MPs criticise anti-tank project

ONE of the projects whose handling by the MoD was criticised by MPs yesterday is a means of laying anti-tank mines from a distance - the 'Vehicle Launched Scatterable Mine System'.

The mines are laid for a short period, after which they destroy themselves.

They are useful for creating safe corridors through which forces can later advance.

According to the House of Commons' defence committee, the system was adequate for the purpose for which an early version was used in the Gulf war, but not against future generations of tanks. The MoD is estimated to have spent pounds 10m on evaluation.