Purchase of robots ‘insurance premium’

Press, 22 June 1978, Page 16

Purchase of robots ‘insurance premium’

From CEDRIC MEN* TIPLAY New Zealand’s defence forces regard the expenditure of $154,000 on about nine remote-con-trolled bomb-investigation robots, as an insurance premium against bomb terrorism.

The remote-controlled tracked vehicles, which have been in the country for some months, are now in the hands of engineer units, which are training their own two-man teams Li their operation. They are a British development arising out of the Irish terrorist situation, and are officially designated Wheelbarrow Mk VII.

Actually they look nothing like a wheelbarrow, being a small tracked vehicle trailing wires and bearing a number of protuberances, including a closed-circuit television scanner, grappling arms, and other equipment permitting them to break into suspect bomb-carrying cars and through heavy locked doors. Asked if the expenditure was not high, considering that New Zealand was not in a bomb-terrorist situation, the director of Ordnance Services (Lieuten-ant-Colonel J. A. Campbell) said: “Neither was Australia, until recently. Who would have predicted Sydney’s three terrorist bombs?” However, the Army’s role was merely a back-up one, he said. The Inspector of Explosives would still be the key man in a bomb-sus-pect emergency. The control was still through the Department of Internal Affairs, with the Army

engineers acting only if called upon.

Civil affairs and emergencies however, were not the primary reason for the Prime Minister’s authority being given for the purchase of the wheelbarrows.

The primary reasoi was to train the Army, and through it the other armed services. Ships of the Royal New Zealand Navy and plane.-, of the Royal New Zealand Air Force are frequently in areas which have a history of rorist bombings. The Army itself may soon be in the role of United Nations troops, coping with situations such as have arisen with United Nations troops in the Middle East. “Thus the acquisition and training of teams on the proven British machines was a means of self-protection,” Colonel Campbell said. “The equipment enables operators to do by remote control what the bombdisposal teams of World War II had to do by direct contact.” As additional protection the team members have “bomb-suits,” which are really suits of armour, and wear metal helmets. The two team-members are connected by telephone. The reason is that each move in defusing a bomb is recor ' — for the grisly reason that if there is a false move, the surviving team member knows what not to do next time.

Wheelbarr.w VII is actually one of the less expensive remote-control vehicles which have been developed for this work.

Two others, both also British, are the Marauder and the Hunter. Both have made much use of miniaturistion and of special modern circuitry, but the additional complication has not impressed New Zealand’s experts.

“I believe the Wheelbarrow is ideal for the job,” Colonel Campbell said. “It has an impressive record in Britain and Ireland, and is not difficult to operate. Some other, more complicated, units are designed for large plants which may be subject to bomb attack, and which have their own security service.”

He emphasised that such a unit was not every thing in bomb-disposal. “It is more like one club in a golf bag,” he said. “The successful operator has to know them all.” Studied closely, Wheelbarrow VH bears an uncanny resemblance to the German “Goliath,” used at Cassino and in northern Italy in World War 11. The “Goliath” was a remotecontrolled miniature tank, but its object was to crawl forward and blow up Allied armour and fixed defences. It is emphasised that there are enough Wheelbarrows to service New Zealand’s main cities if this become necessary, with a reserve to go overseas with any New Zealand forces on United Nations duties. At present, Army units a-e training other Army units, and instructions will be passed on to the other services. ' There are no plans to train either police of Security Intelligence units.