Mine plow

U.S. Army M-1A1 Abrams tank with mine plow from 1995 or earlier

A mine plow (plough in British English) is a tank-mounted device designed to clear a lane through a minefield, allowing other vehicles to follow. Buried land mines are plowed up and pushed outside the tank's track path or tipped over to detonate harmlessly.

Towards the end of the First World War, the French mounted a plow on their Renault FT-17 tank. The first recorded combat use is by the British 79th Armoured Division, using a "Bullshorn" plow on a Churchill tank on Sword Beach during the Allied invasion of Normandy (this was one of Hobart's Funnies). The "Bullshorn" was just one of various designs of plow that were tested and used by the British.

Other similar devices are mine rollers and mine flails.

External links

[DoD page with an M-1A1 Abrams mounted with a mine plow]

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