From cannons on insects. Artillery will be used to fight locusts

In Russia, it was proposed to use army mortars to combat locusts and other harmful insects. The guns themselves will remain unchanged, but plastic containers filled with insecticide will be used instead of mines. The new pest control tool can be used in fields with difficult terrain. It is assumed that this will be an effective and cheap means of pest control.

Battlefield

The original idea was proposed by scientists from the Ural Federal University. The very design of the mortar will not be changed, only the mines will change. A conventional munition consists of a steel or cast-iron body filled with an explosive substance, a fuse, a stabilizer, a propellant powder charge with a capsule, a metal tube for placing a propellant charge with through holes, additional bundles of propellant powder charge. In the anti-locustthe main body of a mortar mine is a plastic container-container filled with a chemical preparation intended for the destruction of harmful insects. Inside the vessel there is a bursting charge, which is located along the axis of the mine body and is designed for better dispersion of the drug over the sown area. The plastic shell of the case is easily destroyed by the action of a bursting charge. The drug is served “at the exit”not continuously, but in portions. 

The mine is triggered as with a normal shot. When lowering the projectile into the barrel of a mortar through its muzzle, the capsule self-punctures on the sting of the drummer located at the bottom of the barrel channel. As a result, the capsule ignites its main propellant charge, concentrated in the tube. The released powder gases emit a mine from the bore.

If a locust control mortar is filled with insecticides in powdered or granular form, then the fuse should be set to the “instant action” position. This is necessary to destroy the maximum number of individuals.

It is proposed to use a new weapon against locusts in the form of a fire raid. A battery of mortars arrives at the processing site, and a supply of chemicals is also delivered. Then the gunners open a quick fire at places of high concentration of the pest, or along the path of their migration. Shooting is conducted according to the specifics of the terrain. For example, the firing of mortar mines in hard-to-reach areas is carried out on hinged, steep trajectories — the elevation angle of the mortar barrel is in the range of 40-85°.

Add chemistry

Currently, chemical protection of agricultural land from locust swarms is implemented with the help of tractor sprayers of various types. However, such a scheme has a number of disadvantages-it has low mobility and performance, it is quite difficult to implement it in mountain landscapes. Aviation is more efficient, but it is much more expensive for farmers.

Locusts are one of the most harmful insects. During the period of mass reproduction, it is considered the most dangerous pest for crops. Huge herds of voracious insects are able to successfully and quickly destroy the crop.

Источник aif.ru

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