The European Defence Agency (EDA) has launched a new research and technology programme aimed at improving member states’ IED detection capabilities.
The IED Detection (IEDDET) programme is being carried out under a three year €14 million project by member states Austria, Belgium, The Netherlands, Poland, along with Norway.
The programme aims to develop, improve and field-test IED detection capabilities in order to better protect troops and increase armed forces’ operational freedom of movement.
Three main projects will be undertaken. The first is the Vehicle Mounted Early Warning of Indirect Indicators of IEDs (VMEWI3), which will focus on the detection of indirect indicators with forward looking camera systems. A technology demonstrator will be based on remotely operated unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) platforms with multi-camera head. The UGV platform will be controlled from a manned vehicle. The aim is to detect indicators of IED presence even while moving with a speed of at least 20-30km/h.
A UGV stand-off multi-sensor platform for IED component detection (MUSICODE) will also be developed to improve stand-off capabilities for detection of IED components by using remotely operated multisensory platforms.
The third project will be the Confirmation, Identification and Airborne Early Warning of IEDs (CONFIDENT). This will focus on the airborne (via UAS) confirmation and the identification of relevant components of IEDs including electronic parts, explosives and chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear payloads prior to the release of the agents; and provide complementary early warning capability.
In order to ensure the coherence and interoperability between the projects, an offline detection map will be produced and shared to best explore the full set of information available for future route clearance operations and the programme will be concluded by a joint demonstration.
Countering IEDs was confirmed as a top priority in the EDA Capability Development Plan revision of 2014.
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