Ukraine conflict: Ukraine develops unmanned mine detector

ST-1 is an experimental unmanned mine detector that is being actively tested in the field. (Mykhailo Fedorov/Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine)

Ukrainian innovators from the Brave1 defence technology cluster are developing an unmanned mine detector called ST-1.

According to Mykhailo Fedorov, minister of digital transformation for Ukraine on 27 October, the mine detector autonomously searches for mines and works, on average, four times faster than a human.

This will “significantly speed up the process of demining Ukrainian territories and make it safer. For example, sappers of the State Emergency Service, the Armed Forces, and the National Police will be able to control a drone and search for mines from a safe place”, Fedorov said.

ST-1 features sensors and an inductor that allows it to fly around obstacles at low altitude as well as a microcomputer, which processes and transmits data to soldiers in real time. The system is being tested in the field and the team is gathering feedback, adding improvements, and preparing to scale production, he added.