A substantial budget cut, along with poor test results, has forced the US Army to slow development of the Airborne Stand-off Mine Detection System (ASTAMIDS).
The US Army had planned to pick one of four contenders in January to begin 33 months of ASTAMIDS engineering and manufacturing development (EMD). Production of at least 85 systems for the US Army would have followed.
The ASTAMIDS would be used to survey minefields accurately from manned aircraft and unmanned air vehicles. Northrop Grumman's passive-infra-red (IR) development compares heat and shape profiles of a buried mine with the US Army's catalogue of mines made worldwide. Raytheon's bid is based around a dual-mode laser IR sensor. Two hyperspectral systems were also tested.
Industry officials say that none of the candidates met the criteria needed to enter the EMD. The Northrop Grumman device, for example, was evaluated in Bosnia late in 1997, but it failed to produced the desired test results. The airborne mine detector was unable to handle the overgrown minefields it encountered.
It is believed that the system could deal with freshly laid mines, which are not concealed by high vegetation.
Meanwhile, the US Congress cut the US Army's fiscal year 1998 ASTAMIDS request in half, and directed that the money be spent only on basic research. The US Army will now try to raise the detection probabilities through system enhancements.
Source: Flight International
