AI classification of landmines – has brightened up a new hope

Lesson 1: Contamination of landmines – a picture with many dark patches

Unexploded ordnance left after the war is a persistent wound on the body of our country. I have written several articles on mine clearance, mines and mines, so I have realized that they are weapons that are constantly improved over time to challenge, threaten and perfect the technique of killing.

1. The US used Mineland MLU10B to hit trains, operating on the principle of shock sensing, which can self-destruct after falling to the ground from 10 minutes to 168 hours (7 days and nights). On November 28, 1965, the US used this type of mine to attack for the first time on the Ly Son, Ha Hoa and Phu Tho railways. During the second blockade war in the North (1972-1973), the US used magnetic bombs that were improved many times, fitted with different types of detonators according to the principle of magnetic induction and detonated according to the principle of sound induction. During the blockade war, the US used the most modern weapons, quickly improved all types of bombs and mines, using up to 25 types of mechanical warheads and 20 types of electronic, photoelectric and laser warheads.

MK52 is a strategic torpedo dropped to block major seaports such as Hai Phong, Hon Gai, Cam Pha, very expensive (US$20,000), very heavy (516 kg), aircraft must drop it by parachute, can destroy ships of tens of thousands of tons. MK52 has an electromechanical brain that knows how to choose ships to destroy. A train passed by, the first one did not explode; the second one, the third one, it still hasn’t exploded. But when the flagship passed, it exploded immediately and hit the engine room, sinking the ship on the spot. It only takes such a large ship to sink and the channel is filled. The MK42 is a tactical torpedo dropped in rivers and along coastal channels, weighing 226 kg, with a pointed end, a blunt end, and a rather large aluminum tail. It is this tail that keeps the mine from falling more slowly, without the need for a parachute. MK42 is used not only to block rivers and coastal roads, but also to cut off roads. When the enemy dropped MK42 on land, along the roads of the old zone IV and Truong Son road, the young volunteers were still used to calling them “magnetic bombs”; when dropped underwater, the men who broke the torpedo changed its name to “magnetic torpedo”.

The trademarks of these two weapons both have arrows through the heart and the words DST Destructor. US military technical experts have used magnetic thin films – a modern theory of solid-state physics to make them. With tricky and insidious puzzles embedded in the electromechanical brain of the MK52 and the electronic brain of the MK42, the Americans thought that no one in Vietnam could solve it. Destructor is the type that the American “super generals” created in order to prevent the North’s reinforcements from entering the South, doing their best to cut Vietnam in half, turning the South into a henchman of the North. America. In the siege of US bombs and mines, everywhere was like a bagua map.

During that time, countless deminers went to war, countless times courageously took up the memorial, how many times did not spare themselves to operate ships running on mines and mines, always ready to explode at any time. at any time in the hunt of enemy planes in the sky, enemy warships on the water. They do not wear soldiers’ uniforms but commit suicide, sacrifice more than soldiers. The Kien Ferry Port Self-Defense Team (Hai Phong) led by Nguyen Van Can “wearing straw armor, wearing a straw hat” drove an iron-clad canoe through water with unexploded bombs. Self-defense at Hai Phong port, driving a large truck at high speed, causing explosion of magnetic bombs… In order to clear the channel, do not let ships and boats be blocked for kilometers long as bait for rockets and bombs. sorry, many people are gone forever. On land are ball bombs, luminescent bombs, slow-explosive bombs; on the river and at sea is the MK42 Mod 0, Mod 1 torpedo that constantly improves the killing technique of the enemy. Team Ben Thuy (Vinh City) uses bamboo boats or wooden boats to nail bamboo or aluminum nails, copper nails, called magnetic boats, pulling behind a net with a magnet attached. The boat passed, the torpedo unexploded. The net has a magnet passing through, it just explodes. The “riding on death” torpedo raids are often conducted at night on the vast and silent river. Life can be taken away at any time, nerves are as tight as a string. Every time they boarded the boat to go on a mission, the lightning-breaking sailors often left the address of their parents, wife and children, mementos, and carefully wrote down the instructions that were almost dead.

The book “Diary of the city against blockade” by Hoang Tuan Nha has a passage: “The jetty has witnessed in the dark nights, the scene of people carrying lightning-breaking soldiers with broken heads, intestines, broken spines and broken bones. fainted from aboard the towing boats, I was covered in fresh blood. The pier had seen knights with their heads in tank hats, pillows covered with ice as hard as player pillows, their bodies reeking of saltwater and explosives, running down from the train, waving their hands to their friends to greet them with joy. boundless joy of the return of the victor”…

2. The war has ended, but landmines and mines continue to cause disasters, mostly with the main labor in the family and children. Surely we have not forgotten the big explosion in Ha Dong district on March 19, 2016 that left 4 people dead, 10 injured, more than 100 damaged houses – a disaster of landmines in the heart of the city! Mine accidents still happen almost every day and will continue to do so for many years to come, 5-10 generations or even a hundred years, if not drastic enough changes.

The rate of bombs and mines and explosives (BMVN) remaining in our country accounts for 2-5% of the number of bombs used by the US military in Vietnam (equivalent to about 350-800 thousand tons). According to the results of the project “Investigation and mapping of mine pollution on a national scale, phase 1 (2010-2018)”, the number of mines is still scattered in most of the provinces and cities in the country. on all different terrains, both rural and urban, in the jungle, on the bottom of ponds and lakes, in the sea… They weigh from small to large (from a few tens of grams to tons), from the common type. to modern. Hundreds of different types of BMVN have been discovered, mainly of American, French and allied production. The whole country currently has 9,116/11,134 communes, wards and towns of 63/63 provinces and cities, accounting for 81.87%, which are contaminated with BMVN. The total area of ​​land currently contaminated with BMVN in the whole country is up to 6,130,823/ 32,574,962 ha, accounting for 18.82%. The situation of landmine pollution in Vietnam is still very serious. The number of Vietnamese soldiers is concentrated in the central provinces. Some provinces such as Nghe An, Quang Binh, Quang Tri, Thua Thien – Hue, Quang Ngai and Binh Dinh had over 22,800 victims of Vietnam War, of which 10,540 died and 12,260 were injured.

In order to detect, handle, and clean up all mine-contaminated areas in Vietnam, we need to research, develop, and equip powerful enough machines and means of detecting BMVN. This requires a long time and a great expense, in which detecting, identifying and classifying mines using artificial intelligence for accurate handling can be a long and bold step.