DISARMCO — Dragon’s Spear (Dragon™ MK8)

Overview

The classic approach to an unexploded WWII aerial bomb found during construction in a city is to extract it, load it onto special transport, escort it by police hundreds of kilometres to a proving ground and detonate it there — with mass evacuation, blocked streets and hours of paralysed traffic. Dragon's Spear replaces that with on-site destruction without explosion: a thermite heat source is mounted on the munition body, ignited remotely, and burns through the casing until the explosive filler ignites and burns out as deflagration rather than detonating. Nothing is transported, no fragments scatter, no shock wave is produced, and neighbouring mines are not set off. The difference is not marginal safety improvement — it turns a chaotic dangerous task into an engineering process with understandable economics.

Applications

Non-explosive disposal of unexploded ordnance and mines in place: aerial bombs, land mines, naval mines, torpedoes, 155 mm shells, cluster munitions, old shells with degraded explosives, and "no-touch" mines that cannot be handled. Urban discoveries near people, homes, schools and hospitals where a classic detonation zone reaching kilometres is impossible near infrastructure. Post-conflict clearance at national scale. Work in the Chernobyl NPP zone, from which nothing can be removed at all because the ground is radioactive — the source states that besides thermite there simply is no other demining method there. Extracted explosive charges can alternatively be burned separately in a controlled installation.

Operating Principle

Dragon's Spear is a special source of sprayed heat, shaped like an elongated firecracker. It is installed on the bomb body on special legs — a simple tripod stand — positioned vertically so that the fiery stream is directed deep into the bomb, and ignited remotely by cable. The stream of super-hot energy is directed at one point of contact rather than the whole casing, at a temperature above 2,000 °C — the level at which steel loses strength and begins to flow.

In 10–20 seconds a hole appears in the metal. Pressure inside the shell escapes and the body no longer holds a charge, so the explosive does not detonate: it ignites and burns out as a bright flame. The process speed drops thousands of times — the difference between 8,000 m/s detonation and a combustion front of roughly 1–10 m/s.

Thermal burning (deflagration) yields heat and gas rather than fragments and a shock wave. Pressure does not spike because the body is already burned through and destroyed; energy goes into burning, not explosion. The consequences are no fragment scatter for hundreds of metres, no shock wave hitting people and equipment, and no detonation of neighbouring mines.

The operator does not touch the object and works from a safe distance, observing from a drone. The residue is a pile of metal rather than thousands of fragments, and can be sent for reprocessing into peaceful products.

Limitation carried over from the source: the source presents the technology without stated technical limitations, comparing it only against classic detonation. [ограничения технологии, названные разработчиком — требует уточнения из базы]

Key Parameters

| Parameter | Value |

|---|---|

| Working temperature of the thermite stream | Above 2,000 °C |

| Time to burn a hole in the metal casing | 10–20 seconds |

| Burn duration after remote launch | 20 seconds |

| Combustion front speed (deflagration) | Approximately 1–10 m/s |

| Detonation reaction speed for comparison | Up to 7,000–8,000 m/s |

| Time per object including installation | A couple of minutes; stated elsewhere as 3–5 minutes |

| Operators required | One operator mounts the device on the target object |

| Unit price | About $50 per unit |

| Classic method cost per mine | Up to $500 |

| Cost advantage | 10 times cheaper |

| Time advantage | 24–50 times faster (stated in the body); 24–40 times faster (stated in the summary) |

| Transport classification | Flammable materials class 4.1 |

| Standards | NSN codes; UK, USA and NATO supply nomenclature; EOD procedures; IATG standards |

Threat-side reference figures cited in the source:

| Parameter | Value |

|---|---|

| Explosive content of Allied aerial bombs dropped on Germany | Up to approximately 300 kg |

| Detonation pressure | Tens of thousands of atmospheres |

| Fragment velocity | 1,500–2,500 m/s |

| Dangerous damage radius | Up to 500 m, sometimes more |

| Explosive content of naval mines, torpedoes, aerial bombs, 155 mm shells | Dozens to hundreds of kilograms |

| Classic detonation destruction zone for large ordnance | Can reach kilometres |

> Расхождение в источнике: the time advantage over the classic method is given as "24–50 times" in the body of the text and as "24–40× faster" in the closing summary. Both figures are reproduced.

Architecture and Components

Thermite charge unit (Dragon™ MK8) shaped as an elongated firecracker. Special legs / simple tripod stand for mounting on the munition body with vertical orientation of the fiery stream. Remote ignition cable and launch device. Drone for operator observation from a safe distance. Optionally, a controlled installation for burning charges extracted from a munition separately. [конструкционные детали и состав термитного заряда — требует уточнения из базы]

Advantages

• No detonation: the main risk is removed at the point of discovery.
• No fragment scatter for hundreds of metres, no shock wave, no secondary detonation of neighbouring mines.
• No transport of ordnance: nothing is moved anywhere, no proving grounds or ravines are required, no city traffic is paralysed and no mass evacuation is needed.
• 10 times cheaper than the classic method ($50 per unit vs up to $500 per mine).
• 24–50 times faster per object (2 hours vs 3–5 minutes).
• Logistics: classified as flammable materials class 4.1, which means simpler transportation, fewer restrictions and lower delivery cost; can be moved by regular logistics including commercial flights. This removes one of the main obstacles — access to explosives in a country after the war. Classic detonation always means working with explosives: licences, transport, storage, control, with every movement a separate procedure.
• Works with complex objects — "no-touch" mines, cluster munitions, old shells with degraded explosives — from a safe distance, with the operator never touching the object.
• Ecology: thermal burning gives controlled gases that can be filtered; no scatter of reaction products across the terrain; no soil contamination in the same volume. Classic detonation scatters heavy metals and explosive residues, and wet processes generate "pink water", a toxic liquid requiring disposal.
• The only viable method in the Chernobyl NPP zone, from which nothing can be removed because the ground is radioactive.
• The residue is a pile of metal that can be sent for reprocessing into peaceful products rather than thousands of fragments.
• Easily scalable — simpler, safer, smaller, requiring no explosives and no hundreds of people; one or hundreds of objects can be processed simultaneously.

Integrations

Work with the UN, HALO Trust and MAG. In Ukraine: certified and applied in real conditions, with deliveries made, requests for the future, and cooperation with the National Police engaged in demining, other government structures and demining contractors. Integrated into EOD procedures and IATG standards; NSN codes place the systems in the supply nomenclature of the armies of the UK, USA and NATO.

Deployment & Operation

The device is mounted on the target object by a single operator: a tripod stand is placed with an offset, Dragon's Spear is installed vertically so the fiery stream is directed deep into the bomb, the cable is connected and the launch is remote. Burn time 20 seconds; total time including installation a couple of minutes. The operator observes from a drone and never touches the object. No zone preparation, permits, coordination with police, emergency services and the mayor's office, loading, perimeter clearing, evacuation, escort, inspection, unloading, storage, explosives or post-detonation assessment are required — all of which the classic route needs, taking hours per object.

TRL

In operational service. The system has existed and been applied for 30 years in many hot spots of the world. Application confirmed in the UK, Iraq, Afghanistan and South Sudan, plus Ukraine, with multi-year successful exploitation. Systems carry NSN codes and are in the UK, USA and NATO supply nomenclature, used within EOD procedures and working to IATG standards. Certified and applied in real conditions. [числовой уровень TRL — требует уточнения из базы]

Market Potential

After war, millions of objects remain. In Ukraine, where military actions continue, over 450,000 sq. km are contaminated with explosives and up to 10 million+ mines and UXO are in the ground. The source additionally names Gaza, Iran, the UAE and other Gulf countries, Lebanon and Syria, and states the list can continue much longer. Germany is cited as a recurring case of WWII bombs found during construction in populated cities. [объём рынка в деньгах — требует уточнения из базы]

Typical Project Economics

• Unit price of Dragon's Spear: about $50. Classic destruction of a mine: up to $500, covering logistics, detonation, zone security, personnel, blocked streets, special equipment, special transport and work stoppage. Difference: 10 times.
• Site with 100,000 mines: classic method up to $50 million; thermal method about $3 million; difference $47 million. This covers direct costs only, without time, inconvenience and secondary expenses.
• Ukraine, classic approach: 10 million ordnance units × 120 minutes = 1,200,000,000 minutes = 20,000,000 hours, i.e. 2,283 years of non-stop work by one team. Using dozens of teams and shorter transport distances would at best give 50–70 years of daily work and hundreds of billions of dollars.
• Ukraine, thermite approach: 400,000 hours, or 47 years by one team working 24/7 — but disposal is possible for one or hundreds of objects simultaneously, and many trained Dragon's Spear operators already work in Ukraine, so the period becomes dramatically shorter.

> Расхождение в источнике: the cost of clearing 100,000 mines by the thermal method is stated as "about $3 million", while the stated unit price of $50 applied to the same 100,000 units gives a different total. Both figures are reproduced as given in the source, without recalculation.

Risk Factors

• Handling categories that remain intrinsically hazardous: "no-touch" mines, cluster munitions and old shells with degraded explosives, where any movement can initiate an explosion. The source presents the thermite approach as the mitigation, since the operator works from a safe distance and never touches the object.
• The residue process produces gases that require filtration to remain controlled.
• Programme scale: even by the thermite route, Ukraine alone represents 400,000 hours (47 years for one team working 24/7), so throughput depends on the number of trained operators and units deployed in parallel.
• Access to explosives in a post-war country is named as a bottleneck for the classic method; the thermite route's class 4.1 classification is presented as the mitigation.
• [прочие риск-факторы, названные разработчиком — требует уточнения из базы]

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