Ukraine, Poland, and Estonia Launch Joint Development of “Smart” Minefields

Polish company MBF Group, together with an Estonian partner and supported by Ukraine’s engineering and manufacturing capabilities, has created a consortium to develop “smart” minefields controlled via a mesh network.

MBF Group told Militarnyi that the partnership was formalized by signing a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA), followed by a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and a consortium agreement.

MBF Group leads the consortium, handling coordination, regulatory matters, and cooperation with national defense authorities. Creating such a consortium is required to participate in Poland’s defense procurement process, which requires domestic organization involvement.

The consortium has already applied to participate in preliminary market consultations conducted by Poland’s Armament Agency (Agencja Uzbrojenia) regarding next-generation battlefield protection capabilities.

The proposed solutions focus on advanced systems for preventing and countering battlefield intrusions, including anti-personnel mine systems enhanced with modern electronic components—such as seismic and acoustic detection modules, remote activation capabilities, and distributed control systems based on encrypted mesh radio networks.

It is stated that these technologies have reached at least Technology Readiness Level 7 (TRL 7), meaning the system prototype has demonstrated functionality in real-world conditions.

Importantly, the cooperation focuses not only on conceptual or research-stage technologies but also on systems that are largely ready for deployment and capable of rapid production scaling. This significantly reduces implementation time compared to traditional defense development cycles, the company emphasized.

Amid the growing Russian threat, several European countries, including Ukraine, Poland, and Estonia, withdrew from the Ottawa Convention in 2025, which had banned the use of anti-personnel mines.

In addition, Poland has announced plans to deploy anti-personnel mines along its borders with Russia and Belarus as part of the “Eastern Shield” program.

“We have no other choice. The situation at the border is serious. I am referring to the Polish-Belarusian and Polish-Russian borders… This will be one of the elements of the ‘Eastern Shield,’” Polish Deputy Defense Minister Paweł Bejda said at the time.

According to him, the mines are to be produced by factories of the Polish Armaments Group, with a potential order of “several hundred thousand – possibly up to a million” units.