Worldwide, an estimated 110 million landmines remain buried in over 70 countries, a deadly legacy of past and ongoing conflicts. These hidden threats continue to cause devastation, resulting in 4,710 casualties in 2022 alone, with civilians accounting for more than 85% of the victims. Tragically, nearly half of these casualties were children. As new mines are deployed daily in conflict zones, the humanitarian crisis deepens, and the cost of their removal remains exorbitant—while a landmine costs only around $3 to produce, it can take up to $1,000 to safely remove each one.

The challenge of detecting and clearing these dangerous remnants of war is immense. Traditional methods, such as handheld metal detectors and ground-penetrating radar (GPR), are commonly used but often fall short, particularly when it comes to non-metallic landmines made of plastic. Metal detectors, for instance, can trigger false positives, while GPR can be ineffective in certain soil conditions or when faced with complex environmental factors.

But hope may be on the horizon thanks to groundbreaking research from the University of Mississippi. Vyacheslav Aranchuk, a principal scientist at the National Center for Physical Acoustics (NCPA), has developed a promising new technology: a laser-based vibration sensing system designed to detect landmines with greater precision and speed.

Introduced at the Optica Laser Congress and Exhibition in Osaka, Japan, this cutting-edge system—called the Laser Multi-Beam Differential Interferometric Sensor (LAMBDIS)—could revolutionize the way landmines are detected. Unlike traditional detection methods, LAMBDIS uses a matrix of 782 laser beams arranged in a 34 x 23 grid to create detailed vibration maps of the ground in under one second. By inducing vibrations in the ground and analyzing the way these vibrations interact with the laser beams, the system can identify buried objects—even those made of plastic, which are increasingly common in modern landmines.

According to Aranchuk, “Most modern mines are made of plastic, making them harder targets for traditional detection methods. LAMBDIS addresses this challenge by offering precise and rapid detection from a safe distance.”

One of the most significant advantages of LAMBDIS is its ability to be mounted on a moving vehicle, which greatly speeds up the detection process while ensuring the safety of operators. Unlike handheld detectors that require close proximity to potential hazards, LAMBDIS enables operators to maintain a safe distance from the detection zone, allowing them to work more efficiently in hazardous environments.

This innovative technology has the potential to not only improve the accuracy and efficiency of landmine detection but also save countless lives, especially in regions where landmines remain a persistent threat to civilians and humanitarian workers alike. As conflicts continue to ravage parts of the world, advances like LAMBDIS represent a crucial step toward mitigating the dangers posed by these hidden killers and ultimately clearing the remnants of war from the land.

By Impact Lab