SACI mine

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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.

Bakelite Early form of plastic

Bakelite or polyoxybenzylmethylenglycolanhydride was the first plastic made from synthetic components. It is a thermosetting phenol formaldehyde resin, formed from a condensation reaction of phenol with formaldehyde. It was developed by the Belgian-American chemist Leo Baekeland in Yonkers, New York, in 1907.

Anti-tank mine form of land mine designed for use against armored vehicles (including tanks)

An anti-tank mine is a type of land mine designed to damage or destroy vehicles including tanks and armored fighting vehicles.

Contents

The mine can be fitted with anti-handling devices, it has two secondary fuze wells, one in the base, one in the side. The mine's case is prone to disintegrating in hot dry conditions, which can expose the bare fuzes reducing the activation pressure of the mine. The mine is found in Jordan, Nicaragua, and Somalia.

Jordan Arab country in Western Asia


Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is an Arab country in Western Asia, on the East Bank of the Jordan River. Jordan is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south and the east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and Israel and Palestine to the west. The Dead Sea is located along its western borders and the country has a small coastline to the Red Sea in its extreme south-west, but is otherwise landlocked. Jordan is strategically located at the crossroads of Asia, Africa and Europe. The capital, Amman, is Jordan's most populous city as well as the country's economic, political and cultural centre.

Nicaragua Country in Central America

Nicaragua, officially the Republic of Nicaragua, is the largest country in the Central American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the northwest, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Managua is the country's capital and largest city and is also the third-largest city in Central America, behind Tegucigalpa and Guatemala City. The multi-ethnic population of six million includes people of indigenous, European, African, and Asian heritage. The main language is Spanish. Indigenous tribes on the Mosquito Coast speak their own languages and English.

Somalia Federal republic in Africa

Somalia, officially the Federal Republic of Somalia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia to the west, the Gulf of Aden to the north, the Guardafui Channel and Somali Sea to the east, and Kenya to the southwest. Somalia has the longest coastline on Africa's mainland, and its terrain consists mainly of plateaus, plains and highlands. Climatically, hot conditions prevail year-round, with periodic monsoon winds and irregular rainfall.

Specifications (SACI 54/7)

Variants

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Tellermine 42

The Tellermine 42 (T.Mi.42) was a German metal-cased anti-tank blast mine used during the Second World War. The mine was a development of the Tellermine 35 with improved resistance to blast. It was followed by the simplified Tellermine 43.

Tellermine 43

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).

TM-57 mine

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.

TM-46 mine

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.

M15 mine

The M15 mine is a large circular United States anti-tank blast mine, first deployed during the Korean War. Essentially, it is a larger version of the M6A2 anti-tank mine, which it replaced. Although the M15 has been superseded by the M19 mine, the U.S. retains large stocks of M15s because they are still regarded as reliable and effective weapons. When used against main battle tanks the M15 is primarily a "track-breaker" which creates mobility kills, but has a comparatively small likelihood of causing crew fatalities. However, when used against lighter vehicles such as APCs or unarmored vehicles such as trucks the damage inflicted is much more severe.

The PT Mi-K is a Czechoslovakian metal-cased anti-tank blast landmine. The mine uses a metal grid instead a pressure plate, this gives it resistance to overpressure. The mine is no longer produced, but is found in Afghanistan, Cambodia, Eritrea, Namibia, Nicaragua and the Western Sahara.

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.

M19 mine

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.

TM-62 series of mines

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 PM-60 or K-1 is a German round plastic cased minimum metal anti-tank blast mine. The case of the mine consists of two halves joined together by sixteen plastic nuts, giving the mine a distinctive appearance. The top of the mine has a large pressure plate which rests on top of the fuze assembly. Two fuzes are available for the mine, a conventional ball bearing retained striker and a chemical fuze, containing a glass ampule of acid over a flash composition. When the mine is deployed with the chemical fuze it is very difficult to detect because the only metal in the mine is the detonator capsule. There is a secondary fuze well on the bottom of the mine that can accept a fuze allowing remote command detonation of the mine.

The PRB M3 and PRB M3A1 are plastic cased minimum metal anti-tank blast mine produced by the Belgian company Poudreries Réunies de Belgique in the 1970s and 1980s. The mine is square with an olive drab body constructed from polythene with a webbing carrying handle on the side and an ammonia-free bakelite seating for the pressure plate to be screwed into. The fuze well is in the centre of the seating, with the pressure plate screwed into it after the fuze has been inserted. The cylindrical pressure plate consists of two plastic plates, one of which moves under the weight of a vehicle driving over the mine to transmit the force to the fuze, shearing pins which hold it in place.

Riegel mine 43

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 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.

TMA-1 mine

The TMA-1 and TMA-1A are circular, plastic cased Yugoslavian minimum metal anti-tank blast mine. The mine consists of an upper plastic pressure plate, and the lower body containing the main charge. The pressure plate has eight triangular raised sectors, and a central fuze cap. The pressure plate is held in place by four plastic pins, which when suffient pressure is applied, shear allowing the pressure plate to collapse onto the mine body, triggering the UANU-1 fuze. A secondary fuze well is provided in the base of the mine, allowing the use of anti-handling devices. The mine is found in Bosnia, Croatia and Kosovo.

TMA-2 mine

The TMA-2 is a rectangular plastic cased Yugoslavian minimum metal anti-tank blast mine. It is very similar in appearance and size to the PT-56, which it replaced. The mine consists of two sections, an upper ribbed pressure plate with two large circular fuze caps, and a lower base section containing the main charge and two primary fuze wells containing UANU-1 fuzes. A secondary fuze well is provided in the base of the mine for an anti-handling device.

TMA-3 mine

The TMA-3 is a circular Yugoslavian minimum metal anti-tank blast mine. It is very similar in appearance to the TMA-4. The mine consists of a cast circular block of explosive cased in resin reinforced fabric. The top of the mine has three fuze wells which each take a UTMA-3 fuze, and a fourth secondary fuze well is provided in the base of the mine to fit an anti-handling device. The fuze wells may also accept a number of other fuzes, including the UPROM-1, and other fuzes, potentially allowing tripwire activation. The small pressure plate area of the UTMA-3 fuzes gives the mine good resistance to minefield clearance techniques which used blast overpressure techniques i.e. explosive charges.

TMA-4 mine

The TMA-4 is a circular plastic cased Yugoslavian minimum metal anti-tank blast mine. It is a modernized version of the TMA-3. The mine is basically a cast block of TNT with three fuze wells cut into it, encased in plastic. Three black plastic UTMA-4 fuzes are installed into the top surface of the mine. A thin rope carry handle is also provided. The small pressure plate area of the fuzes make the mine resistant to overpressure from explosive demining techniques. Additionally the low metal content of the mine make it very difficult to detect. Although no secondary fuze well is provided, it is possible that the mine could be fitted with improvised anti-handling devices.

TM 65 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 MKTBT is a large circular bakelite cased Albanian anti-tank blast mine. The mine uses a mechanical pressure fuze, copied from the Russian MV-5. The mine has relatively low metal content, including a metal carrying handle and fixing brackets, as well as six screws in the top of the mine. The mine is normally colored red-brown.

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