The Impact of Vegetation on the Safety and Effectiveness of Humanitarian Mining: A Military-Technical Analysis

The article analyzes the impact of vegetation on humanitarian demining process in the de-occupied territories and in the combat zone of Ukraine. It is determined that dense vegetation significantly reduces both manual and automated means effectiveness of technical inspection, in particular metal detectors, ground-penetrating radars, unmanned aerial vehicles, and remotely controlled robotic platforms. It is emphasized that tall vegetation makes it impossible to visually identify explosive objects (EOD), reduces the devices accuracy and complicates the equipment maneuvering, which in combination leads to a slowdown in the demining pace and an increase the risk of personnel injury. Special attention is paid to physiological and psychological factors such as work in conditions of limited visibility, humidity and difficult terrain leads to increased fatigue, decreased concentration and demotivation among sappers. The need to consider tall vegetation removal as an integral part of the engineering preparation for demining of the territory is emphasized. Modern approaches to vegetation clearance – mechanical, thermal, chemical, and combined – are analyzed, taking into account their effectiveness, environmental consequences, and tactical limitations. Based on Ukrainian and international humanitarian demining specialists experience, the feasibility of developing specialized multifunctional platforms that combine the vegetation clearance functions and soil probing is substantiated. As a result, a conclusion is drawn about the need to adapt technical support and the sapper training system to the dense natural environmental conditions and a protracted armed conflict conditions. The results obtained may be useful for updated methodological recommendations for certification tests of humanitarian demining tools formation (programs and test methods development), training programs and technical specifications for the existing demining tools modernization.