GEON E61 Proves Its Mettle During Exercises in Ukraine

Tobias Leininger, ArroTech’s founder and chief technical officer, traveled to Ukraine in June to conduct GEON E61 drone operator training that proved to be a learning experience for teacher and students, alike. 

The trainees — three Ukrainian men in their 20s — satisfied Leininger that they were good candidates to become GEON E61 operators and were sincerely interested in its UXO/landmine detection capabilities. 

ArroTech consultants Anatoily Onyschuk and Serghei Danilov accompanied Leininger during portions of the training. 

At the trip’s conclusion, Leininger was confident that the trainees will be able to use the GEON E61 system effectively and maintain system hardware in good order. 

In the course of the trip: 

• Leininger emphasized topics including mission planning, drone operation, data analysis, maintenance and repairs during close to 100 training flights. 

• Air raid signals and related GPS outages provided real-life opportunities for introducing trainees to manual operation of the drone. 

• The team established the offroad capabilities of a ground control station trailer that performed well, given its light weight and high ground clearance. 

• Leininger discussed technical and operational details of the GEON E61 system with representatives of Acuity International, a multi-faceted contracting firm. 

Leininger extended his trip to make time for a demonstration of the GEON E61 system to personnel with the State Emergency Service of Ukraine. 

With winds gusting to more than 20 meters per second (45 miles per hour), conditions were far from optimal and exceeded limits that Leininger has set for drone flight. Those winds were not just strong, but tricky, coming over and around trees and quickly changing direction. 

“It was quite a sight to see how the drone kept the heavy, large detector steady in those challenging conditions,” Leininger said. “But we succeeded in gathering enough data to send to the SESU to have made for a successful demonstration.” 

Before returning to his home in Germany, Leininger was exposed while in Kyiv to the hostilities that have made Ukraine the most densely mined nation in the world. 

“One night, there was a massive attack on the city with rockets and drones, and the Ukrainians shot down 20 of them at 3 a.m.,” Leininger said. “I could hear the explosions and see them from my window. I am glad that Ukraine has a good air-defense system.”