TABLE OF CONTENTS Several attempts have been made to detect minefields from airborne platforms. SRI International have shown that mines can be detected from a fixed wing platform, and more details on this are given in Chapter 14 on remote sensing. Work by the Schiebel company on the Camcopter has shown that Unmanned Airborne Vehicles (UAV) may be feasible to carry lightweight SAR radars. An interesting development is the Mineseeker Project which is reported in detail in the following Section.
Mineseeker Foundation
Dr G. N. Crisp, Dr P. K. Bishop, QinetiQ plc
The Mineseeker Foundation is a not-for-profit joint venture between Lightship Europe Ltd (LEL) and QinetiQ which brings to bear two unique technologies to assist humanitarian demining through technical survey whilst also promoting the cause of humanitarian mine action on the world stage. The Mineseeker System uses a radar-equipped airship to safely and cost-effectively locate and delineate dangerous areas at a rate of 100 m 2 s -1. The sensor technology used is the QinetiQ ultra-wideband synthetic aperture radar (UWB SAR) - a unique technology, capable of airborne detection of plastic landmines, developed over many years for UK defence programmes and now made available for use in humanitarian demining.
A prototype Mineseeker System has been tested and evaluated in the UK and in Kosovo, producing outstanding results (see Figure 12.25). The System is ready to proceed to an 18 month period of further development to deliver an operational system...
