of JSFU MkIV is ease of operations and repair and maintenance. During the tests at Nusaybin, a fuel malfunction at the engine was repaired by a local technician in less than 5 minutes, including the spare part provided locally. Power supply used by JSFU is the same New Holland engine used by Turkish Tractor. Servicing, repair and maintenance and spare parts of New Holland engines be provided by New Holland Trakmak Company located at Urfa on the 4th km. of Mardin highway.

Aardwark is ready and determined to join this important project of our country, together with either civilian or military land mine clearance organizations, by the help of its 24 years of experience in training, operations and coordination.







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