The search for land mines is not something done in haste.
“New technology is not going to get into the field fast enough.
We want more of the simple stuff.”
Casualties run into the tens of thousands a year, according to estimates.
Counting the costPrecise numbers of victims are hard to come by.
It’s not just fatalities that are a concern.
“There’s a much higher priority for people who have big bucks,” Mulliner said.
“What works today in land mines is lots of metal detectors,” Mulliner said.
What they find, however, isn’t always a land mine, or any other explosive.
Metal detectors also have to contend with variations in soil content, humidity and other factors.
Listening and lookingHSTAMIDS is a dual-sensor system.
Software helps compensate for ground conditions.
The civilian version of the system is undergoing long-term evaluation in Cambodia, Thailand and Afghanistan.
But it’s not cheap.
In high-volume production, the military version costs about $17,000 apiece.
“We’re not sure what a pure demining version would cost,” Doheny said.
“We’re working to make it more affordable.”
By contrast, standard metal detectors cost between about $2,000 and $5,000 each.
Mine Action Service and the GICHD, wrote in an e-mail.
A deminer who relied on its readout would be gambling."
“After about 10 days of training, they’re very good,” he said.
We don’t want any false negatives."
It’s been tested in Angola and Namibia.
Slow and steady probing isn’t the only way to deal with a known or suspected minefield.
It can also be pummeled or plowed by heavy equipment.
This is expensive equipment, with prices ranging from $100,000 to $1.5 million.
Mine Action Service said.
“Machines are used because of a low threat in the area.
Machines are never used in a primary role of clearing yet.”
But that just gives an overall sense of an area.
It doesn’t begin to pinpoint the actual mines, which brings things back to metal detectors and HSTAMIDS.
“The key to the whole thing is detection.
