Boom Box: APOBS Mine-Breaching Line Charge Shifts to Chemring

Latest updates: FY 2012 order. APOBS The MK7 MOD 2 Anti-Personnel Obstacle Breaching System (APOBS) is used to clear mines or wire obstacles, and create a safe footpath for troops. APOBS can be carried by 2 people, takes 30 to 120 seconds to be set up, and fires a rocket from a 25-meter standoff position, sending a line charge with fragmentation grenades over the minefields or wire obstacles. The grenades clear the mines, and sever the wires. Developed by the US Army Armaments Engineering and Technology Center in Picatinny Arsenal, NJ, APOBS won a US Army top military inventions of the year award in 2004. It replaces the Bangalore Torpedo, which was heavier, took longer to set up, and required 4 times the number of people to carry. In 2006, small business qualifier Ensign-Bickford Aerospace & Defense Co. in Simsbury, CT received a maximum $150.8 million, 5-year contract for up to 3,000 units. In 2011, however, the Army/USMC contract shifted to Chemring Ordnance, Inc. in Perry, FL… Contracts & Key Events [youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONw0GSXmOW0] APOBS(click to view video) Unless otherwise indicated, the U.S. Army Contracting Command in Rock Island, IL manages the contracts, and issues them to Chemring Ordnance, Inc. in Perry, […]