Handheld Metal Detectors: Nicaraguan Field Test Report

Abstract : This final technical report details the results of a joint project between the United States Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low-Intensity Conflict (OASD-SO/LIC), the US Army Communications and Electronics Command (CECOM) Night Vision and Electronic Sensors Directorate (NVESD), the Organization of American States (OAS) (Organizacion de los Estados Americanos [OEA]), the Assistance Mission for Mine Clearance in Central America (La Mision de Asistencia para la Remocion de Minas en Centroamerica, [MARMINCA]), the Program for Demining in Central America (el Programa de Apoyo al Desminado de Centroamerica, [PADCA]), and the Inter-American-Defense Board (IADB) (Junta Interamericana de Defensa, [JID]). The joint project was an in-country field evaluation of seven commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) handheld metal detectors. It was the result of an earlier Department of Defense (DoD) visit to Nicaragua to provide advice and recommendations on demining equipment as part of DoD's Humanitarian Demining Research and Development (R&D) program. The evaluation took place near Panchito, a high-priority minefield on a former Nicaraguan airbase where the magnetic properties of volcanic soil render conventional mine detectors extremely unreliable. The conduct of the field test was greatly enhanced through the assistance of officers from MARMINCA and experienced Nicaraguan deminers.