M7 Spider

One of the challenges service plan- ners faced over the last few years has involved equipping an Army at war while also meeting new operational mandates stemming from arms agree- ments and domestic policy decisions.

In some cases, the arms agreements have led to the development of new products that will support tactical suc- cess while meeting those mandates. An example of this is the development of the M30E1 Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System Alternative Warhead rocket, which can be used against area targets while meeting the new criteria of the pending cluster munitions ban.

Another recent example of meeting this challenge is the M7 Spider, a hand-emplaced, remotely controlled, anti-personnel munition system. The M7 was developed to replace the capa- bility of persistent (non-self-deactivat- ing and non-self-destructing) anti-per- sonnel land mines that were banned from use after December 2010 under U.S. land mine policy.

As described by Lt. Col. Wesley Will- iamson, product manager area denial, Program Executive Office Ammuni- tion, the Spider system is comprised of four subsystems: man-in-the-loop (the human operator), remote control sta- tion (the system command and control station), repeater (a communication link to the munitions that provides ex- tended range), and munition control units that deliver anti-personnel effects with miniature grenade launchers or the M18 Claymore.

"Each [mission control unit] can uti- lize remotely deployed, extended- range trip line sensors and hand-em- placed trip lines for early warning and detection of intruders," he said. "The Spider is designed to mitigate indis- criminate initiation of the...