MICLIC and MINILIC: Military Explosive Breaching Systems Explained

MICLICs are crucial for clearing obstacles, but misfires create dangerous situations for soldiers.

### The Mechanics and Risks of MICLIC and MINILIC in Military Operations
* 💣 This video introduces MICLIC, a rope made of **approximately 500 blocks of C4 explosives**, utilized by the U.S. military for **clearing landmines and obstacles**.
* 🚀 The Marine Corps employs MICLIC to **prepare beaches for troop and vehicle landings**, while a mini version known as MINILIC is designed for **smaller obstacles** and fits **inside a suitcase**.
* ⚠ Misfires with MICLICs can be nerve-wracking, requiring personnel to approach explosives for manual detonation, which involves a risky **"medal of honor run" to safety**.
* 🛡 The M1150 ABV, an armored vehicle modified from an M1 Abrams tank, carries MICLICs and is **crucial for breaching operations**, but it also faces potential failures, particularly with its **MK22 mod four rocket**.
* 📏 The standard line charge is **350 feet long**, and adjustments can be made to **reduce the blast's power** or **target a smaller area**, while the MINILIC uses a **drogue chute to stabilize its trajectory**.
* 🌍 Other countries have similar systems, like the British Python and the Russian UR77, and both sides in the Russia-Ukraine war have employed MICLICs in **offensive roles**, showcasing their **versatility**.
* 💥 Despite their utility, MICLICs have limitations, with a **90% success rate** and challenges against modern mines, prompting the **exploration of new technologies** for mine detection and neutralization.
* 🚫 Lastly, the video humorously warns against the **dangerous practice of consuming C4**, highlighting the **serious side effects** and emphasizing the **importance of safety in military operations**.

This video is sponsored by Invidio AI. This is a rope made of about 500 blocks of C4 explosives, and if you nicely fold it inside a container and attach it to a rocket, it can be thrown from a distance toward a target... The United States army uses it to clear landmines to allow infantry and their vehicles to get through. The Marine Corps uses it when they need to clear a beach before their vehicles and personnel can come ashore. And they call it MICLIC. There is also a mini version of MICLIC which fits neatly inside a suitcase and is used against smaller obstacles. I think MINILIC would have been a great name for it. But why does one person get really nervous when a MICLIC doesn't detonate? Why do some soldiers eat C4 explosives even though it can get them sick? How can MICLICs be used in an offensive role? and why MINILIC detonates not once

but twice. It's not what you think. The zombie apocalypse-looking vehicle is the M1150 ABV or assault breacher vehicle. ABV is what happens when you take an M1 Abrams tank, attach more armor to it, throw on a giant bulldozer plow on the front, and most importantly, replace the gun with two mine-clearing line charges, also known as MICLIC. The personnel inside the ABV use a monitor to align themselves with the obstacle, adjust the rail between 43 and 47 degrees, and then fire the rocket. Once they get the command, the line charge is detonated, and if everything goes well, there is a celebration. But the hottest sausage in the United States military has two points of failure. The first point of failure is the MK22 mod four rocket. The rocket has two conical nozzles on its head which spin the rocket as it moves forward in order to ensure the flight path is as straight as possible.

The reason the rocket wobbles is the 1750 pounds of C4 explosives that constantly pull on its end. But if the rocket malfunctions, an EOD team would transport it off-site. One end of the rocket is opened up so that the internal components can be carefully unassembled. The parts are then either inspected to determine the root cause of the failure or transported to a detonation range for disposal. But what's even worse is when MICLICs don't detonate. A MICLIC misfire is when the rocket flies fine and the line charge extends on the ground. But upon triggering the C4, it fails to detonate. This is a nerve-wracking situation, especially for one person. Remember, there's typically a 200-foot standoff distance between the ABV operators and the first block of C4. But if there is a misfire, the ABV must drive right up to the explosives, and one lucky person has to get out, place a saddle charge on a C4 block,

and while the driver waits for him inside the vehicle, he has to light the fuse and then do what's known as a medal of honor run. He only has three minutes to get into the ABV and make it to safety. It's the scariest thing I've ever done in my life, for sure. And I love it. By the way, this is called hang fire, when there is an unexpected delay between the triggering of the charge and it being detonated. The same thing can happen with a MICLIC, which is why, in case of a misfire, the protocol is to wait 30 minutes before approaching for a manual detonation. Now, I don't know if there is any protocol about not biting on C4 blocks, because some soldiers do it for initiation rituals. And it's also informal army knowledge that ingesting small amounts of C4 are known to produce a sort of high... But don't try this at home.

The side effects include nausea, seizures, and your doctor having to wear a full EOD bomb suit for their own protection. But don't try this at home. Obviously, I had to improvise that last bit of footage, but it is possible to make a video without having any experience in video editing. Thanks to Invideo AI, it's this easy. I want a three-minute video about the pros and cons of joining the military. Use a female British voice and small yellow subtitles. Using my text prompt, Invideo AI will create an engaging script, source high-quality and relevant footage, and realistic-sounding voiceovers. Within minutes, you can review the first draft of the video. There's a deep sense of pride and honor. To make any changes, simply ask what you want. Translate to French. You can also manually change a shot if you're looking for something more specific. Another great feature is that you can clone your own voice.

and use it in the videos. This is actually not my voice, but my AI-generated voice. You can try in video AI for yourself, completely free. And to create videos without a watermark or use the voice cloning feature, you can opt in for as low as $20 per month. This is a fraction of the cost of otherwise subscribing to video editing tools and purchasing stock footage. So just click the link in the description or scan the QR code on the screen and use the code NWYT50 to get two times the number of video generation credits in your first month. ABVs are the number one target in a large breaching operation... This is why they have these zigzaggy covers on the turret for attaching additional explosive reactive armor, which helps protect the ABV against incoming attacks. In fact, ABVs have such a dangerous job that in military doctrine, each step of the task begins with the phrase if the vehicle is still operational.

Talk about hazard pay for the crew. But not all MICLICs are in the back of a massive armored vehicle. You're just as likely to find them in the back of a trailer. This trailer, to be exact, the M200A1, which is specially designed for carrying line charges. These can be towed by pretty much anything, from armored vehicles to Strykers or any truck you happen to have lying around. These work similarly to the ABV setup, with the line charge tightly coiled in the bed of the trailer, and the tube you see being installed is the rocket itself, and the entire thing is fired out at once. Of course, someone could drop an explosive on top of the line charge to destroy it, which is why the trailer is always covered when not in use. The same thing is true for the ABV, which has a protective mechanism. The standard line charge is 350 ft long,

but it is possible to adjust the length by cutting it. This is useful when you want to blow up a smaller area or to reduce the power of the blast in case you need to be closer to the target. By the way, the reason this MICLIC is so dirty is because it's been used numerous times. The rocket shoots out, but the charges don't detonate. Instead of C4, they're filled with an inert material that weighs the same, so the line charge behaves realistically during practice and they can be packed up for future training. But maybe you don't have a vehicle at all or only need to clear an even smaller path for dismounted troops. Enter MINILIC, formerly known as APOBS, or antipersonnel obstacle breaching system. This backpack version of the MICLIC is designed specifically for combat engineers supporting light infantry to clear obstacles like concertina wire and anti personnel mines.

APOBS has three parts: the front pack, the rear pack, and the rocket. To use APOBS, the two-man crew set up about 115 ft from the obstacle they're trying to clear, with one prepping the line charge itself and the other installing the rocket. A well-trained team can do this step in under two minutes. All that remains is to pull the trigger and run to safety. In a full-size MICLIC, the end of the line is attached to the container or the vehicle, which is heavy enough to hold the other end of the line charge in place and prevent it from overshooting the target. But with MINILIC, the suitcases are not heavy enough to keep the other end of the line in place and can, in fact, be easily shot forward. That's why a drogue chute is employed to slow it down. About 20 seconds later, the C4 from the first pack detonates.

followed by the second pack. The punch marks from the C4 are visible on the ground. I should note that since APOBS are fairly small, their trajectory can be affected by moderate crosswinds. So before pulling the trigger, an adjustment may be needed to account for the wind. APOBS were first adopted in 2002 by the United States Army and Marine Corps. The idea was to replace the famous Bangalore torpedo. Bangalore torpedoes are five-foot-long metal tubes packed with explosives where the sections could be joined together. Upon detonation, the shrapnel from the metal casing is what cuts the barbed wire. Bangalore torpedoes require soldiers or marines to run right up to the obstacle to emplace it, which is not ideal. APOBS solved that problem and is also lighter than the Bangalore. But that doesn't mean APOBS aren't heavy, with all components weighing a total of 125 pounds.

That's why these people running won't be having a big smile on their face. Exploding a line charge by itself doesn't mean it's safe to go yet. Whether an obstacle is cleared with a full ABV or a backpack APOBS, combat engineers must still perform what's called proofing the lane. This is when combat engineers ensure that all mines and obstacles were successfully destroyed, or at least destroyed enough to allow friendly troops to pass through. High vis stakes are placed in the ground and serve as a reminder that the only thing between you and a minefield ready to turn you into a cloud of pink mist is a thin piece of orange fabric. Aside from the United States, some other countries have their own version of MICLIC, like the British Python Minefield breaching system, which uses a 250 mm L9 rocket motor, and the Russian UR77 meteorite. During the Russia-Ukraine war, both sides have been observed to use MICLICs.

but occasionally in an offensive role. Instead of clearing minefields, the line charge was shot over large buildings. This also shows how accurately MICLICs can target obstacles. The result was, of course, devastating for the buildings. But the MICLIC style systems aren't perfect. For one, things like strong winds, vegetation, or uneven terrain will cause the long strands to not lie flat on the ground, meaning that they won't go as far or blow up exactly where you want them to. Even things like the ground being a bit wet can disrupt its working because the water in the ground is able to help absorb the blast rather than transfer the energy to a buried mine. MICLIC uses what's called sympathetic detonations to set off the explosives inside mines. But even in ideal scenarios, they only have about a 90% success rate. This means either a second shot of line charge will have to be used to

get the stranglers or EOD crews have to go in and manually remove them. Another problem is that because line charges are a pretty old design at this point, they were made to take out older style fuse mines. Newer mines like the Italian VS1.6 are made with built-in overpressure resistance, which means trying to blow them up would be incredibly difficult. So let's hope the United States never has to invade Italy again! Other tactics like burying mines deeper into the ground can be enough to defeat a MICLIC or require a second shot to be used. Most Russian mines can be buried well over a foot into the ground. Line charges are usually only effective up to nine to twelve inches. This is why certain technologies are being tested as possible replacements, such as firing microwaves and radio frequencies that would detect or disable the fuses in the mines, or through large remote-controlled ground drones that use spinning chains called

mine flails in order to set off the explosives in front of the vehicle. One technology being tested is the ground obstacle breaching lane neutralizer, which spots mines with an overhead drone, then fires guided mortars right on top of them. Despite all their shortcomings, shooting line charges at mine emplacements doesn't seem to be going away anytime soon. But please, whatever you do, just don't be tempted to eat what's inside of a MICLIC!

The US Military Weapon That EXPLODES Mine Fields

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Not What You Think

The Role and Function of MICLIC in the Military

MICLIC is a rope made of 500 blocks of C4 explosives, used by the US Army and Marine Corps to clear landmines and obstacles.

The M1150 ABV, an assault breacher vehicle, uses MICLICs to clear paths for infantry and vehicles.

The video also discusses the potential risks and failures associated with MICLICs, including misfires and the nerve-wracking situation of having to address a failed detonation.

The driver has three minutes to light the fuse and make a dangerous run to safety, experiencing intense fear and adrenaline.

Hang fire, a delay between triggering a charge and detonation, is a common risk, leading to strict protocols for misfires.

The narrator shares their experience with Invideo AI for video editing, offering a cost-effective way to create engaging military-themed videos.

MICLICs can be found in various setups, including trailers like the M200A1, which are designed to carry line charges and can be towed by different vehicles.

The standard line charge is 350 ft long and can be adjusted for smaller blasts, with the trailer and ABV having protective mechanisms to prevent accidental detonation.

The MINILIC, a backpack version of the MICLIC, is designed for combat engineers to clear obstacles for light infantry and employs a drogue chute to slow down the line charge's deployment.

APOBS, adopted by the US Army and Marine Corps in 2002, were designed to replace Bangalore torpedoes for clearing obstacles.

These line charges, while lighter, still weigh 125 pounds and require careful adjustment for crosswinds.

MICLICs, used by various countries and even in the Russia-Ukraine war, aim for sympathetic detonations to clear minefields but have only a 90% success rate, often requiring a second shot.

Challenges in Mine Removal and Modern Solutions

Removing mines manually is a common practice due to the ineffectiveness of old line charge designs against newer mines with overpressure resistance.

Burying mines deeper poses additional challenges for line charges, leading to the testing of new technologies like microwaves, radio frequencies, and remote-controlled drones for mine detection and neutralization.

Despite their limitations, line charges remain a primary method for tackling mine emplacements.