| The Problem |
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Landmines are a persistent worldwide threat AEPCo exists to develop, manufacture, market, and deploy the world's most effective de-mining products and services. The Company has developed breakthrough technological advancement in removing landmines that will enable the revitalization of impacted countries and remove the threat of UXO without the risk of human life. AEPCo provides products and services for humanitarian and strategic landmine removal markets. An International Problem
The High Cost of Landmine Removal
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There are more than 100 million unexploded landmines around the world. This staggering number is of particular significance when you consider that landmines are indiscriminate weapons. They are a danger to our troops during wartime and a threat to civilian populations and most of all children. In one third of the world’s nations, landmines prevent the cultivation of land; stop the movement of people and goods, and hinder political and economic stability. The United Nations, several governments, nonprofit organizations and private companies around the world are actively pursuing new technologies to make the discovery and removal of landmines easier and more cost effective. There is a consensus that mechanized removal apparatus is an integral part of the mix. Today’s most common removal methods are a specialist with a helmet, chest protector and probing stick, dangerous to say the very least. Most current mechanized technology involves large, agricultural-sized equipment that is expensive and difficult to deploy. Some smaller removal vehicles are in development, but these are manned vehicles that are expensive to produce and dangerous to operate. What is needed, is an updated unmanned mechanized device that is capable in a wide variety of terrains and performs efficiently.
Each landmine costs between $3 and $30 to deploy. Removal costs range from $300 to $1000 each. Many experts believe that the cost of removing or neutralizing all of the mines that are currently deployed, using current technologies, would cost the international community in excess of $33 to $50 billion dollars on a conservative basis. Public documents report that over one billion dollars were spent from 1993 to 2000 for the removal of landmine devices. The majority of these funds were spent in 38 countries with an outcome of only 328 square miles made safe. Each year tens of thousands of landmine victims are killed or maimed by devices that were deployed, in some cases decades before. With more than 100 million landmines around the world today current technology and today’s methods will take an estimated 1100 years to find and remove.| < Prev | Next > |
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