A hard-hitting reportage by FALO for Italian-speaking national Swiss news channel RSI contains footage of our GCS-200 operated by Swiss non-governmental humanitarian organisation Fondation Suisse de Déminage (FSD) to clear agricultural land in Ukraine.

The article and video [in Italian] contain information about the speed and effectiveness of mechanical demining: “FSD also uses a machine designed by the Schwyz-based company GCS that increases the effectiveness of mine clearance and reduces the risk of accidents for people. One hour of his work is equivalent to four days for an entire team of deminers.”

Our partnership with FSD is an example of the Swiss joined-up response, which was already effective even before the latest CHF 4.6 million donation including three GCS-200 high-performance demining platforms, specialised drone technology and dedicated transport vehicles which was announced in October at the Ukraine Mine Action Conference (UMAC) in Lausanne.

Each field may take up to six months to demine, a rate much accelerated however by the use of our mechanical demining platform, followed by painstaking, centimetre-by-centimetre manual demining to ensure civilians, including farmers, can return to their land and begin to rebuild their lives and livelihoods.

It takes seconds to create a minefield, and decades to eliminate landmines and other explosive remnants of war from Ukraine, currently the largest minefield in the world. Switzerland, and GCS, are playing our part, not just supporting Mine Action but also across the spectrum of possibility, from rapidly educating and equipping municipalities like those in Kherson with knowledge and technology to prevent death and injury from mines, to – as soon as resources can be allocated – clearing mines and other explosive threats.