The CC 48 is an Italian wooden cased minimum metal anti-tank mine that was used during the Second World War. The mine uses a shaped TNT explosive charge to produce a directional cutting effect. The mine uses two PMC/43 fuzes, but these can be replaced with PMC/42/2 anti-personnel fuzes, combined with weakening the lid this can make it sensitive enough to be detonated by the weight of a mine.
A minimum metal mine is a land mine that is designed to use the smallest amount of metal possible in its construction. Typically, the only metal components are located inside the fuze mechanism which triggers detonation. Both minimum metal anti-tank and anti-personnel mines exist. Some designs contain virtually no metal at all e.g. less than a gram. This is achieved by encasing the explosive charge in a plastic, wooden, or glass body, with metallic components limited to the few small parts in the fuze which can not easily be made from other materials, such as the spring, striker tip, and shear pin. Minimum metal mines are extremely difficult to detect using conventional metal mine detectors and usually require modern techniques, such as robotic Multi Period Sensing (MPS) equipment, to identify, but it is still too difficult to find non-metallic mines. These techniques are usually restricted to well-funded international mine clearing organizations and major militaries, making minimum metal mines especially pernicious where they are encountered.
An anti-tank mine is a type of land mine designed to damage or destroy vehicles including tanks and armored fighting vehicles.
A shaped charge is an explosive charge shaped to focus the effect of the explosive's energy. Various types are used to cut and form metal, initiate nuclear weapons, penetrate armor, and perforate wells in the oil and gas industry.
The mines were normally laid between 3.5 and 1.8 meters apart, any closer would trigger sympathetic detonation.
A sympathetic detonation, also called flash over, is a detonation, usually unintended, of an explosive charge by a nearby explosion. Sympathetic detonation is caused by a shock wave, or impact of primary or secondary blast fragments.
The Tellermine 43 was a German circular steel cased anti-tank blast mine used during the Second World War. It was a simplified version of the Tellermine 42, which enabled simpler production techniques. Between March 1943 and the end of World War II, over 3.6 million Tellermine 43s were produced by Germany. Copies of the mine were produced by several countries including Denmark (M/47), France and Yugoslavia (TMM-1).
The PP Mi-D mine is a Czechoslovakian copy of the German Second World War Schu-mine 42 anti-personnel mine.
The POMZ, POMZ-2 and POMZ-2M are three types of Soviet-made stake mounted anti-personnel fragmentation mine. The POMZ mine was used during the Second World War. It was superseded by the POMZ-2, and later by the improved POMZ-2M. These mines have been used in numerous conflicts, including the Vietnam War and the Korean War.
The TM-57 mine is a large, circular Soviet metal-cased blast anti-tank mine. It can either be triggered by a pressure or a tilt-rod fuze. A development of the TM-46 mine, it is found in Africa, the Middle East, and South East Asia.
The TM-46 mine is a large, circular, metal-cased Soviet anti-tank mine. It uses either a pressure fuze or tilt-rod, which is screwed into the top. Anti-tank mines with this type of fuze were capable of inflicting much more damage to armored vehicles. The TMN-46 is a variant of the mine fitted with a secondary fuze well on the bottom which is slightly off-set from the centre of the mine. This secondary fuze well can be fitted with a pull-fuze which functions as an anti-handling device. The mine was used by the North Vietnamese forces during the Vietnam War, and is found in many countries in Africa, the Middle East and South East Asia.
The PMN series of blast anti-personnel mines were designed and manufactured in the Soviet Union. They are one of the most widely used and commonly found devices during demining operations.
TM-62 is the designation for a series of Soviet anti-tank blast mines. The mines have a central fuze and typically have a 7.5 kg explosive charge, however they vary greatly in detail. The mines can be laid manually or automatically from a mine laying machine including the PMR-1, PMR-2 wheeled towed mine layers, the GMZ tracked mine laying vehicle and the VMR-2 helicopter mine laying system.
The SACI is an Italian Bakelite cased minimum metal anti-tank blast landmine. A number of variants were produced with varying amounts of explosive. The mine has three fuze wells on the top surface, that are covered with a pressure plate. Several types of fuzes were made including a low metal fuze. Combined with the low metal fuze the mine is very difficult to detect with mine detectors.
The SB-81 is an Italian plastic cased minimum metal anti-tank blast mine dating from the early 1980s. The mine uses an air pressure based fuze, which gives it protection against overpressure and blast. It can therefore be regarded as a blast resistant mine. The mine can be scattered by hand or by mine laying systems.
The Riegel mine 43 or is a German steel cased anti-tank bar mine used during the Second World War. The mine is a long thin rectangle. It consists of a lower and upper metal tray, and an internal metal-cased explosive block. It uses two ZZ42 fuzes inserted into either end of the internal block, although it can be used with an additional pressure fuze on the top. The mine is similar to the Italian B-2 mine. A variant, the Riegel mine 44 was also produced with a different fuze. Approximately 3,051,400 were produced between 1943 and 1945.
The Panssarimiina m/44 is a Finnish anti-tank blast mine. It entered service in 1944 and was used during the Second World War and Continuation War. The mine used a wooden case, consisting of an upper box containing the main charge and a downward facing fuze, this was placed into a sturdy wooden tray, larger than the box. Enough pressure on the upper box resulting in the upper box collapsing into the lower tray triggering the detonator.
The M1, M1A1 and M4 are circular steel cased United States anti-tank blast mines with a distinctive cross shaped pressure spider. The mine was used during the Second World War and a copy produced in Argentina was used during the Falklands War. Another copy is produced in China. designated the No.4 mine. Variants of the mine have also been deployed in Chad and Tunisia.
The MAT-76 is a large circular Romanian minimum metal anti-tank blast mine. It is similar to the MAT-62B mine, sharing a fuze. The mine is actually a cast block of TNT with a thin coating of fibreglass. The mine has a central fuze well that normally uses a P-62 pressure fuze, although it can be used with any of the fuzes designed for the Russian TM-62 and TM-72 series of mines. The bakelite plastic used in the fuze of a MAT-76 may become brittle in desert conditions, which can reduce the activation pressure. This may make the mine unstable i.e. can detonate simply by handling it. The mine is found in Angola, Iraq, Kuwait, Liberia, Mozambique, and Zambia.
The TMD-1 and TMD-2 are Yugoslavian wooden cased anti-tank blast mines, similar to the Russian TMD-B. The box consists of a wooden box, which contains the main cast TNT main charge. A webbing carrying handle is provided on one side of the mine. The fuze is placed in a central detonation well under the centre board of three that are fixed to the top of the mine. When sufficient pressure is placed on the boards, they collapse inwards, pressing on the installed fuze triggering the mine.
The TM 65 is a circular Finnish minimum metal anti-tank blast mine. It is broadly based on the Russian TM-62 mine. The mines body is made from a thin shell of fibreglass over a cast block of explosive, with a central fuze well that holds the pressure fuze. The original TM 65 used a US-65 fuze as used in the SM-65 anti-personnel mine, the later TM 65 77 uses a pressure fuze similar to the Russian MV-5 fuze called Painesytytin 77.
The PM-43 and PM-68 are Finnish anti-personnel fragmentation mines.
The CS 42/2 is an Italian wooden cased anti-tank mine used during the Second World War. The mine uses four PMC 43 buttons, which can be substituted for Model 42/2 fuzes to make it function as an Anti-personnel mine.
The CS 42/3 is an Italian wooden cased anti-tank mine used during the Second World War. Like the earlier CS 42/2 mine it uses four PMC 43 fuzes. It is a minimum metal mine, containing no metal.
The Mk 4 mine or Mine G.S. Mk IV was a British anti-tank mine used during World War II. Externally the mine has a cylindrical main body filled with explosive either TNT or Baratol. The mine is covered by a pressure plate, which is attached to the mine body by four pins which sit in vertical slots in clips that fold up from the bottom of the mine. The mine uses the Shear-pin based Contact Mine Fuze No.3 Mk I. The fuze consists simply of a spring-loaded striker pin restrained by a shear pin. Sufficient pressure on the pressure plate presses the plate down on the head of the fuze, breaking the shear wire and releasing the striker, which is driven into the detonator by the striker spring.
In military munitions, a fuze is the part of the device that initiates function. In some applications, such as torpedoes, a fuze may be identified by function as the exploder. The relative complexity of even the earliest fuze designs can be seen in cutaway diagrams.