Talk:Bangalore torpedo

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Are the pieces of threaded pipe 5 feet in length or 3 metres?


lengths of threaded pipe, one of which contained the explosive charge

Couldn't several lengths in a row be filled with explosive, to clear a path through a wide minefield or wire obstacle? Michael Z. 2005-10-24 14:25 Z

Weren't they in The Longest Day as well?



In fact, I believe it was quite common to link a number of explosive filled lengths together. This is the form I am familiar with from my experience in Nam, where we used it to clear not wire but weeds growing around the perimeter of fire bases, in order to improve visibility. Wschart 13:08, 15 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Giant Viper

It says in this article that the "British Giant Viper has largely replaced the Bangalore, as it is both lighter and faster to use." According to the Wikipedia article:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_Viper

the Giant Viper uses "rockets to launch a 250-metre-long hose, packed with plastic explosive, across a minefield" and is a "a trailer-mounted, vehicle-pulled, mine-clearance system", making it much like the US Army's towed MIne Clearing LIne Charge, or MICLIC, which is not mentioned at all in this article. However, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see how dragging 250 meters of explosive-filled hose is neither lighter, nor faster than shoving five foot segments of bangalore tube thru wire. This article needs to be revised; preferrably by a Sapper!

-Daniel Davis 58th Combat Engineer Company