DARPA

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) isthe central research and development organization for the Department of Defense(DoD).
They have created a self-healing, self-hopping landminenetwork.
The mines are provided with an ability to reform theirbarrier by jumping up to 90 feet at a time after the minefield is penetrated.
For example – during the Iran-Iraq war, in Vietnam, in Afghanistan and other wars –soldiers would take children or prisoners and walk them ahead into a mine fieldto clear it.
DARPA developed the mines for three reasons:
1. Stop troops from marching througha breach in a minefield
2. Double use out of anti-tank mines asanti-personnel mines
3. They are cheap and easy todeploy. They use the same technology employed in department stores to connectcash registers together
Some of the mines use rockets to move while others have a hoppingmechanism that will allow them to hop over 100 times.
"Since the minefield is no longer a static obstacle, an open breachcannot be maintained," DARPA has posted on their web site. "TheSelf-Healing Minefield forces the enemy to attack the minefield and deplete theantitank mines surrounding the breaching lane by either repeated assaults or awide area breach/clearance."
There is an animation at this web site :
http://www.darpa.mil/ato/programs/SHM/index.html#
DARPA has already run tests with the hopping mines and wants to the U.S.Army to use them.
These mine fields can be fooled with a five dollar piece of equipment fromRadio Shack.