U.S. Air Force tests backpack drones to accelerate bomb disposal missions.

U.S. Air Force EOD personnel at Hurlburt Field compared a small unmanned aerial system and a tracked ground robot to measure response speed and situational awareness at a simulated casualty site.

On February 10, 2026, the U.S. Department of War reported that explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) airmen at Hurlburt Field, Florida, compared a small unmanned aerial system with a tracked ground robot during a simulated casualty site assessment. The backpack-portable drone reached the objective within seconds and transmitted live overhead video before the ground robot covered half the distance. The demonstration examined operational differences in mobility, deployment time, and reconnaissance capability.
Follow Army Recognition on Google News at this link

The primary driver behind the use of drones for EOD remained constant since their initial use: distance means safety, and safety is operational effectiveness when the hazard can kill the specialist you cannot quickly replace. (Picture source: US DoD)

According to the DoW, explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) airmen at Hurlburt Field, Florida, conducted a field comparison demonstrating how a small unmanned aerial system can reach and assess a simulated casualty site faster than a tracked ground robot. Two airmen from the U.S. Air Force's 1st Special Operations Wing operated the systems across open terrain, with the ground robot advancing over dirt and grass while the drone was launched and arrived within seconds. The drone transmitted a live overhead video feed before the robot had covered half the distance, providing immediate situational awareness. The exercise illustrated the operational difference between heavy robotic systems that require vehicle transport and setup time and backpack-portable drones that can be deployed during dismounted missions. The demonstration also linked aerial reconnaissance to airfield recovery tasks, including runway inspection and post-incident imagery collection to support mine clearance and repair planning.

Before the integration of compact drones, EOD teams relied primarily on heavy ground robots to inspect suspected explosive devices, gaining standoff distance but facing constraints in mobility and deployment speed. These robots remain essential for physical manipulation tasks such as moving, cutting, or flipping components, functions that small drones cannot perform. Portable drones can be carried in a backpack and launched within minutes, transmitting real-time optical and thermal imagery during day or night operations. Integrated 3D scanning systems can generate digital models of blast sites or large areas such as airfields within minutes, supporting documentation and hazard assessment. The aerial perspective allows operators to evaluate threats without approaching them, reducing exposure during reconnaissance phases. Artificial intelligence functions embedded in the systems enable semi-autonomous flight, including obstacle avoidance, target tracking, and position holding with limited manual input.

Operational integration requires procedural adjustments beyond hardware deployment, including development of training standards, certification requirements, and coordination mechanisms in shared airspace. Airmen involved in implementation have emphasized that drone use cases vary depending on mission profiles and environmental conditions. Shared airspace operations require navigation of risk assessments and policy approvals, particularly when unmanned systems operate near conventional aviation activities. Local acquisition and early testing have allowed units to identify performance limits and refine operational procedures before broader dissemination. Despite rapid adoption, drones are currently integrated as complementary tools rather than full replacements for ground robots. Their primary roles include reconnaissance, mapping, and initial hazard assessment, while manipulation and neutralization tasks often remain with robotic or manual systems.

In parallel with reconnaissance functions, research has explored the potential of mounting directed energy systems such as lasers and electromagnetic pulse devices on unmanned aerial vehicles for remote neutralization of explosive threats. Laser systems can disable unexploded ordnance by severing circuitry or melting structural components, or they can apply sufficient heat to initiate controlled detonation of explosive material. Electromagnetic pulse systems can disrupt electronics by inducing electrical overload and heat within circuitry, rendering devices inoperative without physical contact. A combined configuration integrating both systems could enable staged engagement, first disabling electronic triggers and then neutralizing the explosive body. Such an approach is applicable to improvised explosive devices, unexploded ordnance, and landmines. Operational advantages would include standoff engagement, precision application of energy, and reduced human proximity to hazards.

Directed energy integration also presents technical constraints, particularly related to power generation, energy storage, and environmental interference. Field-deployable systems must sustain sufficient output to achieve reliable neutralization effects, which places demands on onboard power capacity and thermal management. Atmospheric conditions such as humidity, dust, and particulate matter can degrade laser propagation and reduce effectiveness at range. Electromagnetic pulse deployment requires shielding and protection to prevent interference with the drone’s own systems. Adversaries may attempt to counter such capabilities through shielding, hardening, or electronic countermeasures, necessitating iterative adaptation. Research efforts, therefore, focus on increasing reliability, improving power efficiency, and mitigating environmental and countermeasure challenges.

Autonomous detection systems represent another major development in drone-enabled explosive hazard mitigation. In March 2025, Fraunhofer IFF introduced the AutoDrone system and a swarm-based configuration for unexploded ordnance detection in contaminated regions, including areas where one-third of the national territory is affected by explosive remnants, such as Ukraine. The basic configuration flies preprogrammed routes at 50 cm above ground at speeds between 3 m/s and 5 m/s, generating high-resolution sensor data synchronized with RTK positioning for precise georeferencing. The swarm configuration deploys multiple drones equipped with tailored sensor packages optimized for different ordnance types, including nonmetallic mines. Coordinated communication strategies maintain control during partial signal loss, while adaptive flight path adjustment supports reliable operation over complex terrain. The resulting datasets are transferred to explosive ordnance disposal services for planning and prioritization of clearance operations.

Additional approaches combine drone swarms, artificial intelligence, and multi-sensor fusion for large-scale mine detection and neutralization. In a NATO Innovation Challenge focused on remote explosive-contaminated area recognition and neutralization, 51 entries from thirteen countries were evaluated, with one highlighted approach integrating grid-pattern drone flights and edge processing to create real-time mosaics of contaminated areas. A software-defined radar configuration enables low-cost synthetic aperture radar capability for detecting mines at varying depths. Once mines are identified, antitank mines are addressed using a Turtlebot unmanned ground vehicle, while anti-personnel mines are neutralized using a modified road roller unmanned ground vehicle.

Hybrid vertical take-off and landing drones powered by gasoline can operate for 4 to 5 hours, enabling scalable coverage in heavily contaminated regions. The system is designed to reduce human exposure, support real-time command-and-control updates, and adapt sensor payloads and artificial intelligence models to different terrains and mine types. Humanitarian applications further illustrate drone integration into demining workflows. The HALO Trust, operating in more than 30 countries, including Cambodia, Angola, Somalia, and Ukraine, uses drone imagery combined with artificial intelligence and machine learning to reduce image analysis time from three to five days per minefield to a matter of hours. Globally, an estimated 110 million unexploded landmines remain buried, with roughly 20,000 casualties each year, most of them civilians.

HALO reports clearing over two million landmines and reclaiming more than 760 square kilometers of land for safe use. The Mine Kafon Ball, developed in 2011, uses a 17 kg iron core and bamboo legs to trigger anti-personnel mines while logging GPS data, followed by the Mine Kafon Drone system employing 3D mapping, retractable metal detectors, and robotic arms, with claimed performance up to 20 times faster and 200 times less expensive than traditional methods. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, after the May 2014 floods, Belgian Royal Military Academy teams deployed MD4-1000 microdrones flying up to 150 m altitude, capturing 200 to 500 images per 25 to 30 minute flight at 2 to 5 cm resolution, generating digital surface and elevation models, with total mission cost of €15,000 including €6,000 in repairs after one crash in a minefield. Collectively, these cases show that drones now support reconnaissance, mapping, detection, and preparation for neutralization across military and humanitarian explosive ordnance disposal environments.

Written by Jérôme Brahy

Jérôme Brahy is a defense analyst and documentalist at Army Recognition. He specializes in naval modernization, aviation, drones, armored vehicles, and artillery, with a focus on strategic developments in the United States, China, Ukraine, Russia, Türkiye, and Belgium. His analyses go beyond the facts, providing context, identifying key actors, and explaining why defense news matters on a global scale.