Using MINEHOUND in Cambodia and Afghanistan

The vast majority of humanitarian mine clearance is conducted by manual deminers primarily using metal detectors. Increasing clearance rates of manual deminers is one of the primary ways organizations can improve effectiveness and efficiency. For this purpose, The HALO Trust (HALO) has used MINEHOUND VMR2 and VMR3 dual sensor landmine detectors in Cambodia since 2010 and in Afghanistan since 2012. The detector proved to be an adaptable and reliable means of increasing manual clearance rates. MINEHOUND is comprised of an integrated metal detector (MD) designed, developed and manufactured by Vallon GmbH, and groundpenetrating radar (GPR) designed and developed by ERA Technology (now Cobham Technical Services or CTS). The integrated MD was first produced in 2004 and has been continuously improved to meet the needs of demining operators. Vallon and CTS collaborated to conduct initial HALO field trials in Cambodia. Since 2012, the U.S. Army’s Humanitarian Demining Research and Development (HD R&D) Program, which extended the project to Afghanistan, have also supported them.