Revolutionary Mine Detector
The U.S. Department of Defense recently introduced the Handheld Standoff Mine Detector System (HSTAMIDS), a new mine detector that will increase mine clearance productivity by more than 600%. The Detector revolutionizes demining efforts by differentiating between the real “hidden killers” and other scraps of metal that litter former battlefields and populated areas. Deminers will no longer have to undertake the time-consuming process of digging up every piece of metal to ensure that no landmines were left behind.
The U.S. and five demining teams tested HSTAMIDS in nine different test areas with varying environmental conditions. During field tests conducted by the U.S. and several partners from the International Test and Evaluation Program for Humanitarian Demining, newly trained HSTAMIDS operators greatly outperformed experienced metal detector operators. The HSTAMIDS is already in use in Cambodia, Afghanistan and Thailand, and promises “to speed the pace at which we save lives.”
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