Ann: Metal Storm Gets 5 New Patents in USA , page-4

Being able to fire hundreds of tiny sensors, great idea

Minefields.. they're on the way out, precisely because they're indiscriminate even if they can be switched off. You need someone there to say 'yep, destroy that target'. Sensors let you know they're there, but they need to engage with something else -after- confirming they are the enemy

Maybe they're planning to activate the mine fields only when attack by the enemy in that vicinity is immiment, or when minefields are 100% covered by observation