"Drone thermal cameras to detect mines" Topic

It appears that some thermal cameras on drones are sensitive enough to detect buried mines: link

I'm checking with some drone operators and EOD specialists in Ukraine to see how effective this really is.

Wolfhag

That could be a game changer.

wolfhag when you hear if they are effective let us know

wardog,
This is what I got back so far from a SigInt Team Leader in the Bakhmut area who does mostly FO and drone work but has some EOD training. He's been over there for about a year:

I've seen that as well. I think it shows mines near the surface, but also shell holes as the dirt more readily absorbs heat when not covered by grass.

The other issue is the resolution on the thermals, you have to be within 3-100m to actually tell what it is you are looking at.

This is what most of the drone teams are using, I'm not sure how good the resolution would be or ideally, the type of camera needed:
dji.com/mavic-3-pro/specs

It could be helpful when the weather cools off before it rains and snows. A variable would be how recent and how deep the mine is buried.

Wolfhag

Here is a better video: link

Wolfhag

Looks as if they are making progress: link

The Mistral HOUNDTM is an advanced drone based mine detection and demining solution for Army and special forces. The Mistral Hound is designed for both robust mine detection and mapping, capable of identifying and detonating landmines within a specified geographic region.

The Landmine Detector cum Demining Drone consists of an advanced, high endurance Mapping Drone that generates a 3-dimensional Map of the scanned region; and a mine detection drone, which accurately locates landmines in the mapped area. The mine detection drone allow the system to geotag the location of detected mines on the 3D map, and then detonate them by dropping thermite sticks using Demining Drone from air or defusing them manually.

Once identified, a drone will drop a thermite stick on the mine to detonate it.

YouTube link

Wolfhag