Official full name: Sisu RA-140 DS -raivaamisajoneuvo

Raisu is the first mechanical land mine sweeper that has been approved by United Nations for humanitarian de-mining operations. It has been used in Cambodia, Mozambique and Kosovo.

Finnish Defence Forces has developed this vehicle for de-mining, due to their own use of land mines, and due to everyone else's use of land mines.

The vehicle's cabin has been armored and protected from blast pressure, and tires have been hardened. On the rear of the vehicle is the actual mine-sweeping part: A 3.4 meter wide chain rotor that spins fast and flails the mines on ground, setting them off or breaking them. It moves backwards through the minefield at maximum mine-sweeping speed of 6 km/h.

(The nickname is shortening of the official name; it also means "rough (handling)", appropriate for the way it deals with the mines. =)

A web page: http://www.mil.fi/kalustoesittely/00078_en.html

(Sources: Kaleva 2002-04-18, Finnish Defence Forces)

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