United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office National Security and International Affairs Division author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 1996-08-28 monographic deposited born digital 25 p. GA 1.13:NSIAD-96-198 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-NSIAD-96-198 P0b002ee1803a212a f:ns96198 DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-28 GAOREPORTS-NSIAD-96-198 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-NSIAD-96-198 NSIAD-96-198 Warning systems Munitions Explosives Army procurement Product performance evaluation Military operations Bosnia Yugoslavia AN/PSS-11 Mine Detector AN/PSS-12 Handheld Metallic Mine Detector Army Handheld Standoff Mine Detection System M-14 Mine M-15 Mine M-16 Mine PMN-6 Training Mine Somalia Kuwait Canada Sweden Germany United Kingdom Netherlands Letter Report NSIAD Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Army's development of a portable land mine detector, focusing on: (1) how the Army's AN/PSS-12 mine detector performed in detecting low-metallic mines in procurement tests; (2) the nature of the land mine threat in Bosnia-Herzegovina; and (3) the mine detector's potential effectiveness in Bosnia.<p/>GAO found that: (1) the Army has not clearly demonstrated the ability of its AN/PSS-12 mine detector to detect low metallic mines; (2) the detector performed poorly during operational testing and failed to meet the Army's 92-percent detection requirement against low metallic mines; (3) although both candidate detectors performed equally well after the Army removed low metallic targets from the procurement tests, the Army selected the AN/PSS-12 because of its lower price; (4) the detector's field accuracy is questionable, since the Army did not sufficiently control other environmental and operating factors that can affect detector performance; (5) the detector's usefulness in Bosnia may be limited because about 75 percent of the buried mines have a low metallic content; (6) although the detector's reported performance in Bosnia is good, the Army has limited the detector's use there; (7) the Air Force has warned its personnel in Bosnia that the detector is not sufficiently sensitive to low metallic mines and some countries have switched to other mine detectors; and (8) the Army has reduced its reliance on the detector through alternative threat-reduction practices, such as extensive personnel training in mine awareness, avoiding or carefully selecting routes through suspected mine fields, and using heavy equipment to clear paths. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-NSIAD-96-198/html/GAOREPORTS-NSIAD-96-198.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-NSIAD-96-198/pdf/GAOREPORTS-NSIAD-96-198.pdf GAO/NSIAD-96-198 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-NSIAD-96-198 Letter Report GAO/NSIAD-96-198; Mine Detection: Army Detector's Ability to Find Low Metal Mines Not Clearly Demonstrated; Warning systems Munitions Explosives Army procurement Product performance evaluation Military operations Bosnia Yugoslavia AN/PSS-11 Mine Detector AN/PSS-12 Handheld Metallic Mine Detector Army Handheld Standoff Mine Detection System M-14 Mine M-15 Mine M-16 Mine PMN-6 Training Mine Somalia Kuwait Canada Sweden Germany United Kingdom Netherlands