An AN-M65 U.S. World War II general-purpose bomb found embedded in the ground during Operation Render Safe in Rabaul, Papua New Guinea, June 18, 2026. (Nan Yang/U.S. Marine Corps)
American service members have wrapped up a three-week mission to dispose of unexploded wartime ordnance in Papua New Guinea alongside teammates from six other nations.
Operation Render Safe, which ran from June 1 to 20, is a longstanding Australian-led operation to remove World War II explosives left behind in Pacific nations.
“The operation occurs annually, or in response to an urgent request from a Pacific Island nation,” the Australian Defence Department states on its website.
Some of the toughest jungle fighting of World War II happened on Papua New Guinea where the Allies, led by Australian and U.S. forces, battled Japanese invaders from 1942 to 1945.
Sgt. Riley Nunez, an explosive ordnance disposal technician with Marine Rotational Force – Darwin, right, and Leading Seaman Richard Murri, of the Papua New Guinea defense force, guide barriers into place during Operation Render Safe in Rabaul, Papua New Guinea, June 18, 2026. (Nan Yang/U.S. Marine Corps)
Multinational teams in June removed explosive hazards found during earlier reconnaissance. Over three days they destroyed 330 items, the department posted on Facebook Thursday.
“This vital work reduces the ongoing risks that these historic weapons pose to local communities more than 80 years after the Pacific campaign,” the department said.
The mission focused on the Gazelle, Kokopo and Rabaul Districts of East New Britain, according to a June 5 unsigned email from the department.
The effort included 160 service members from Papua New Guinea, the United Kingdom, Canada, France, New Zealand, Japan and the U.S., according to the department.
The U.S. contingent included members of Marine Rotational Force – Darwin, which is midway through a six-month rotation to Australia’s Northern Territory, as well as sailors and soldiers, the department said.
Australian army Sapper Daniel Drinkwater operates an excavator during barrier construction as part of Operation Render Safe in Rabaul, Papua New Guinea, June 18, 2026. (Nan Yang/U.S. Marine Corps)
The teams overall disposed of 2,220 pieces of unexploded ordnance, more than 8 tons worth, U.S. Marine Capt. Kevin Hicks, a spokesman for the rotational force, said by email Monday.
“Since the end of WWII an estimated 25,000 people across East New Britain have been killed or injured by the hazards,” he said.
A Marine involved in the effort, Gunnery Sgt. Jeremiah Rogers, said the American troops trained with the Australians before heading to the islands.
Technical integration “built during that training translated directly to the field, allowing us to operate seamlessly as one team out here,” he said, in written comments forwarded by Hicks
Items identified for disposal on Papua New Guinea include Model 1 and Model 3 sea mines, Type 93 Long Lance Torpedo motors and unfused AN-M34 2000-pound high explosive bombs, according to the Australian Defence Department.
Render Safe teams were equipped with metal detectors and a handheld Light Detection and Ranging, or LiDAR, detector to create detailed 3D renderings of the extensive World War II tunnel systems in East New Britain, the department said.
“The use of LiDAR provides a highly accurate and efficient method of environmental surveying, particularly suited to limited visibility and previously unmapped environments,” the department said. “Complex subterranean networks, such as caves and tunnel systems, can be rapidly surveyed using a LiDAR scanner, generating high-fidelity spatial data and 3D visualisation of subterranean environments.”
LiDAR based data collection also enables the generation of precise floor plans to assist the EOD teams in locating potential stockpiles of ordnance, according to the department.
This story has been updated with information from the U.S. Marine Corps.
