Poland announces search for drones for remote mining

The Polish Ministry of National Defense has announced a search for the suppliers of innovative solutions in the field of engineering and infrastructure, including drones for remote mining.

This is reported by Defence24.

The search is part of a program to build engineering barriers on Poland’s eastern border, known as the Eastern Shield.

In total, five priority areas have been identified:

• trenching machines
• swarms of drones for remote mining;
• folding bridges over 45 meters long
• mobile bridges with a length of about 40 meters;
• reinforced precast concrete elements and their components.

The submitted proposals for innovative solutions to be used in the construction of the Eastern Shield will be analyzed in detail by the specialized groups of military experts in accordance with their areas of responsibility. The evaluation of these proposals will take into account their potential in the context of achieving the goals of the Eastern Shield program.

The Ministry of Defense will then contact the selected participants. If the submitted proposals meet the detailed program criteria, the ministry will invite the selected manufacturers to further cooperation.

Drone mining

The Ukrainian military has been widely using drones to remotely mine Russian logistics routes and possible offensive routes.

For this purpose, various types of ground robotic platforms and heavy bomber drones are usually used.

For the most part, 10-kilogram TM-62 anti-tank mines, PTM-3 cumulative mines and Ukrainian PTM-L1 mines are used for mining.

Depending on the type of fuze, anti-tank mines dropped from drones can be used for their intended purpose or as high explosive bombs to destroy fortifications.

To ensure that the mine does not explode when dropped and works properly, it can be equipped with various types of electric “smart” detonators. They are activated on the ground after a certain time after being dropped and can operate on battery power for up to 14 days or more.

The triggering of such a detonator with subsequent detonation of the mine can occur not only when a mine is directly hit, but also when large metal objects appear or when the mine itself is moved.