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The M18A1 Claymore is a directional anti-personnel mine developed for the United States Armed Forces. Its inventor, Norman MacLeod, named the mine after a large medieval Scottish sword. Unlike a conventional land mine, the Claymore is command-detonated and directional, meaning it is fired by remote-control and shoots a pattern of metal balls into the kill zone like a shotgun. The Claymore can also be victim-activated by booby-trapping it with a tripwire firing system for use in area denial operations.
The GATOR mine system is a United States military system of air-dropped anti-tank and anti-personnel mines developed in the 1980s to be compatible with existing cluster dispensers. It is used with two dispenser systems—the Navy 230 kg (500 lb) CBU-78/B and the Air Force 450 kg (1,000 lb) CBU-89/B. Additionally the mines are used with the land- and helicopter-based Volcano mine system.
The MON-50 is a claymore shaped, plastic bodied, directional type of anti-personnel mine designed and manufactured in the Soviet Union. It is designed to wound or kill by explosive fragmentation. The mine is similar to the American M18 Claymore with a few differences.
The MRUD is a plastic bodied, convex rectangular directional type anti-personnel mine designed to wound or kill by fragmentation. It is broadly similar to the M18A1 Claymore mine.
The MON-90 is a claymore shaped, plastic bodied, directional type of anti-personnel mine designed and manufactured in the Soviet Union. It is designed to wound or kill by fragmentation. The mine is similar in appearance to the MON-50, but is approximately twice the size with a much greater depth.
The M86 Pursuit Deterrent Munition (PDM) is a small United States anti-personnel mine intended to be used by special forces to deter pursuing enemy forces.
Anti-personnel mines are a form of mine designed for use against humans, as opposed to anti-tank mines, which are designed for use against vehicles. Anti-personnel mines may be classified into blast mines or fragmentation mines, the latter may or may not be a bouncing mine.
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. They are sometimes nicknamed "black widow" because of their dark casings.
The VS-MK-2 is a plastic bodied scatterable anti-personnel blast mine manufactured by the now-defunct Valsella Meccanotecnica, SpA, an Italian high-tech defence contractor that specialized in the development and production of area denial systems. The mine is extremely difficult to detect because of its low metal content i.e. it is a minimum metal mine. Additionally, it is resistant to blast overpressure due to a pneumatic system in the fuze. The mine will also function in up to 1 metre of water. An electrically fused anti-handling version of the mine was also produced designated VS-MK-2-EL, VS-MK-2-E or VS-MK2 AR-AN to hinder clearance attempts. Although Italy has ceased production of this mine it may still be found in uncleared minefields located in Angola, Sudan and the Western Sahara.
The VS-50 is a circular plastic cased anti-personnel blast mine, formerly manufactured by the now-defunct Valsella Meccanotecnica SpA, an Italian high-tech defence industry specialized in area denial systems which was also the manufacturer of the Valmara 69 and one of the first industries in the world to implement plastic construction for landmines. The design is similar to the TS-50 and VS-MK2 mine. It is blast resistant and can be used in a minimum metal configuration. Though unlikely to kill, the explosive charge contained within a VS-50 is quite sufficient to destroy the victim's foot: the blast is capable of penetrating 5 mm of mild steel leaving an 80 mm-diameter hole.
The M7 is a small, metal-cased United States anti-tank blast mine that was used during the Second World War. It was based on the British Hawkins grenade. Approximately 2.5 million were produced before production ceased, and although it has long since been withdrawn from U.S. service, it can be found in Angola, Burma, Cambodia, Chad, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Korea, Lebanon, Myanmar, Somalia, Thailand, and Zambia.
The M19 is a large square plastic cased United States anti-tank blast mine. Intended to replace the M15 mine, the design dates from the mid-1960s and contains only two metal components: the copper detonator capsule and a stainless steel firing pin which weighs 2.86 grams. It is a minimum metal mine, which makes it very difficult to detect after it has been emplaced. This mine is produced under licence in Chile, South Korea and Turkey. A copy is produced in Iran. It is found in Afghanistan, Angola, Chad, Chile, Cyprus, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, South Korea, Lebanon, the Western Sahara, and Zambia.
The M6, M6A1 and M6A2 are a series of metal-cased, circular, heavy anti-tank landmines produced by the United States; they were superseded in service by the larger M15 mine. The mine is normally painted olive green and has a large central pressure plate. In the center of the pressure plate is an arming plug that has an arming lever with three settings: ARMED, DANGER and SAFE. The pressure plate rests on a concertina-like structure, which when enough force is applied is compressed. Compression results in a transfer plate under the arming plug pressing downwards onto a belleville spring which inverts, flipping the firing pin into the detonator, which triggers the adjacent explosive booster and main explosive charge.
The VS-JAP is an Italian bounding anti-personnel mine. It is the latest of the Valmara family of bounding mines that includes the Valmara 59 and Valmara 69. The mine has a waterproof plastic faceted cylindrical body with a three-pronged cap, with a central fixing point for a tripwire. The fuze is triggered via downward or sideways pressure.
The C3A1 and C3A2 are Canadian minimum metal anti-personnel mines. The differences between them are very minor and hard to distinguish visually. Elsie mines were first deployed by Canada in 1962, by the United States in 1965 and by Japan in 1967.
The MBV-78-A2 is a small cylindrical Vietnamese anti-personnel fragmentation stake mine. It is unrelated to the MBV-78-A1. The mine has a large plastic head which contains the main charge wrapped around the detonator. A fragmentation layer of steel pieces set into wax surrounds the main charge. The plastic head has two mounting lugs for stake mounting the mine. A Vietnamese copy of the Russian MUV fuze is typically used with the mine, although other fuzes could be used.
An anti-handling device is an attachment to—or an integral part of—a landmine or other munition e.g. some fuze types found in general purpose air-dropped bombs, cluster bombs and sea mines. It is designed to prevent tampering. When the protected device is disturbed, it detonates, killing or injuring anyone within the blast area. There is a strong functional overlap of booby traps and anti-handling devices.
The Mini MS-803 is a small South African produced Claymore type landmine. The design is very simple, with a convex brown polystyrene case containing a PE9 plastic explosive charge with three hundred 6 x 8 millimeter cylindrical steel fragments embedded into it. The mine is supported by two pairs of wire legs, which can be used to stack the mines. On the top of the mine is a small hole for inserting a detonator, which is surrounded with a PETN booster charge. The mine is normally used with an S4 electrical detonator connected to an M57 electrical firing device which is also used with the similar but larger Shrapnel mine Mk 2. The mine could also be used with MUV type pull detonators and tripwires, but after the Ottawa mine ban treaty South Africa has said that it will not use this mine with victim activated fuzes.
The PMA-3 is a Yugoslavian blast resistant minimum metal anti-personnel mine. It is circular, consisting of a plastic upper and lower half joined together by a rubber cover. A safety collar is normally wrapped around the outside of the mine, preventing the upper half of the mine tilting when in transit. Once deployed the safety collar is removed. Sufficient pressure on the top surface of the mine causes it to tilt. The tilting drives a pin through a friction sensitive pyrotechnic compound, which fires the detonator and then the main explosive charge.
The MAPED F1 is a claymore shaped plastic bodied directional anti-personnel mine which is designed to wound or kill by fragmentation. It has been the standard directional anti-personnel mine of the French army since the late 70s. The mine body is flat on the back and convex on the front, it has a small aiming sight on the top left corner and plastic lugs in the bottom corners for attaching a pair of "A" frame support legs. The mine contains a plastic explosive charge to propel 500 steel ball fragments to a range of 50 meters in a 60' arc. It is battery powered and is normally actuated by breakwire, but tripwire and command actuation is also possible. The mine is surface mounted and it can be located visually or with metal detectors under most field conditions. The MAPED F1 can be defeated by blast overpressure from explosive breaching systems like the Giant Viper and MICLIC unless it is set up for command actuation.
References
- Model 123 mine at ORDATA
- Jane's Mines and Mine Clearance 2005-2006
- Brassey's Essential Guide to Anti-personnel Mines, Eddie Banks