# The Army is paying for drones that spot landmines ahead of its Abrams tanks - Published: 2026-11-11 (updated 2026-11-11) - Author: [Aerospace News](https://aerospacenews.io/author/aerospacenews-io.md) - Topics: [News](https://aerospacenews.io/news.md) - About: [Safe Pro Group Inc.](https://safeprogroup.com/), [Anduril Ghost-X](https://www.anduril.com/ghost) - Based on: [Safe Pro Group Awarded U.S. Army Prime Contract, Teams with Anduril for Super Intelligence on Ghost-X Drone for Tank Protection](https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2026/11/10/3399521/0/en/safe-pro-group-awarded-u-s-army-prime-contract-teams-with-anduril-for-super-intelligence-on-ghost-x-drone-for-tank-protection.html), GlobeNewswire, 2026-11-10 - Based on: [Landmine Monitor 2025](https://the-monitor.org/online-reader/landmine-monitor-2025), International Campaign to Ban Landmines – Cluster Munition Coalition - Based on: [Ghost-X Selected for U.S. Army's Company Level sUAS Directed Requirement](https://www.anduril.com/news/ghost-x-selected-for-u-s-army-s-company-level-suas-directed-requirement), Anduril Industries - Based on: [Real-World Detections in Ukraine](https://safeproai.com/landmine-detections/), Safe Pro AI - Source: https://aerospacenews.io/news/army-drone-landmine-detection-abrams-tanks/ - Publication: Aerospace News - Publisher: Connectively (Terkel, Inc.) - Editorial policy: https://aerospacenews.io/editorial-policy/ - AI use: Connectively's automated system wrote this article with AI from a press release issued by Safe Pro Group on November 10, 2026, linked under Sources. Statements about the company and its products are the company's. The illustration was generated with AI. The article was assembled and published automatically, without an editor's review. Report errors to corrections@connectively.us. The U.S. Army is paying for drone landmine detection to scout ahead of its Abrams tanks, Safe Pro Group says. On November 10, 2026, it announced a $2.5 million Army prime contract that puts its threat-spotting software on Anduril's Ghost-X drone, to flag mines and ambush drones before armor reaches them. ## Key points - Safe Pro Group (Nasdaq: SPAI) says the Army awarded it a $2.5 million prime contract, the company's first, under a Commercial Solutions Opening for Ground Threat Detection through Aerial Reconnaissance. - The work puts Safe Pro's software onboard Anduril's Ghost-X drone to protect the Army's Abrams tanks. - According to Safe Pro, the software identifies and geolocates more than 150 types of explosive threats, from anti-personnel mines and cluster munitions to ambush FPV drones. - Detections stream into Army networks, including ATAK and Anduril's Lattice, the company says. - Safe Pro says its models were trained on more than 3.2 million drone images and over 60,200 confirmed detections across 40,520+ acres in Ukraine. ## Why does the Army want drone landmine detection ahead of its tanks? Mines and leftover munitions stay dangerous long after they are laid. The [Landmine Monitor 2025](https://the-monitor.org/online-reader/landmine-monitor-2025) recorded at least 6,279 casualties of landmines and explosive remnants of war in 2024, including 1,945 people killed and 4,325 injured, with Ukraine's 293 the fourth-highest national total; the Monitor describes Ukraine as massively contaminated. For a tank column, the threat is the ground it has to cross and the small attack drones that wait along it. A reconnaissance drone that sees those threats first lets crews route around them instead of finding them under the tracks. ## What will Safe Pro's software do on Ghost-X? Safe Pro says its Ground Truth Air software runs on the drone's own computer and processes live video in flight, at the tactical edge, rather than sending footage back for analysis. The company says it picks out small, hard-to-find objects across large areas and sends their positions straight into the networks soldiers already use: ATAK and Anduril's Lattice. The company built its training data from drone surveys in Ukraine, and publishes examples of [its detections there](https://safeproai.com/landmine-detections/). > "By adding Safe Pro's threat-detection technology onto Ghost-X, we're providing soldiers with faster, more reliable situational awareness at the tactical edge — directly supporting the Army's tank survivability and reconnaissance missions." > > — Daniel Leighton, General Manager of Tactical Effects, Anduril Industries ## What is Ghost-X, and where does it fit in Army reconnaissance? Ghost-X is Anduril's small reconnaissance drone, which the Army selected for its company-level small drone requirement. [Anduril says](https://www.anduril.com/news/ghost-x-selected-for-u-s-army-s-company-level-suas-directed-requirement) that requirement informs the Army's Medium Range Reconnaissance program. The company lists Ghost-X at 90 minutes of cruise endurance, an operating range of up to 25 km and 25 pounds of payload. Safe Pro's release says the Army has selected Ghost-X for mission-ready intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance work under that program. ## What does the award mean for drone and defense suppliers? Our analysis: the contract shows the Army paying for detection software as an award of its own, on a drone it has already selected, rather than buying a new aircraft. [Anduril says](https://www.anduril.com/news/ghost-x-selected-for-u-s-army-s-company-level-suas-directed-requirement) the Medium Range Reconnaissance program will equip maneuver companies and other operational units, so a payload proven on Ghost-X now can follow the aircraft as that program grows. For drone and payload makers, the award points to a market in software that rides on platforms the Army already flies, bought through a Commercial Solutions Opening rather than a new aircraft competition. For a small listed supplier like Safe Pro, a first prime contract also means working with the Army directly rather than through another contractor. Airframe makers are widening their ranges too: VisionWave now offers [a family of STRATUM drones](https://aerospacenews.io/news/visionwave-stratum-drones-cargo-counter-uas/) that runs from reconnaissance to cargo and counter-drone work. For the wider picture, see [six trends shaping unmanned systems in aerospace](https://aerospacenews.io/qa/6-trends-in-the-future-of-unmanned-systems-in-aerospace/). ## Frequently asked questions ### How much is Safe Pro Group's Army contract worth? Safe Pro says the prime contract is worth $2.5 million. ### What is the Army's Medium Range Reconnaissance program? It is the Army's effort to give maneuver companies and other operational units their own reconnaissance drones for large-scale combat and contested environments, [according to Anduril](https://www.anduril.com/news/ghost-x-selected-for-u-s-army-s-company-level-suas-directed-requirement). Fielding commercial drones such as Ghost-X to brigade combat teams is meant to shape its requirements. ### Where did Safe Pro collect its training data? In Ukraine, from drone surveys of land contaminated by mines and unexploded ordnance, according to the company, which publishes its [detection results](https://safeproai.com/landmine-detections/) online. ### Where is Safe Pro Group based, and how is it traded? Safe Pro Group is based in Aventura, Florida, and its shares trade on Nasdaq under the ticker SPAI. ## Sources - [Safe Pro Group's announcement of its Army prime contract](https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2026/11/10/3399521/0/en/safe-pro-group-awarded-u-s-army-prime-contract-teams-with-anduril-for-super-intelligence-on-ghost-x-drone-for-tank-protection.html): press release from Safe Pro Group via GlobeNewswire, 10 November 2026. - [Landmine Monitor 2025](https://the-monitor.org/online-reader/landmine-monitor-2025): the International Campaign to Ban Landmines – Cluster Munition Coalition's annual report on mine and explosive-remnant casualties and contamination. - [Ghost-X Selected for U.S. Army's Company Level sUAS Directed Requirement](https://www.anduril.com/news/ghost-x-selected-for-u-s-army-s-company-level-suas-directed-requirement): Anduril Industries' announcement, with Ghost-X's specifications. - [Real-World Detections in Ukraine](https://safeproai.com/landmine-detections/): Safe Pro AI's page of its detection results.