New Mine Detector That Sniffs Out Explosive Material

The MineReader detector identifies the explosive material inside mines rather than their metal casings.

New landmine tracking technology has been tested in Brisbane, Australia, offering a new approach to finding these explosive devices.

According to Ambassador Arjan, the "MineReader RDX" device uses a new principle to identify mines, which focuses on finding the explosive inside instead of searching for the mine itself.

The history of mines goes back to the time when engineers discovered that the way to defeat impregnable fortresses was to dig tunnels behind the walls and collapse them. However, today's examples, packed with high explosives and lurking underground to detonate unsuspecting vehicles or passers-by, are far more dangerous and destructive.

Concerted efforts have been made to ban such devices, but they are still being used at an alarming rate.

Although modern mines can be designed to automatically deactivate after a certain period of time, some minefields remain a deadly threat even a century after they were planted.

Therefore, it is not surprising that mine detection is a high priority in military and civilian circles, but the problem is that detecting mines is often not an easy task.

Anyone who has seen a lot of war movies is probably familiar with minesweepers; Devices that are actually a military example of recreational metal detectors. The operation of these devices is based on electromagnetic induction. The paddle-shaped part at the end of the device's handle creates an electromagnetic field by reciprocating on the ground. The condition of this field is monitored by a circuit that separates the different frequencies of the field and looks for changes in the intensity of the field; Changes that indicate the presence of objects (including metallic objects).

Simply put; If you move that paddle part over a coin buried in the dirt, the machine will make a continuous beeping sound.

Since mines are usually made of metal, such a device is able to detect them. However, the key word here is "usually". Today, some mines are made of plastic; Even during World War II, the Germans made landmines out of wood. This in one case led British commandos to abandon their tracking devices in favor of crawling along the beach and probing the sand with their combat knives.

Another problem is that there are many different metal objects and other factors may cause the device to issue a mine signal (false alarm) by mistake. So what to do?

This is where "lateral thinking" or a different look at the problem comes into play. Conventional mine detectors do not detect the internal mechanism of the mine, but only its metal body and spring mechanism. A landmine without explosives is nothing but some metal; So instead of focusing on the body, why not go directly to the explosive itself?

The "MineReader RDX" device, which was developed by the Australian company that develops advanced technologies called "MRead" and based on the research of the Australian National Science Agency and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization of this country, uses the "Magnetic Intensification" (MR) technology instead of the electromagnetic induction method. This technology is a type of spectroscopy that operates in the range of radio waves of the electromagnetic spectrum.

Specifically, the MineReader device looks for the fingerprint or distinguishing characteristic of the explosive "cyclotrimethylenetrinitramine" (RDX) with the chemical formula "C₃H₆N₆O₆".

As can be seen in the formula, RDX, which is a common explosive, has 6 nitrogen atoms, and the identification of RDX is possible using MR technology; Because the behavior of nitrogen atoms in the solid crystal structure of this explosive creates a unique reaction to radio frequency pulses that can be recorded and analyzed.

According to the makers, the MineReader is capable of detecting 50 grams of RDX at a depth of up to 13 cm (5 inches) and can perform well in wet, mineral-rich soils that are full of scrap metal and organic debris.

Although there are other methods for directly locating explosives, those methods are usually cumbersome and only capable of detecting large amounts of explosives; While MineReader is as portable and compact as common mine finder devices.

Although the system is currently set up to detect RDX, the ultimate goal is to be able to detect TNT as well; A feature that allows the device to deal with more than 90% of landmines.

John Shanahan, CEO of MRead, says: "The capability we are ultimately looking to develop is to keep soldiers out of the danger zone." Combining the ability to detect explosives directly with unmanned ground systems allows for remote assessment of potential threats and gives commanders more confidence about the situation ahead, before troops or vehicles enter the area.