AI-enabled drones are beginning to reshape how militaries detect and manage explosive threats, improving identification speed while reducing risk to personnel in hazardous environments.
The British Army and the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) recently tested drone-based systems that use onboard sensors and AI to detect landmines and other explosive ordnance.
During the trial, small drones surveyed varied terrain, sending sensor data to operators for analysis.
AI-enabled detection helped explosive ordnance disposal teams identify threats more quickly, reducing the need for manual search.
The trial also showed that AI models can be rapidly retrained to recognize new threats across different environments, a capability seen as critical as explosive hazards continue to evolve.
Dstl officials said “the threat posed by explosive ordnance is constantly changing,” thus the need for detection tools that can adapt alongside it.
Rather than replacing operators, the system supports human decision-making by flagging potential threats for verification and action, enabling faster assessments while maintaining oversight in high-risk scenarios.
“We’re on a mission to exploit new technologies, removing our people from harm’s way while increasing the speed and effectiveness of their operations,” said Luke Pollard, Minister for Defence Readiness and Industry.
The effort aligns with the UK’s plan to double autonomous systems investment from 2 billion pounds ($2.5 billion) to 4 billion pounds ($5 billion).
Similar Efforts in the US
In the US, onboard AI is enabling drones to detect explosive threats without cloud connectivity, supporting real-time analysis in disrupted environments.
US-based Safe Pro Group has developed an AI model that uses computer vision to detect landmines and explosive hazards from aerial imagery during flight.
Meanwhile, Lantronix provides embedded hardware with edge-AI chips, enabling onboard processing directly on unmanned systems.
