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THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES

The National Research Council

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and

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Committee on Alternative Technologies to Replace

Antipersonnel Landmines

*****

Congressional Briefing

Monday, March 19, 2001 -- 1:00 p.m.

124 Dirksen Senate Office Building

on

ALTERNATIVE TECHNOLOGIES TO REPLACE ANTIPERSONNEL LANDMINES

by

GEORGE BUGLIARELLO, Chancellor, Polytechnic University, Brooklyn, N.Y., and Chair, Committee on Alternative Technologies to Replace Antipersonnel Landmines, The National Academies

RICHARD JOHNSON, Former Senior Analyst, DynMeridian Inc., Alexandria, Va., and Member, Committee on Alternative Technologies to Replace Antipersonnel Landmines, The National Academies

LAWRENCE LEHOWICZ, Vice President and Group Manager, Quantum Research International, Arlington, Va., and Member, Committee on Alternative Technologies to Replace Antipersonnel Landmines, The National Academies

Millions of antipersonnel landmines are buried around the world, an unfortunate legacy of war. Over the past 25 years, they have killed or maimed tens of thousands of civilians and made it difficult to return mined fields to everyday use after the conflicts end. Concern about these circumstances led to the Ottawa Convention, an international agreement that seeks to ban the use of all antipersonnel landmines and to destroy those that are now in military inventories. However, many in the defense community believe that these mines still provide a unique and important element of protection for military forces, and do not pose a significant post-war hazard when mapped and used in other responsible ways. The Clinton administration had indicated that the United States would not sign until alternatives could be developed that offered the U.S. military an equivalent system for protection. The objective was to have these alternatives available by 2006.

The Congress, via the Department of Defense, requested that the National Research Council conduct a study examining the issue of alternatives to antipersonnel landmines. This study, entitled ALTERNATIVE TECHNOLOGIES TO REPLACE ANTIPERSONNEL LANDMINES, addresses the question: Can advances in military as well as commercial technologies resolve this dilemma by providing viable alternatives?

This briefing was for members of Congress and congressional staff only. The report was publicly released on March 21, 2001. It is available, in its entirety, on the Web site of the National Academies Press.