NPA invites technology vendors, manufacturers and developers to submit an Expression of Interest to partner with NPA to develop and test potential new technologies that can non-intrusively scan for or otherwise detect explosive contamination (buried and beneath vegetation) across large areas.
About Us
Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) is a politically independent membership-based organization working in Norway and in more than 30 countries around the world. Founded in 1939 as the Norwegian labour movement's humanitarian solidarity organization, NPA aims to improve people's living conditions and to create a democratic, just and safe society.
NPA's international work covers two core areas: Mine Action and Disarmament and Development and Humanitarian Cooperation. NPA has a dedicated Department for Mine Action and Disarmament (DMAD) that works in six focus areas: Mine Action, Advocacy, Conflict Preparedness and Protection, Risk Education, Weapons and Ammunition Management, and Environment. NPA aims to reduce and prevent harm to civilians from the impacts of explosive weapons and ammunition. NPA covers the full life-cycle of weapons and ammunitions, with interventions to protect civilians before, during and after conflict.
Context and Background
The majority of NPA’s work to protect civilians from explosive weapons is focused on the removal of landmines, cluster munitions, and other explosive ordnance (EO). This is achieved through the Land Release process comprising of three activities
- Non-Technical Survey (NTS) - refers to the collection and analysis of data, without the use of technical interventions, about the presence, type, distribution and surrounding environment of EO contamination, in order to define better where EO contamination is present, and where it is not, and to support land release prioritisation and decision-making processes through the provision of evidence. Data collection can be done through collecting information from key informants as well as observing available evidence on the ground by satellite maps, Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) imagery, or visually from a safe distance outside the suspected hazardous area. NTS is normally conducted by a small team of two to three surveyors.
- Technical Survey (TS) - refers to the collection and analysis of data, using appropriate technical interventions, about the presence, type, distribution and surrounding environment of EO contamination, in order to define better where EO contamination is present, and where it is not, and to support land release prioritisation and decision-making processes through the provision of evidence. TS is performed using manual deminers, mine detection dogs, machines, either bespoke demining machines or modified excavation and/or farming equipment.
- Clearance- Normally conducted following NTS and TS, clearance in the context of mine action refers to tasks or actions to ensure the removal and/or the destruction of all Explosive Ordnance from a specified area to a specified depth. This is normally performed using manual deminers, mine detection dogs or a combination following the preparation of the area by machines.
Due to the time and resource-intensive nature of the Land Release process, NPA is constantly striving towards making its operations safer and more efficient. One of the most effective ways in which efficiency can be increased is by making the identification of hazardous areas as accurate as possible. Due to the nature of conflict (i.e. the fog of war), there is often unreported evidence which is consequently unable to be captured by NTS. Since the mapping of hazardous areas during NTS is done non-intrusively from a safe distance; this can result in suspected hazardous areas often being over-estimated during the mapping process due to the need for safety buffers. This results in a knock-on effect where significant resources will need to be allocated to conduct technical survey and clear areas that have no explosive ordnance contamination, thereby wasting time and resources which could otherwise be deployed more effectively.
The Challenge
The use of UAVs by NPA and other mine action organisations during NTS has been a game-changer, allowing the capture of overhead imagery in areas that would otherwise be inaccessible by survey teams on foot. UAV imagery, augmented with AI-powered threat identification, has resulted in significant increases in accuracy and efficiency of NTS and thereby also in the overall Land Release process. However, the technology as it is being employed today still has its drawbacks. Optical cameras on commercial-off-the-shell UAVs can only see items on the surface and cannot see through vegetation or see buried items. Considering that the vast majority of landmines and other explosive ordnance are typically found buried in the ground with significant overgrowth of vegetation, there are currently considerable limitations to using only optical imagery from UAVs.
With support from Innovation Norway, in March 2025, NPA along with FTU, Engineers Without Borders Norway and TEKNA hosted a Market Dialogue to explore explosive detection and soil sampling systems for potential use in either a Land Release context or in impact assessments and environmental remediation after clearance; with a particular focus on Ukraine as a case study. In light of the feedback by Norwegian industry stakeholders during the market dialogue, NPA would like to explore the potential use-cases of explosive detection and other related technologies to be applied either during NTS or potentially during TS activities to augment current operations. In particular, NPA hopes that the added ability to non-intrusively sample or scan large areas for evidence of explosive contamination (particularly of buried mines and other explosive ordnance), potentially combined with unmanned systems, can result in efficiency gains in the orders of magnitude.
Expression of Interest Submission Format
Taking the above into consideration, NPA invites technology vendors, manufacturers and developers to submit an Expression of Interest to partner with NPA to develop and test potential new technologies that can non-intrusively scan for or otherwise detect explosive contamination (buried and beneath vegetation) across large areas.
This Call for Expressions of Interest will form the basis for the release for a Tender by July 2025. Although not a requirement, organizations that have responded to this Call for Expressions of Interest will be viewed more favourably for consideration in the subsequent Tender.
Interested stakeholders are encouraged to submit to NPA a maximum 3-page narrative concept note containing the following:
- Background – Please provide a brief description of your organisation’s history, key capabilities and relevant past performance/successful projects.
- Proposed Technical Solution – Please articulate your proposed technology or technical solution in as much detail as possible, but with a lay audience in mind and respecting the total 3-page limit. Please specify whether the Proposed Technical Solution is a modification of an existing experimental technology, adaptation of commercial off the shelf products, development of an entirely new technology or a combination thereof. Please specify whether your organisation has already developed a prototype, used/sold the Solution at scale, or if you are planning to or currently working on developing a new technology which meets the above criteria. Please also specify for which of the three Land Release activities you would like to apply the use-case for your Proposed Technical Solution (you may propose more than one). Your organisation must be the developer/designer, manufacturer or authorised vendor of the Proposed Technical Solution.
- Collaboration – Briefly articulate your ability to jointly collaborate with, develop and test the Proposed Technical Solution alongside NPA. Please cite cases of successful initiatives doing so with previous clients/partners, where relevant.
- Estimated cost – Please provide the total cost (in Norwegian Krone, USD or Euro) of delivering at least one prototype or sample of the Proposed Technical Solution; or conversely propose the total number of samples that can be delivered within a limit of 4,500,000 Norwegian Krone or equivalent in USD/Euro. Internal Research and Development costs should be taken into account in this estimate, although a detailed breakdown/budget does not need to be provided at this stage. The ability to deliver multiple samples/end-products within the 4,500,000 Norwegian Krone limit will be viewed more favourably. *Note: The suggested estimated cost limit is illustrative only, and is not indicative of the value of any related future tender(s)*
Expressions of Interest shall be submitted by email to Kyaw Lin Htut, Senior Advisor - Innovation, kyawhtut396@npaid.org.
Please submit your Expression of Interest by 6th June 2025, 17:00 Central European Time.
Please include your organisation’s name followed by the phrase “Expression of Interest - Non-Intrusive Explosive Detection Technologies” in the subject line of the email. The Concept Note document shall only be in either Word or PDF format. Attachments shall not exceed 25mb in total.