The original Bangalore torpedo was designed in 1912 by Captain McClintock, an engineer who worked for Bengal, Bombay and Madras Sappers and Miners. Developed in Bangalore, India, the original design was not intended for warfare, but to clear pre-existing barbed-wire obstacles leftover from the Boer War and Russo-Japanese War.
The World War II era M1A1 Bangalore Torpedo was a pipe-shaped Class V anti-personnel mine-clearing charge capable of blasting a ten- to 20-foot wide path through a minefield or section of barbed wire. Short connecting sleeves were used to attach the threaded ends of two or more tubes in order to create a longer explosive device. A rounded nose sleeve was placed on the leading end of a tube in order to push the tube through obstacles. The torpedo was set off by placing a blasting cap in the recessed end cap well and igniting it with a time-delayed (electric or non-electric) fuse.
The Bangalore torpedo is still employed today by the United States Army. A modern M1A2 Bangalore torpedo kit contains 10 five-foot torpedo sections, 10 five-inch connecting sleeves, and 1 nose sleeve.
The apparent replacement for the Bangalore torpedo system is the Antipersonnel Obstacle Breaching System (APOBS), which lays out an explosive line charge using a small rocket. The APOBS system is lighter and quicker to deploy, and clears a larger area than the Bangalore torpedo system.
