Humanitarian Demining

Abstract

This Project develops, demonstrates and validates cost-effective technologies for use in humanitarian demining via Outside Continental United States (OCONUS) operational field evaluations. This Project's low-cost and highly effective technology reduces the landmine and unexploded ordnance (UXO) / improvised explosive devise (IED) threat to deployed United States (US) forces and the local population. This Project coordinates with the Department of State's Weapons Removal and Abatement Program, the Department of Defense (DoD) Humanitarian Mine Action (HMA) programs of the Combatant Commands (CCMDs), and international mine action organizations and foreign militaries. New technology requirements and areas of emphasis are identified and validated at annual Requirements Workshop and UXO/IED Working Group Meetings. Technology investments are prioritized using the results of these meetings and CCMD security cooperation and theater campaign plan HMA objectives. This Project advances the state-of-the-art of demining technologies and evaluates these technologies utilizing host nation humanitarian demining partners. This Project supports and bolsters the CCMD stability operations mission as directed under Department of Defense Instruction (DODI) 3000.05 to foster mil-to-mil engagement, and bolster economic security and development with partner nations worldwide. Additionally, this Project fosters nations' mine action capacity while improving DoD's visibility and access, generating long-term positive perceptions of DoD and the US, and fostering collaborative relationships with host nation governments. It also directly supports the National Defense Strategy through ensuring common domains remain open and free. This Project utilizes a research and development plan based on operational test data gained through Operational Field Evaluations (OFEs). These OFEs provide this Project a unique capability to collect this data against live mines/UXO in actual minefields around the world. This data is unavailable to any other DoD organization. This OFE data drives future humanitarian demining investment decisions and is shared and leveraged by the U.S. Army's Army Futures Command programs to further improve U.S. forces' technologies. In addition, this Project provides mine and UXO detector training to the CCMDs at the Humanitarian Demining Training Center (HDTC) in support of Military to Military training and partnerships. Since 1995 the program has fielded technologies for 234 evaluations in 43 countries, including Afghanistan, Angola, Cambodia, Colombia, Iraq, Kosovo, Ukraine, and Vietnam. This program's technologies have cleared 71.2 million square meters of the world's toughest minefields, and found or destroyed 213,220 mines and UXO. This Project supports the DoD's strategic guidance to address instability and reduce the demand for significant US force commitments to stability operations; with DOD) 3000.05 (Stability Operations) and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Instruction (CJCSI) 3207.01C (Department of Defense Support to Humanitarian Mine Action) to reduce the social, economic and environmental impact of landmines and unexploded ordnance. This Project will be executed by the Army Futures Command (AFC).

Document Details

• Document Type: Project
• Publication Date: Oct 01, 2023
• Source ID: CD5_0603920A_3_2040_PB_2023

Tags

Readers

• Geochemistry
• Military Science and Technology Research and Modernization.
• Military and Counterinsurgency Studies.