Russian engineers have started to use the aerial demining method on the battlefield. First, an area is scanned using a reconnaissance drone that searches for traps – unexploded ammunition and mines. The mines are then destroyed by dropping explosives from another drone.
This method is particularly useful when dealing with mines that react to the approach of a sapper.
Aerial demining has become relevant with the installation of seismic and laser sensors on modern mines. A sapper cannot approach such explosive devices, as demining using standard methods is hampered by enemy unmanned aircraft.
Military expert Yuri Lyamin told Russian media that the idea of demining with the help of UAVs has been in the air for two years.
"In my opinion, the method works, but a lot depends on the implementation," he said. "Detecting and destroying such a large number of mines may require a lot of sapper drones. Scout drone operators are best suited for the role of sappers. After all, they are more focused on finding different types of objects," Lyamin said.
Lieutenant Colonel Roman Shkurlatov, chairman of the all-Russian organization Officers of Russia, told media that this method saves the lives and health of military engineers.
"Aerial demining is a modern and humane method," he noted. "A sapper is one of the most dangerous professions, because he can make a mistake only once. But a drone has the right to make a mistake, it is not a human life.
However, in some areas of the terrain, due to natural and geographical peculiarities, as well as depending on the nature of combat operations, this method is difficult to apply, Shkurlatov pointed out. Moreover, even at low altitude, not all mines are easy to see.
Russian engineers previously presented an air-ground mine clearance system. First, an operator launches a special quadcopter capable of aerial photography with a high-resolution camera. As a result, the sappers receive an orthophotoplane — a digital panorama of the area, which allows them to see mines both on the ground and in the grass.
After that, operators scan the surface with a drone equipped with a magnetometer, and launch a robotic platform for mine clearance. They use a lightweight robot that grinds the soil to a depth of about 10 cm using a rotary mechanism.