Mine Hunting with Drones

Abstract:

This article deals with an important subject – mine hunting with drones. The author begins with a comprehensive overview, emphasizing the need for remotely controlled operations in mine warfare: mine reconnaissance, minesweeping, and mine neutralization. The advantages of semi-submersible vehicles and multi-beam side-scan sonar technology are presented with a focus on the deployment flexibility with containerized units allowing an instant adaptation to any non-specialized vessel or shore facility. The article then presents in details the drone system architecture. Description and results of full scale operational evaluations conducted in 2001-2003 in Canada and in France demonstrate the excellent performance of a mine hunting drone system at sea.