The VAR/40, VAR/100 and VAR/100/SP are Italian anti-personnel blast landmines produced by the Tecnovar italiana S.p.A. company.
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.
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The VAR/40 is a small landmine, designed to be carried by individual soldiers and hand laid. It was initially produced for the Italian army in the 1970s, and was exported to a large number of countries. The mines body is circular with a ribbed plastic body split into upper and lower halves. The upper half holds the pressure-sensitive fuze mechanism, which is covered by a truncated rubber cone. The fuze is covered by a safety cap that prevents accidental activation. The safety cap also has a threaded well, which holds the detonator during transit.
The mine is armed by transferring the detonator from the fuze cap to the well in the base of the mine, the safety cap is then removed. Pressure on the central pressure plate, compresses the spring until the pressure is enough to shear the plastic retaining pins.
It is a minimum metal design. It's normally deployed with the main body underground with the raised pressure fuze protruding above ground. The mine can be laid underwater and doesn't float. It is moderately resistant to overpressure due to the small surface area of the pressure fuze.
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.
The mine is no longer in production and Italian operational stocks of the mine have been destroyed (a stockpile of 1,420,636 mines). [1] Thailand also held stocks of the mine. It's found in Angola, Iraq and Turkey.
Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a west-coast country of south-central Africa. It is the seventh-largest country in Africa, bordered by Namibia to the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Zambia to the east, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. Angola has an exclave province, the province of Cabinda that borders the Republic of the Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The capital and largest city of Angola is Luanda.
Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in Western Asia, bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, Kuwait to the southeast, Saudi Arabia to the south, Jordan to the southwest and Syria to the west. The capital, and largest city, is Baghdad. Iraq is home to diverse ethnic groups including Arabs, Kurds, Assyrians, Turkmen, Shabakis, Yazidis, Armenians, Mandeans, Circassians and Kawliya. Around 95% of the country's 37 million citizens are Muslims, with Christianity, Yarsan, Yezidism and Mandeanism also present. The official languages of Iraq are Arabic and Kurdish.
The VAR/100 is a larger version of the VAR/40 it uses a larger main charge (100 grams of RDX explosive instead of 40 grams, hence the name of both) but is otherwise identical. The mine is no longer in production, and is found in Mozambique.
The VAR/100/SP is a VAR/100 mine fitted with a 1.6 kilogram cast iron fragmentation jacket identical to the one used with the AUPS mine. The mine is mounted on an 800 millimeter high stake. On detonation the jacket breaks into approximately 500 fragments with a lethal range of about 25 meters. The fuze is different from the VAR/100 - the SP version uses a three pronged pressure and tilt fuze that can be used with tripwires.
The AUPS is a circular Italian bakelite cased minimum metal anti-personnel blast mine. The mine can be adapted with a steel fragmentation jacket and stake into a fragmentation stake mine. The mine is constructed in two halves, with the upper half containing the pressure fuse mechanism, the lower half contains the main charge and the detonator. The mine case is normally unpainted bakelite brown.
The mine is no longer in production.
| Name | VAR/40 | VAR/100 | VAR/100/SP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Height | 45 mm | 57 mm | 138 mm |
| Diameter | 78 mm | 78 mm | 120 mm |
| Weight | 0.1 kg | 0.17 kg | 1.77 kg |
| Explosive content | 0.04 kg | 0.1 kg | 0.1 kg |
| Operating pressure | 12 kg | 12 kg 6 kg traction | |
Type 72 Non-Metallic is a Chinese circular, plastic bodied landmine which is designed to damage or destroy a vehicle by blast effect.
The M16 mine is a United States-made bouncing anti-personnel mine. It was based on captured plans of the World War II era German S-mine and has similar performance. The mine consists of a cast iron body in a thin steel sleeve. A central fuze well on the top of the mine is normally fitted with a pronged M605 pressure and tilt fuze. Sufficient pressure on the prongs or tension on an attached tripwire causes the release of a striker. The freed striker is forced into a percussion cap which ignites a short pyrotechnic delay. The purpose of this delay is to allow the victim to move off the top of the mine, to prevent its upward movement from being blocked. Once the delay has burned through, a 4.5-gram black powder charge is ignited, which launches the inner iron body of the mine up into the air. The charge also ignites a second pair of pyrotechnic delays.
The PROM-1 is a Yugoslavian manufactured bouncing type of anti-personnel mine. It consists of a cylindrical body with a pronged fuze inserted into the top of the mine. It is broadly similar in operation to the German S-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.
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 TC/3.6 and TC/6 are round minimum metal Italian anti-tank blast mines. Both mines use the same fuzing system. They have round deep ribbed plastic cases that are either sand colored or olive green. The fuze works on an air pressure system, with the top pressure plate forcing air through a small bleed valve. The air then inflates a diaphragm which indirectly applies force to the striker spring until a steel restraining ball is forced out of the way of the striker. The striker is then flipped into the detonator, triggering the 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.
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 FMK-1 is a small circular Argentina anti-personnel blast mine which, when fitted with a stiffened pressure plate, is also used as the fuze for the FMK-3 and FMK-5 anti-tank mines. The mine has a circular plastic body, with a number of small ribs running vertically around the outside of the mine, with the circular detonator and striker protruding on each side. The pressure plate has a distinctive six pointed star shape ribbing for stiffness. The bottom of the mine has small base plug inside which a small stud is installed. The stud increases the activation pressure of the mine. A metal detector disc can be added to the bottom of the mine, but it is not often used. It is actually in service with the Argentine Army.
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.
The P-25 is a plastic cased Italian anti-personnel stake mine. It was developed along with the larger P-40 mine in the late 1970s by Misar SpA and entered production in 1978. The mine consists of a plastic cylinder with a fuse protruding from the top. The mine can either be stake mounted or buried, although it was designed to be stake mounted. Pull pressure on the tripwire results in the fuse head tilting sideways, releasing a striker into the detonator assembly.
The BM/85 is an Italian blast resistant bounding anti-personnel mine that was produced by Tecnovar italiana SpA. The mine is cylindrical with a three pronged tilt/pressure fuze on the top with a central post for attaching a tripwire. A plastic safety clip prevents the fuze from tilting when in transit. Once the pressure clip is removed the mine is armed. Once the fuze is pulled sideways by a trip wire or by downward pressure, the mine is triggered. A small charge launches the mine to a height of about 0.45 meters where it explodes scattering 1,000 fragments to a lethal radius of about 25 meters.
The TS-50 is a 90 mm (3.5 in) diameter circular Italian blast resistant minimum metal anti-personnel mine designed and produced by Valsella Meccanotecnica.
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 Bakelite anti-tank mine type I and type II were Italian anti-tank mines produced during the Second World War. As the name suggests, the mines used Bakelite cases and used relatively few metal components, making them difficult to detect with mine detectors of the era. It was primarily used to deter pursuit when withdrawing from an area.
The M432 is a Portuguese bounding anti-personnel mine, which traces the roots of its design to the Second World War German S-mine, although it is probably more directly related to the Belgian NR 442 mine and United States M16 mine. As of 2004, all operational stocks of the mine have been destroyed, although some may have been retained for training purposes.
The Pignone P-1 and Pignone P-2 were plastic cased Italian anti-tank blast mines produced and used during the Second World War in North Africa and Italy. Although the mines had plastic cases, they had a number of metal components, rendering them detectable to mine detectors.
The GYATA-64 is a Hungarian antipersonnel mine, very similar to the Russian PMN mine in design and appearance. However, the Gyata-64 mine has a 300 gram explosive charge compared with the 249 gram charge in a PMN mine. As a result, the Gyata-64 is the most powerful AP blast mine commonly encountered, for which reason it is particularly deadly.
MAUS is an Italian designed anti-personnel scatter mine. A plastic high explosive landmine, it is designed for rapid placement on the minefields either by helicopter, hand-drop or other ground vehicle. An integral, safety pin armed, pressure actuated, pneumatic fuse is used which is designed to withstand explosive overpressure for short duration and deployment impact. The mine is also waterproof and can be placed at a depth of one metre. The MAUS and MAUS/1 are identical except the MAUS/1 has an additional plug that either provides access to the expansion bulb or may act as a vent from the diaphragm.