P6-105 Demolitions & Breaching

Demolitions & Breaching

• Anti-tank mines.
  These heavy mines will wreck the day of any sort of armored vehicle, though their effects may be limited to blowing the tracks off of heavier vehicles. At minimum, anti-tank or anti-vehicle mines will almost certainly cripple or destroy a vehicle’s mobility once detonated.
   
• Anti-personnel mines, either pressure or tripwire-initiated, such as the claymore.
  These can either be directional (like the claymore, which fires a spread of ball-bearings in a specific arc) or non-directional (such as a ‘bouncing Betty’, which bounds into the air before exploding like a fragmentation grenade).
   
• Explosive or satchel charges, either command- or timer-detonated.
  These heavy packs of explosives can be used for a variety of purposes, to include improvised anti-vehicle weapons, the destruction of walls, knocking down buildings, etc. An Arma 3 explosive charge has a lethal range of over 20 meters, making them incredibly dangerous to infantry caught near their explosives, and requiring extreme caution when employing them in demolition operations. Satchel charges are even more devastating, projecting lethal shrapnel and blast effects out to 70 meters.
   
• Breaching charges.
  Breaching charges are focused explosives that have a small radius of effect and are capable of knocking holes in walls. These are used to create an unexpected entry point into a compound or similar, and not as an offensive weapon.

Demolition Tips

Conceal your explosives.

For mines, try to place them where the road dips so that they cannot be seen before it is too late. If you can’t find a dip, place them on the road where a tree shadow overlaps them. This makes them significantly harder to spot. For blast-radius explosives like satchel charges, or directional explosives like claymore mines, you have more freedom in where you position them. Place them alongside roads in brush or tree concealment, or place them in bushes, behind logs, etc. Placing satchel charges inside of buildings that are likely to be investigated or cleared by enemy forces can also work well. Anti-tank and anti-personnel mines will generally be buried when emplaced - whereas items like satchel charges will sit on the surface.

Know how the grass concealment feature works, and take advantage of it.

Grass concealment is a method by which areas that are outside of the “grass clutter” range are made to offer visual concealment to simulate the presence of grass. This is accomplished with a semi-porous grass-textured layer that is raised about six to twelve inches off the ground. This layer obscures most everything that is beneath it. It is highly effective at concealing satchel charges and other non-buried explosives and contributes a great deal towards making them difficult to detect. Minefields constructed in grassy areas are extremely difficult to detect. Lone vehicles will be helpless - the only reliable way to get through a grassy minefield is with engineers using their minesweepers to clear the way. In a pinch, infantry scouts can move ahead of the vehicles to attempt to visually sweep for mines, but it is a much more dangerous technique than using trained engineers with the proper equipment. An untrained scout has a high chance of missing mines, and it only takes one missed mine to destroy a vehicle or kill several infantrymen.

Obstacles can be used to guide the enemy into mines or other demolitions.

For instance, placing a wrecked vehicle in the middle of a road may cause the enemy to drive around it due to them thinking it conceals an IED or satchel charge. To take advantage of this, place mines in the grass on either side of the road, so that a detouring vehicle runs into them.

Know your detonation options.

There are two methods - command-detonation and time delay. When using command detonation, you must be within a few hundred meters of the device or you will lose the option to set them off. Time delays are set with 1 second increments. You can increase the time to whatever you want, and as long as you are within transmitter range, you will be able to command-detonate if required. Note that satchel charges set for long delays can be used by a small force against a larger one as a diversion.

Be creative and try to catch the enemy off-guard with your placement and method of detonation.

If the enemy never sees it or has no reason to expect it, you’re far more likely to kill them with your demolitions.

When using tripwires, think about how the enemy will move through a given area.

Place the tripwires in areas that are likely to have high foot traffic. Placing proximity-oriented mines in locations where the enemy is likely to take cover (such as a cluster of trees) can be an effective tactic as well. Get inside the enemy’s mind and think of what they will do, and place your traps accordingly.

FIRE IN THE HOLE!

If you’re setting off demolitions and friendly forces are near, ensure that you announce it and clear the area before triggering your explosives. An easy way to do this is to announce what you’re going to be blowing up, tell people to get clear, and then repeat “Fire in the hole” three times before triggering the detonation. For example: