Still, this is a promising sounding tech. for detecting mines in past battlefields, ordnance, mercury and so on. Hope the idea is developed in a workable way.
An interesting point the article did not mention is how some forms of munitions tend to release more identifiable gases as they slowly decay over time. This is one of the reasons why using trained dogs has been effective to locate mines. If they can get this laser and radar tech working effectively, it stands to reason this tech will be especially useful for finding and clearing old mine fields.
Mines are a terrible problem, but tech like this has a chance of saving a lot of innocent lives.
I've also read of more unusual / interesting detection techniques researched, like bees, and my personal favorite, the seeding by air of bioluminescent bacteria that feed off of said gases.
Making the enemy believe something is frequently more powerful than making them dead: http://www.psywarrior.com/dissemination.html