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Some Landmines
This is a collection of mine pictures, some of which were drawn of photographed
by team members, others were contributed "on the net" and are
reproduced here. Thanks to several anonymous contributers. If any contributer
finds their artwork here and wants to be acknowledged, please contact
us (see page footer).
Land mines are usually very simple devices and readily manufactured anywhere.
There are two basic types of mines: anti-vehicle or anti-tank (AT) mines,
and anti-personnel (AP) mines. AT mines are comparatively large (0.8 -
4 kg explosive), often laid in unsealed roads or potholes, and detonate
when a vehicle drives over one. They are typically activated by force
(>100 kg), magnetic influence, or remote control. AP mines are much
smaller (80 - 250g explosive) and are usually activated by force (3 -
7kg) or tripwires.
AP mines can be classified as:
Blast mines, often with minimal metal content, which are buried in the
ground. These mines destroy any object (even metal) in close proximity
(within 300 mm) such as a foot. The fragments of the destroyed object
often breaks into fragments which are blasted upwards at high speed. It
is often these "secondary" fragments which do most damage.
Fragmentation mines, which throw fragments (usually metal) outwards at
high speed. These mines can inflict casualties up to 200 metres away,
and kill at shorter distances. They are often used as ambush weapons.
The metal content makes them easier to detect. One type of fragmentation
mine, the bounding fragementation mine, is buried in the ground, but jumps
up to about 1 metre above the ground when activated, and then explodes
sending lethal fragments to about 200 metres away.
An Anti Tank (AT) mine in sand, about 350 mm in diameter.
A "Claymore" type anti-personnel mine (MRUD Yugoslavia) about
350 mm across. This mine explodes throwing steel balls outwards (towards
the camera position) and is designed to inflict casualties over a wide
radius. It is often used for ambushes and is effective against normal
civilian vehicles.
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Sketch showing a cross section of a tripwire activated anti-personnel
fragmentation mine on a stake (like POMZ or PMRD6) (left) and a
small anti-personnel blast mine (right) like a type 72 or M14.
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Photographs of Type 72 Chinese anti-personnel blast mine with exposive
removed. The brown diaphram is a conical spring: once foot pressure
is applied to the top of the mine the spring snaps down, forcing
the tiny metal pin at the centre to impact the detonator. The detonator
itself is an aluminium cylinder about 9 mm long by 5 mm diam by
.5 mm thick, open at the ends - see photo
of several supplied kindly by Colin King.
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Cross section of PMN-1 mine common in Afghanistan and southern Africa.
This mine is an old Russian design, dating from the 1950's, but is one
of the most dangerous anti-personnel blast mines as it is very sensitive
and the entire top cap is sensitive. The force required to set it off
is least at the edge, and can be as little as 1 kg under some conditions.
It is also reported to be very reliable: a high proportion found in the
ground are still functional after many years. Photographs to the right
show actual components from a PMN mine with explosive removed
See separate page for the PMN-2 mine.
This is a US made M19 Anti Tank mine, about 300 mm across. It is minimum
metal too, making it very hard to detect. The trigger mechanism is similar
to an M14 mine, one of the hardest to detect with metal detectors. The
plastic is known to degrade with time under some conditions, and this
can make the mine more dangerous.
The feared PROM-1 bounding fragmentation mine common in Croatia and Bosnia
Herzegovina. This is a large metal mine, approximately 200 mm high, triggered
by foot pressure on the spikes or by tripwire or both. They are easy to
miss visually. The vegetation around the mine has to be cut by hand before
the ground can be checked by a metal detector. This is an extremely dangerous
mine which has killed deminers 200 metres away. It can also inflict significant
damage to demining machinery.
The Italian VS-50 minimum metal mine. This is a modern mine and unmarked
copies turn up in several mine-affected regions. It is about 90 mm
in
diameter.
PMA-1 box mines. These are extremely simple to make and similar mines
are often found made from wood or plastic. The box lids have been opened
here, showing the TNT blocks inside. A simple metal fuse detonates the
mine. It is moderately easy to detect with metal detectors. The mine explodes
when stepped on, or by tripwire in some types.
For comprehensive information on mine types and characteristics, refer
to Janes Mines and Mine Clearance edited by Colin King and available from
good booksellers. It has been updated every year since it forst appeared
in 1996.
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