Status of vehicular mounted mine detection (VMMD) program

The U.S. Army has launched a developmental program called Vehicular Mounted Mine Detector (VMMD) to improve upon the labor intensive, high risk, hand-held process. This Vehicular Mounted Mine Detector programs goal is to develop a vehicular mounted mine detection capability for the mounted military soldier. This VMMD system will be comprised of active and passive sensor technology. Sensor fusion and automatic target recognition (ATR) algorithms will be key assets used to improve the detection capabilities and reducing the false-alarm problem. All of the sensors will be employed in a downward-looking (close-in) configuration and mounted onto an existing military vehicle for demonstration. The current status of the VMMD system is discussed in this paper along with the sensing technologies, processing capabilities, test issues and sites and preliminary results.