The Mine Kafon Drone is a drone for demining, led by Afghanistan-born Massoud Hassani. The drone is designed to map an area for land mines, detect the mines, and then detonate them remotely. It has been field-tested with the Dutch Ministry of Defence. The use of a drone is safer and less expensive than typical methods for mine removal, which endanger trained mine disposal experts and dogs. The Mine Kafon Foundation, established by Hassani in 2013, is based in Eindhoven, Netherlands.
Massoud Hassani was born in Afghanistan, where there are an estimated 10 million mines buried in about 500 square kilometres (190 sq mi). [1] [2] He and his brother, Mahmud, in fear of the landmines, took a special path to school. Massoud says, that knowing that there are buried landmines "becomes like a mental disorder... The fear is on your mind all the time." [3] As children, the boys made wind-driven toys to play with around the Kabul deserts, [1] [3] but they would get stuck in the middle of minefields. [4]
His mother arranged for smugglers to get him out of the country when he was 14 years of age. [1] The Hassani family settled in the Netherlands. [3] Massoud studied Industrial Design at Design Academy Eindhoven, and inspired by homemade wind-powered toys he made during his childhood, he and his brother created the Mine Kafon wind-powered landmine machine [1] —Kafon means "explode" in Dari. [3] The machine, which looks like a giant dandelion puff ball that rolls across areas of land and detonates landmines, [3] [5] was created for his 2011 graduation project. [6] Made of bamboo, iron, and plastic, the design that was inspired by a starburst was a finalist in London's Design Museum's 2012 Design of the Year Award. [4] Called a visual poem by the New York Times, [7] it was exhibited in 2013 at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City [1] and the following year at "The Fab Mind: Hints of the Future in a Shifting World" design exhibition as one of the "socially and politically engaged designs". [8]
The concept for demining using the dandelion-shaped machine works in theory, particularly in open desert areas where the wind blows freely, but it could cause more problems—in terms of retrieval and maintenance—once it was damaged in the middle of a minefield, says Henk van der Slik of the Dutch Explosive Ordnance Disposal organization. While it is not an effective tool for demining, it could be used to identify potential areas where mines were placed. [4]
There are about 100 million buried landmines [9] [10] in 60 countries. The United Nations states that there are 20,000 individuals—mostly the elderly, women, and children— that are maimed by landmines annually. [9] According to Ingenieur, civilians make up the largest portion of victims of landmines, at an estimate of 79% of the total victims. The military are estimated to be 18% of the victims, and professional mine sweepers are 3% of the victims. [10]
Typically, mines are removed using mine disposal experts, dogs, and wheeled vehicles, which is dangerous. Further, the mines become more unstable over time. [11] [12] It costs between $300–1,000 to remove each mine, according to the World Economic Forum. [12] It is also a lengthy process. There were 171,000 American and Russian mines laid in Mozambique during their revolution, which have been said to have killed up to 15,000 people, according to Human Rights Watch. It took 22 years to clear the mines from the country. The effort was completed in 2015. [6]
Subsequently, the project rapidly gained media-interest. In 2012, Massoud and his brother Mahmud organised a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for the development of the Mine Kafon tumbleweed mine detonator ball. [13] [14] The project raised funds on the crowdfunding site Kickstarter with their goal set at £100,000 and receiving £119,456. [15] After the successful fundraising campaign, Massoud established the Mine Kafon Foundation, a research and development organization, in 2013 [9] in Eindhoven, Netherlands. [5] [9]
Prototyping and field testing of the drone was conducted with the support of the Dutch Ministry of Defence. [1] [9] They also crowd-sourced globally for designers and engineers to collaborate on the project. [9] The team, led by Massoud, [2] currently optimises the Mine Kafon to safely and efficiently operate across all landmine contaminated terrains. [13] [ better source needed ]
At the moment we are preparing a pilot in a 150 square km field. That’s about the size of 37,000 football stadiums. First we do the 3D mapping part with only 10 drones working 24/7 for a period of two months. Then we apply the detection drones. We will need about 50 Mine Kafon Drones with metal detectors to detect the fields cm by cm for six months. These drones will fly 24/7 over this whole period of time. The landscape is like a mine-filled desert but in less than a year this landscape can be a green zone.
—Massoud Hassani, August 2016 [9]
The unmanned airborne de-mining system uses a three step process to autonomously map, detect and detonate land mines. It flies above potentially dangerous areas, generating a 3D map using its 3D camera, GPS, and a computer. It then uses a metal detector that hovers close above the ground using sensors and a retractable arm keep to pinpoint and geotag the location of mines. The drone can then place a detonator above the mines using its robotic gripping arm, before retreating to a safe distance and detonating the mine. The firm claims its drone is safer, 20 times faster and up to 200 times cheaper than current technologies and might clear mines globally in 10 years. [2] [3] [5] [12] Some of the challenges are that it is difficult to rely on GPS for precise locations and it is difficult to identify mines that have been buried for decades. [2]
In terms of the mechanics, the goal now is to optimize the drone and create base stations. [10] The team will explore using external antennas to triangulate locations, to improve the results of using GPS alone. [2] In addition, the plan is to train pilots to use the drone and carry out tests in different countries. [10] Another Kickstarter campaign was established in July 2016 to help fund these efforts with the goal set at €70,000 and receiving over €100,000 above it (€177,456). [2] [16]
A land mine is an explosive device concealed under or on the ground and designed to destroy or disable enemy targets, ranging from combatants to vehicles and tanks, as they pass over or near it. Such a device is typically detonated automatically by way of pressure when a target steps on it or drives over it, although other detonation mechanisms are also sometimes used. A land mine may cause damage by direct blast effect, by fragments that are thrown by the blast, or by both.
An improvised explosive device (IED) is a bomb constructed and deployed in ways other than in conventional military action. It may be constructed of conventional military explosives, such as an artillery shell, attached to a detonating mechanism. IEDs are commonly used as roadside bombs, or homemade bombs.
The HALO Trust is a non-political and non-religious registered British charity and American non-profit organization which removes debris left behind by war, in particular land mines. With over 8,000 deminers worldwide, HALO has operations in 28 countries. Its largest operation is in Afghanistan, where the organization continues to operate under the Taliban regime that took power in August 2021.
Unexploded ordnance, unexploded bombs (UXBs), and explosive remnants of war (ERW) are explosive weapons that did not explode when they were employed and still pose a risk of detonation, sometimes many decades after they were used or discarded. UXO does not always originate from wars; areas such as military training grounds can also hold significant numbers, even after the area has been abandoned. UXO from World War I continue to be a hazard, with poisonous gas filled munitions still a problem. When unwanted munitions are found, they are sometimes destroyed in controlled explosions, but accidental detonation of even very old explosives also occurs, sometimes with fatal results.
Demining or mine clearance is the process of removing land mines from an area. In military operations, the object is to rapidly clear a path through a minefield, and this is often done with devices such as mine plows and blast waves. By contrast, the goal of humanitarian demining is to remove all of the landmines to a given depth and make the land safe for human use. Specially trained dogs are also used to narrow down the search and verify that an area is cleared. Mechanical devices such as flails and excavators are sometimes used to clear mines.
Cambodia is a country located in Southeast Asia that has a major problem with landmines, especially in rural areas. This is the legacy of three decades of war which has taken a severe toll on the Cambodians; it has some 40,000 amputees, which is one of the highest rates in the world. The Cambodian Mine Action Centre (CMAC) estimates that there may be as many as four to six million mines and other pieces of unexploded ordnance in Cambodia. Some estimates, however, run as high as ten million mines.
A mine clearance organization, or demining organization, is an organization involved in removal of landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) for military, humanitarian, or commercial reasons. Demining includes mine clearance, as well as surveying, mapping and marking of hazardous areas.
The M14 mine "Toepopper" is a small anti-personnel land mine first deployed by the United States circa 1955. The M14 mechanism uses a belleville spring to flip a firing pin downwards into a stab detonator when pressure is applied. Once deployed, the M14 is very difficult to detect because it is a minimum metal mine, i.e. most of its components are plastic. Because of this, the design was later modified to ease mine clearance with the addition of a steel washer, glued onto the base of the mine.
The SB-33 is a small Italian minimum metal blast type anti-personnel mine formerly manufactured by Misar, that entered service in 1977. The SB-33 can be emplaced by hand or scattered using the helicopter mounted SY-AT system.
Anti-personnel mines are a form of mine designed for use against humans, as opposed to anti-tank mines, which are designed for use against vehicles. Anti-personnel mines may be classified into blast mines or fragmentation mines; the latter may or may not be a bounding mine.
Aki Ra is a former Khmer Rouge conscripted child soldier who works as a deminer and museum curator in Siem Reap, Cambodia. He has devoted his life to removing landmines in Cambodia and to caring for young landmine victims. Aki Ra states that since 1992 he has personally removed and destroyed as many as 50,000 landmines, and is the founder of the Cambodian Landmine Museum.
The VS-50 is a circular plastic cased anti-personnel blast mine that entered production in 1985, formerly manufactured by the now-defunct Valsella Meccanotecnica SpA, an Italian high-tech defence industry specialized in area denial systems which was also the manufacturer of the Valmara 69 and one of the first industries in the world to implement plastic construction for landmines. The design is similar to the TS-50 and VS-MK2 mine. It is blast resistant and can be used in a minimum metal configuration. Though unlikely to kill, the explosive charge contained within a VS-50 is quite sufficient to destroy the victim's foot: the blast is capable of penetrating 5 mm of mild steel leaving an 80 mm-diameter hole.
An anti-handling device is an attachment to or an integral part of a landmine or other munition such as some fuze types found in general-purpose air-dropped bombs, cluster bombs and sea mines. It is designed to prevent tampering or disabling, or to target bomb disposal personnel. When the protected device is disturbed, it detonates, killing or injuring anyone within the blast area. There is a strong functional overlap of booby traps and anti-handling devices.
Land mines in Central America are a by-product of the Cold War-era conflicts of the 1980s. Contrary to the requirements of generally accepted international law, the minefields of Central America were usually unmarked and unrecorded on maps. Once placed, mines remain active for years, waiting the pressure of an unwary foot to detonate.
Mine action is a combination of humanitarian aid and development studies that aims to remove landmines and reduce the social, economic and environmental impact of them and the explosive remnants of war (ERW).
The Mines Advisory Group (MAG) is a non-governmental organization that assists people affected by landmines, unexploded ordnance, and small arms and light weapons.
APOPO is a registered Belgian non-governmental organisation and US non-profit which trains southern giant pouched rats to detect landmines and tuberculosis. They call their trained rats 'HeroRATs'.
The United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) is a service located within the United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations that specializes in coordinating and implementing activities to limit the threat posed by mines, explosive remnants of war and improvised explosive devices.
Approximately 30,000 land mines were laid in the British overseas territory of the Falkland Islands by Argentinian forces following their 1982 invasion. Some of the mines were cleared immediately following the successful British operation to retake the islands but following a series of accidents demining operations ceased. In the following years the mine fields were fenced off and, with human access limited, became havens for Falklands flora and the native penguin population. The British government ratified the Ottawa Treaty in 1998 that required the removal of all mines within its territory. Demining operations, which had to be carried out by hand due to the climate and local condition, restarted in 2009. The last mines were cleared in October 2020.