What Type of Mine Detector Did Azerbaijani Diversionists Have?

On the morning of March 6, the Ministry of Defense of Armenia announced that a diversionary attack by Azerbaijani soldiers was thwarted in one of the northeastern positions along the border, with the enemy leaving behind ammunition and a mine detector while retreating.

The Ministry of Defense also released a photo of the mine detector, which is identified as the German Vallon Company’s VMH3CS model, manufactured in 2019.

Razm.info highlights that the Azerbaijani State Border Service has issued a statement allegedly denying the claims made by the Ministry of Defense regarding the diversionary attack. However, it is notable that there is no information provided about the mine detector itself, which can be interpreted as a confirmation of the information regarding the device rather than a denial.

All reports concerning the sale of mine detectors to Azerbaijan pertain to the National Agency for Mine Action of Azerbaijan (ANAMA), and in our observations, these mine detectors have only been seen in the possession of ANAMA in Azerbaijan. For example, the VMH3CS mine detector can be seen in the hands of one of ANAMA’s employees in a video from 2015. Additionally, there are records of cooperation between Vallon and ANAMA regarding other models, such as the VMR2 mine detectors since 2011.