Firefighting & disaster relief
We are not heroes.
It is a very special example with blue lights and sirens — the high-mobility Unimog U 5023 with a "special warning system" on the cab, as the expert says. The vehicle, recently commissioned into service with the explosive ordnance disposal service of Lower Saxony, contributes significantly to protecting lives.
Lower Saxony explosive ordnance disposal service responds at least three times a day.
Ammunition from two world wars.
The Unimog serves the 25 men who are on call around the clock to recover explosive ordnance from the two world wars. The U 5023 is the third consecutive Unimog that Lower Saxony’s explosive ordnance disposal specialists use to safely recover bombs, shells, mines and small arms ammunition from the ground. The mounted backhoe from Ematec (M213) can dig down to six metres.
A video camera reliably assists the excavator operator in his work below ground. Often it is a matter of millimetres. The excavator cab is additionally secured with steel reinforcements, a special armoured glass pane and side shatter‑protection film. The tyre pressure control system enables the Unimog to make good progress even in boggy terrain. After all, explosive ordnance from past times still lies dormant all over the country: in fields, in moors, near bodies of water and along the coast.
Built for the ultimate test.
Semi-automatic transmission, air conditioning, auxiliary heater and spare wheel with lifting device – the equipment of the U 5023 must withstand the toughest operating conditions. In an emergency, explosive ordnance disposal technicians sometimes even have to change a wheel themselves. "We're not heroes," says the head of the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Service in Lower Saxony, Thomas Bleicher. "Our job is to protect the population from the serious dangers left over from the world wars."
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1,200 operations per year.
The recent increase in deployments is due, among other things, to chance finds by hobby detectorists and magnet anglers. Bleicher urgently warns against going searching for ordnance as a private individual. On the one hand it is strictly prohibited; on the other hand it is simply life-threatening. Since 2006 he has headed the 50-member organisation, which carries out about 1,200 operations a year and recovers and renders harmless well over 100 tonnes of ordnance.
According to him, the men in the field have the utmost respect for every piece of ordnance, no matter how small: "An approximately 80-year-old hand grenade, with its sensitive fuze technology, is far more challenging to assess than a 500 kg aerial bomb with a mechanical fuze."
Project implemented with Unimog partner:
Peter Meineke GmbH & Co. KG
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