Abstract
AI-enabled UAV based landmine detection and classification can be a major advantage for the Indian Army. By combining technologies like thermal imaging, ground-penetrating radar (GPR), magnetometry and edge AI processing on an autonomous system such as the UAV Mine Detection System (UMDS) can survey large areas from a safe distance. It can create real-time maps showing mine risks and share this threat information directly with battlefield networks. Given India’s security challenges on two fronts, along with lessons learned from recent conflicts like Ukraine and Nagorno-Karabakh, there is a clear need for faster and safer mine detection. At the same time, the push for self-reliance under Atmanirbhar (self-reliant India) Bharat makes it even more important to develop such systems within the country. Therefore, UMDS should not be treated as a future idea but as an urgent operational need.
Keywords: UAVs, AI, Siachen, Landmines, New Age Battlefield
