Sappers on their Subject 4 Corporal's Course at the School of Military Engineering, Holsworthy Barracks, are among the first in Australia to fire the new in-service F60 Bangalore torpedo.
About 40 sappers are crammed into a bunker a couple of hundred metres from a demolitions bay in the Holsworthy Training Area, NSW.
They are joking and taking bets on how carefully the four-minute fuse on one of the new Bangalores had been cut. Only a perfectly calculated length of fuse will result in them hearing a large 'boom', right on time.
Darwin-based Lance Corporal Jaden Tighe will action the detonator, lighting the fuse. He'll also be the one counting the timer down out loud once safely sheltered with his mates in the bunker.
"A Bangalore is an explosive that we use to expediently clear obstacles," Lance Corporal Tighe said earlier while prepping the device to fire.
"One of the main roles of a combat engineer is mobility, allowing other call signs such as the infantry to move through enemy obstacles. The way we use a Bangalore is to create a lane through those obstacles so our people and vehicles can move through on to positions."
The prepared demolition explosive is wholly designed, developed and manufactured in Australia - reinforcing the Defence Strategic Review's call for sovereign-based manufacture and acquisition of munitions.
'Making our own Bangalore torpedoes means Australia won't need to rely on overseas countries to supply us.'
While a Bangalore can be improvised, as per Army doctrine, by packing star pickets with explosives and mounting a fuse, the new in-service Bangalore is ready to go out of the box.
Several can be carried by a section of sappers and quickly assembled to varying lengths, easily accommodating different-sized obstacles that need to be breached.
Director General Guided Weapons and Explosive Ordnance Land Branch, Brigadier Andrew Langford, said it was fantastic to see the Australian-made capability being used by ADF personnel.
"This is a real game-changer," Brigadier Langford said.
"Making our own Bangalore torpedoes means Australia won't need to rely on overseas countries to supply us with this highly effective demolition charge. We're starting with the Bangalore, but as part of a wider program, will start to manufacture other types of demolition explosives here at home to further develop our sovereign capability."
Back on the demolitions range, the Bangalore's four-minute fuse continues to hiss and smoke where it's been laid underneath a category 1 fence - a simple wire obstacle made by securing concertina wire between star pickets.
Lance Corporal Tighe continues his countdown while sappers and staff huddle with him in the bunker, waiting in anticipation for the explosion.
The bunker rumbles with the satisfying sound of the munition exploding.
After the safety staff inspect the demolitions bay and declare the area safe, the students are allowed to inspect the effects of the Bangalore on the obstacle: job done, and better than expected.
