Pressure mines. Sapper stuff. The main anti-personnel mines of the Great Patriotic War. Order to defeat
The 100 gram saber "Bohrpatrone 28" was loaded with TNT or melinite. She had one hole for the detonator capsule sealed with a paper circle. The length of the checker is 100 mm, the diameter is 29 mm.
The 200-gram saber "Sprengkorper 28" was produced in two types: in waxed paper and in a bakelite box. She had one hole for the detonator capsule sealed with a paper circle. The checker in waxed paper could be TNT or melinite. The checker in a bakelite box is only melinite. The bakelite checker weighed 250 g. The length of the checker was 69 mm, the width was 51 mm, and the height was 40 mm. Bakelite body dimensions: length - 79 mm, width - 46 mm, height - 58 mm.
An explosive charge of pressed TNT or melinite was placed in a zinc or steel container. The container had three sockets for fuses (ZZ-35, DZ-35, SMiZ-35, ANz-29 or an electric detonator) sealed with a paper label and a carrying handle. TTX charge: length - 200 mm; width - 75 mm; height - 55 mm.
The charge of TNT, pentrite or RDX was placed in a zinc container with a carrying handle on one side. It had either three or five slots for standard fuses. TTX charge: height - 196 mm; width - 165 mm; thickness - 76 mm.
The charge was placed in a zinc box with 6 holes for standard blasting caps. There is a carrying handle on top. Charge performance characteristics: width - 267 mm, height - 215 mm, thickness - 120 mm.
The detonator was usually made of aluminum, but specimens were found in steel, zinc and brass. It was a tube open at one end for inserting a fuse cord. Used in hand grenades, for detonation of sapper charges, thick checkers. Detonators were packed in a wooden case with sockets for 12 or 15 pieces. The pencil case was wrapped in paraffin-soaked paper. TTX detonator: length - 45 mm; diameter - 7 mm.
The terechny igniter with a diameter of 14 mm was made of brass and was intended to ignite (activate) the detonator.
The fuse with three antennas was intended for the S.Mi.35 mine. It was made from bronze or aluminum. TTX fuse: diameter - 18 mm; height 80 mm; antenna height - 25 mm.
The fuse was intended for the Tellermine 35 mine. It had a cylindrical shape and was made of brass.
The fuses were intended for the Stockmine, Schumine, Holzmine, Riegel mine and Schnell mine mines. TTX fuse: diameter - 13 mm; height - 86 mm.
The detonator was designed for the Glasmine 43 mine. It has also been widely used in homemade improvised landmines. TTX fuse: diameter - 60 mm; height - 48 mm.
The fuse with a brass body was intended for the S-35, S-42 and Stockmine mines. TTX fuse: diameter - 11 mm; height - 70 mm.
The push fuse has been used in many types of mines. The fuse bodies were made of brass, aluminum or bakelite. It was produced in two versions: "D.Z-35" - 32 mm in diameter, 7 mm high, actuation force 60-100 kg and "D.Z-35B" - 26 mm, 68 mm high, actuation force - 36 kg.
The fuse was housed in a metal case. TTX fuse: length - 74 mm; width - 34 mm; height - 19 mm; actuation force - 10 - 30 kg.
The chemical fuse consisted of a brass body with a standard thread for mines and chlorate around a glass flask containing sulfuric acid.
The non-metallic fuse was specially designed to equip the "Topfmine" mine and functioned by chemical action. TTX fuse: diameter - 36 mm; height - 87 mm.
The fuse was created for chemical mines and was completed with a clock with a spring mechanism. The fuse kit included a winding key. TTX fuse: length - 76/114 mm; diameter - 37/40 mm.
The fuse was intended for the "T.Mi.29" mine and was made of brass. It could be installed in two modes of actuation force: for an anti-personnel mine for 45 kg, for an anti-tank mine - 125 kg. TTX fuse: diameter - 40 mm; height - 57 mm.
The fuse consisted of a bakelite body and a threaded iron or copper tube and contact group connected to wires. TTX fuse: length - 53 - 55 mm; diameter - 14 - 16 mm.
Shrapnel, circular defeat, jumping out mine was produced in two versions, both push (fuse S.Mi.Z.35) and pull action (fuse ZZ-35 or ZZ-42). The use of a tee transition element made it possible to make a combined installation (tension-push). The mine had two cylindrical hulls: the inner one was filled with explosives, and the space between the hulls was filled with striking elements. The explosion took place at a height of 0.5-1.5 m from the ground after tossing it up with a powder expelling charge, which was triggered 4.5 seconds after the stretching was activated. The mine is installed in the ground so that the upper plane of the hull is level with the ground and only a tension fuse remains above ground level. Known lightweight, moisture resistant version of the mine "S.Mi.40". A total of 9.5 million mines were produced. TTX mines: weight - 3.9 - 4.1 kg; explosive mass - 180-450 g; the mass of the expelling charge is 2 g; the number of striking elements (balls) - 320 - 360; diameter - 102 mm; height - 128 mm; diameter of the pressure sensor zone - 50 mm; length of one target tension sensor - 16 m; actuation force - 3 kg; radius of destruction - 25 m.
The mine body was made of steel, and the base was made of aluminum. Smoke pellets were used instead of explosives. In the upper part of the case, ventilation holes were arranged for the exit of smoke. When using an adapter, two or three fuses could be used.
The mine was a variant of the S.Mi.35. In it, the fuse was displaced to the edge of the upper surface of the mine and the mine had a different principle of operation (after being thrown from the ground, the explosion of the projectile did not occur from the detonator, which received the force of the flame from the expelling charge, but from the fuse built into the projectile of the mine, and triggered when the cable was pulled, when the mine rises to a height equal to the length of the cable). Mines of late production could be equipped instead of shrapnel with scraps of a metal rod or wire, defective automatic bullets and other metal junk. The mine was equipped with a S.Mi.Z44 push-pull fuse. A total of 3.5 million mines were produced. TTX mines: weight - 4.1 - 5 kg; explosive mass - 180 - 450 g; the mass of the expelling charge is 5 g; the number of striking elements - 320 - 360; diameter - 102 mm; height - 130 mm; diameter of the pressure sensor zone - 50 mm; tension sensor length - 16 m; actuation force - 2 - 5 kg; the radius of destruction is 25 m.
The high-explosive mine "Schu.Mi.42" of pressing action had a body made of pressed wood (thin boards), which was not painted, but was treated with an anti-putrefactive composition. The mine was equipped with a ZZ.42 fuse, which was copied from the Soviet MUV, later To.Mi.Z (SF-1). The mine is recoverable, disarmed without a self-destruction device. A total of 20.7 million mines were produced. TTX mines: weight - 500 g; explosive weight - 232 g; length - 127 mm; width - 98 mm; height - 57 mm; target sensor size - 127x98 mm; actuation force - 3 - 5 kg; radius of destruction - 15 m.
Mina “Schue.Mi. 400 "was an enlarged copy of" Schu.Mi.42 "and was distinguished by safety in handling a mine and an improved fuse (ZZ42). The mine could be installed both on the ground and in the ground and in the snow. The mine was unpainted, sometimes covered with linseed oil or varnish to protect the hull from decay. TTX mines: weight - 750 g; explosive mass - 400-464 g; length 227 mm; width - 126 mm; height - 89 mm; target sensor size - 227x126 mm; actuation force - 10 - 15 kg.
The high-explosive pressure mine was a late version of the Schue.Mi.42 mine, differing in size, shape of the pressure cover (tilted back) and fuse. TTX mines: weight - 500 g; explosive weight - 232 g; length 190 mm; width - 114 mm; height - 86 mm; target sensor dimensions - 160x114 mm; actuation force - 6 kg.
The high-explosive canned small-sized mine of push action was produced in two versions: small and large. They were intended to arm the Wehrwolf sabotage and terrorist groups. The mine body was made of bakelite, tin or aluminum, and was a cylindrical jar with a lid, which was held in place with adhesive tape. The mine was installed in the ground so that it would be invisible from the outside. Mine is uninjured. TTX mines: weight - 110/200 g; explosive weight - 70/150 g; diameter - 71/200 mm; height - 45/75 mm; actuation force - 15/20 kg.
The high-explosive mine of push action was intended to disable personnel moving on skis, as well as to disable winter horse-drawn transport (horse sleds). It was a pointed metal tube into which two or three 100-gram Bohrpatrone 28 checkers were inserted, and on top of it was a push action fuse S.Mi.Z 35. The mine was installed in the snow at an angle of 45-60º to the horizontal towards the direction of movement of the skiers so that the fuse antennae were not visible above the snow surface. These mines were used by reconnaissance and sabotage groups (yagd teams) and were installed singly or in groups of three or four on rolled tracks or sled tracks. Also, these mines were often used to deter the enemy pursuing a retreating reconnaissance group. In this case, the mine was placed by the soldier who closed the group in his ski tracks. The mine is recoverable, disarmed. TTX mines: weight - 900 g; explosive weight - 300 g; diameter - 35 mm; height - 430 mm; target sensor area diameter - 30 mm; radius of damage - 2 m.
Auxiliary anti-personnel mine "E-5" high-explosive fragmentation push action was put into service in the early summer of 1944. The mine was a square box made of white sheet tin, which was covered with a lid of the same tin on top. Five French trophy Mle 1937 grenades were put inside the box with their ignition sockets up and without their standard fuses. Of these, four "Mle 1937 OF" and in the center one Mle 1937 D "grenade, which was equipped with a" Glaszuender SF-14 "fuse. The mine is recoverable, disarmed. TTX mines; weight - 1.8 kg; explosive weight - 450 g; length and width - 145 mm; height - 75 mm; target sensor diameter - 30 mm; actuation force - 6 kg.
A fragmentation, circular defeat, tension mine was created on the basis of the Soviet POMZ-2 and was a concrete blank with a charge and striking elements. There is a wide variety of cases. Manufactured mines at the factory had a fuse socket with a molded threaded bushing. Manufactured in military workshops are just a hole. The mine was equipped with ZZ-35, ZZ-42, EZ-42 fuses. It was attached at a distance of 20 - 40 cm from the ground on any suitable tree, pole, etc. TTX mines: weight - 2.2 - 2.5 kg; explosive weight - 112 g; length - 145 - 160 mm; diameter - 72 - 84 mm; the length of the target tension sensor - 4 - 10 m; actuation force - 3 - 5 kg; radius of destruction - 4 - 5 m.
The auxiliary anti-handling fuse was essentially a booby-trap. It was used as a means of setting the anti-tank mines "T.Mi.42", "T.Mi.43" and "R.Mi.43" on anti-handling and non-handling. Also, the mine could be used as a booby trap. It was a plank box, inside which was a Sprengkoerper 28 checker with a ZZ-42 fuse and a Sprehgkapsel No. 8 detonator cap, connected by a wire rod with an anti-tank mine, which was installed upside down. When hitting a tank, the anti-tank mine works in the usual way, while destroying the booby-trap mine. When trying to remove the detected anti-tank mine from the installation site, the wire pull pulls the combat pin out of the ZZ-42 fuse, which leads to the explosion of the TNT block. The shock wave of the explosion detonates the fuse of the anti-tank mine. The mine was made directly in the sapper units. TTX mines: weight - 2.5 kg; explosive weight - 200 g; length - 300 mm; width - 80 mm; height - 250 mm.
The wooden booby-trap was a high-explosive unloading mine intended to be installed as a provocative-type trap. The mine was installed in the ground so that it would be invisible from the outside. Any object of sufficient weight was placed on the cover of the mine, which attracted the attention of an enemy soldier and prompted him to pick it up. The mine was triggered after the object was removed from the spring-loaded hinged cover of the mine. Mine color is yellow or gray without marking. TTX mines: weight - 1.3 kg; explosive weight - 200 g; length - 160 mm; height - 90 mm; width - 110 mm; holding force - 5 kg; lifting the end of the cover to trigger the fuse - 15 - 20 mm.
The mine was made of canned metal or glass and was equipped with a "Glaszunder SF-14" push-button fuse. It was installed manually only in the ground. The mines of self-destruction, anti-handling and non-disposal devices did not have the performance characteristics of the mines: weight - 300 g; explosive weight - 90 g; height - 45 - 50 mm; diameter - 60 -63 mm; actuation force - 6 kg.
The body of a high-explosive mine of pressure action was made of low-quality glass. The mine was equipped with a Glaszunder SF-14 or Hebelzunder 44 fuse. It was installed manually only in the ground, leaving a fuse above its surface. The mine of self-destruction, anti-handling and non-neutralization devices did not have. TTX mines: weight - 400 g; explosive weight - 150 g; height - 50 g; diameter - 75 mm; actuation force - 6 kg.
The shells of the mines were made of concrete mixed with steel fragments. The charge and fuse were located inside the case.
An anti-personnel mine, made from concrete and shrapnel for impact on the enemy, rolled in his direction from the hill. Inside are five 200-gram TNT sticks. The mines were concrete-colored with numerous specks of rust, or they could have been painted with oil paint in gray, green, dirty yellow without marking. TTX mines: weight -18-20 kg; explosive weight - 1 kg; diameter - 250 mm; actuation force - 500 g; response time - 10 - 12 s; radius of destruction - 10 m.
The mine was put into service in 1945 as an auxiliary, anti-personnel, high-explosive fragmentation, push action. A trophy French 50 or 60 mm was used as a mine body. mortar mine... The tail section and the standard percussion fuse were unscrewed from it. A plastic adapter with a push-action chemical fuse, which was made of glass and aluminum, was screwed into the head of the mine. The mines were produced at factories in Germany and had a dull yellow color without marking. A total of 130 thousand mines were produced. TTX mines: weight - 435 g; explosive weight - 120 g; body height - 130 mm; diameter - 50 mm; target sensor diameter - 20 mm; radius of damage - 4 m.
A version of this mine poured into a concrete prism was also produced. In this version, the mine was used as a purely fragmentation, tension action. Such mines were placed on the surface of the earth in winter, when the hole was difficult to extract. Mine height - 120 mm, actuation force - 16 kg.
The auxiliary anti-personnel, high-explosive mine of pressure action consisted of a conical glass body, a glass cover, a glass breakout disc, a metal membrane and a fuse (Hebelzuender 44, Glaszuender SF-14 (CZB), Topfminezuender SF-1 and Druckzunder SF -6 "). An explosive charge was put inside. A known version of the mine attached to a square stone slab. The mine was installed in the ground and in the snow. A total of 11 million mines were produced. TTX mines: weight - 450 g; explosive weight - 232 g; diameter - 150 mm; height - 80 mm; target sensor diameter - 128 mm; actuation force - 10 kg.
The auxiliary mine was manufactured by the construction industry. She represented glass bottle, into which a special adapter for a push action fuse was inserted instead of the plug. The bottle was filled with powdered explosives. In another version, the bottle was filled with concrete, with fragments of metal products interspersed into it, and both high-explosive pressure action and fragmentation tension action could be used. Everything depended on the fuse used. A total of 246 thousand mines were manufactured.
A special guided mine was intended to blast ice on water obstacles in order to form zones of broken ice on the surface of the reservoir, impenetrable for equipment and people. Distinguished between active (with an electric fuse) and passive (with a hydropercussion fuse) mines. They were manufactured industrially. To form a zone of destroyed ice under the ice, a passive mine, suspended on a string, was lowered to a depth of 2 m in one line every 5 m. At the beginning of the line there was one active mine under the ice. When the enemy attempted to overcome the water obstacle on the ice, the operator applied an electrical impulse to the active mine via a wire line. The hydroshock wave made the closest passive mine explode. The explosion of a passive mine caused the next passive mine to explode. And so on until the end of the line. As a result, a long hole about 5-10 meters wide was formed, filled with crushed ice. Such a hole is impassable for boats as well, because crumbs of ice prevent them from moving. Due to the fact that after some time the wormwood will freeze (within 24-72 hours), several such lines are made. The gap between the lines is 50-70 meters. The lines explode one at a time as needed. TTX mines: weight - 2.5 kg; explosive mass - 1.9 kg; diameter - 102 mm; height - 270 mm; calculated ice thickness - 300 mm; destruction radius - 5 m.
Schuetzen-Dozenmine Pappe anti-personnel mine drawing
A canned cardboard mine of high-explosive push action was made at the enterprises of the pulp and paper industry. The body of the mine is made of durable waterproof cardboard. It could also be used as an anti-vehicle mine. The mine had two "ZZ-42" fuses in order to ensure the reliability of operation with an asymmetric load on the mine. The explosion of the detonator cap led to the explosion of the additional detonator and the explosion of the main charge of the mine. The mines were of the color of cardboard - grayish-brownish. Mine is uninjured. TTX mines: weight - 1.5 kg; explosive mass - 1.2 kg; diameter - 250 - 260 mm; height - 35 - 45 mm; target sensor diameter - 22 mm; actuation force - 20 - 40 kg.
A series of auxiliary plank mines of the same design were produced in the sapper units of the Wehrmacht units under the designation "Behelfs-Brettstueckmine" (B.Bret.Mi., B.B.Mi., Be.Brett.Mi.). The difference in these mines was in the mass of the explosive charge and in the peculiarities of the connection of the upper and lower parts of the mine. Depending on the mass of the charge, the mine could be anti-personnel (anti-vehicle) high-explosive push action or anti-tank, anti-track push action. Structurally, the mine consisted of a standard explosive charge attached to a piece of the board that played the role of the base of the mine. The second piece of the board, which played the role of a pressure target sensor, lay on the push washer of the fuse. Both boards were connected to each other by four to eight ties made of wire, strips of iron, twine, etc. materials. The charges could be used as charges: "Geballte Ladung 3 kg", "Sprengbuechse 24", "Sprengkoerper 28". A DZ-35 fuse was used to detonate them. The dimensions and weight of these mines ranged from 300x250x120 mm to 100x80x80 mm and weight from 0.8 to 5.5 kg.
A breakaway booby-trap mine was installed inside telegraph poles and was intended to destroy enemy saboteurs trying to cut down the supports of communication lines or power supply. Outwardly, it was a long cylinder made of waterproof cardboard with a charge placed inside, a fuse and a break-off target sensor. The mine was placed inside wooden pillars, which are the pillars of communication lines or power supply. A hole with a diameter of 45-50 mm and a depth of 3 meters was drilled from the lower end of the pillar along its axis. A mine brought into a combat position with its pointed end up was inserted into this hole all the way into its bottom. Then dry sawdust with a layer thickness of 30 cm was poured into the hole and a wooden rod 44-49 mm in diameter and 114 cm long was inserted. A cone-shaped wooden wedge was driven into the hole. The sawdust layer played the role of a kind of damper, softening the blows to the mine at the moment the wedge was driven in. The protruding end of the wedge was cut flush with the end of the post. The part of the post that was in the ground was covered with a layer of tar or resin in order to hide the drilling marks under the guise of waterproofing. The mines were yellowish-gray in color with no markings. TTX mines: weight - 2.1 kg; explosive weight - 1.4 kg; diameter - 40 mm; height - 1.5 m; target sensor length - 1220 mm;
Ramp.Mi. - an auxiliary mine designed to disable vehicles, armored personnel carriers, wheeled and tracked tractors (tractors) and light tanks. It was made in sapper battalions from planks using standard explosive charges and push action fuses. For one mine, three charges and three fuses were used. Structurally, the mine was a board 3 meters long, with three charges attached to it obliquely with the help of wooden wedges. The extreme charges were placed at a distance of 40 cm from the end of the board, and the middle one, exactly in the middle of the board's length. A second board was inserted from above, with one edge resting on the edge of the bottom board, and with the second on the fuses. Both boards are connected together with nails and wire. Near the ends of both boards, holes are made in them for pegs, with the help of which the mine is fixed to the ground. As a rule, sappers made the mine unrecoverable. TTX mines: weight - 11 kg; explosive mass - 3 kg; length - 3 m; width - 400 mm; height - 200 mm; actuation force - 180 kg.
The high-explosive anti-track mine had the designation "Tellermine 29", "T-Mine 29" and "T-V" and was intended to disable the enemy's wheeled or tracked vehicles. The explosion occurred when it triggered at least one of the three push / pull action fuses. The mine could be installed on the ground, in the ground and in the snow. Due to its good tightness, installation under water is possible. The mine is disarming, but it could be set for non-handling, for which there were two additional sockets on the side surface of the mine and one on the bottom of the mine. The mine could be equipped with ZDZ-29, ZZ-35 and ZZ-42 fuses. For training purposes, a version of the mine was produced under the designation "T.Mi. 29 (Ueb) ". A total of 61.6 thousand mines were produced. TTX mines: weight - 6 kg; explosive mass - 4.5 kg; diameter - 255 mm; height - 70 mm; target sensor area diameter - 22 mm; actuation force - 45/125 kg.
The high-explosive anti-tracked pressurized mine was created on the basis of the "T.Mi.29". The mine consisted of a disc metal case filled with an explosive charge and a pressure cap, which was a target sensor. In the bottom of the mine and in the side wall of the hull there were sockets for anti-handling devices and a wire handle for carrying the mine. The mine is installed manually on the ground, in the ground and in the snow. There was a training and simulation version of the mine under the designation "Ub.T.Mi.35", characterized by the presence of smoke vents on the side surface of the mine. The mine is disarming, could be installed on non-handling. A total of 5.3 million mines were manufactured. TTX mines: weight - 9.1 kg; explosive mass - 5.5 kg; diameter - 318 mm; height - 76 mm; target sensor diameter - 30 mm; actuation force - 90 - 180 kg.
Mine "T.Mi.35 St" was created in 1935 at the same time as the base version "T.Mi.35", as a mine intended for use in the desert. It had improved tightness, preventing sand from getting under the pressure cover. Structurally, the mine differed from the base, with a flatter upper surface and ribbing to hold the camouflage layer of the soil. It had a greater weight, a more durable body, a greater actuation force, and a slightly smaller target sensor. A total of 1.1 million mines were produced. TTX mines: weight - 9.6 mm; explosive mass - 5.4 kg; height - 80 mm; the diameter of the mine and target sensor - 318 mm; actuation force - 210 kg.
The push action high-explosive anti-track mine was the result of the improvement of the T.Mi. Z 35 "and was produced with a roofing iron body. The "T.Mi.Z.42" fuse was considered standard for the mine. Since 1943, the "T.Mi.Z.43" fuse was produced with which the mine was not neutralized. To install the mine for anti-handling, on the side surface and on the bottom there were slots for additional fuses of the tension action of the ZZ-35 or ZZ-42 types. The mine was painted dark gray or could only be covered with linseed oil and could even be completely unpainted. A total of 9.8 million mines were produced. TTX mines: weight - 9.4 kg; explosive mass - 5.5 kg; diameter - 320 mm; height - 90 mm; target sensor diameter - 160 mm; actuation force - 340 kg.
The high-explosive anti-track mine was a simplified version of the Tellermine 42, and with an additional device it was also used as an anti-bottom mine. Depending on the equipment with the fuse, the mine could be harmless with the "ZZ-42" fuse. It also made it possible to set a mine in the anti-bottom inclined action mode. A total of 3.6 million mines were produced. TTX mines: weight - 9.9 kg; explosive mass - 5.5 kg; diameter - 320 mm; height - 102 mm; target sensor diameter - 160 mm; actuation force - 100 -180 kg.
The Topfmine 4531 series of high-explosive anti-gusseting non-metal pressure mines consisted of seven options: T.Mi.4531, T.Mi. A-4531, T.Mi. B-4531, Viskonitmine, ToMi C-4531, Papmine, ToMi D-4531. The mines were equipped with an SF-1 (To.Mi.Z.) glass chemical fuse. When the mine was equipped with a Knickzuender 43 (Kn.Z.43) fuse, it also became anti-bottom. The shells of mines were made from a mixture of wood flour or sawdust and coal tar, lignite (a mixture of brown coal dust and bitumen), cardboard, wood or plywood, and faience. The mine was not detected by any of the types of induction mine detectors. For them to appear with their troops, the sappers, when installing, sprinkled the mines with weakly reactive sand of thorium, which was detected by a radioactivity counter. The mine is disarming, it could be equipped with an anti-handling device with the help of an additional "ZZ-42" type fuse. A total of 787 thousand mines were produced. TTX mines: weight - 9 - 10 kg; explosive mass - 5.7 - 6 kg; height - 140 mm; diameter - 310 - 340 mm; target sensor diameter - 152 mm; actuation force - 150 kg.
The mine was adopted by the airborne units of the Luftwaffe by the beginning of the war, as a light anti-tank, anti-track. The mine was a disc-shaped metal case, inside which there is an explosive charge, in a metal container suspended inside the case on three bolts, five built-in push-action fuses and a safety chamber with a detonator cap. The body consisted of two halves (upper and lower), interconnected with a metal strap. The mine was installed on the ground, in the ground and in the snow. The mine is recoverable, deactivated, without a self-destruction device. A total of 30.9 thousand mines were produced. TTX mines: weight - 4 kg; explosive mass - 2 kg; diameter - 263 mm; height - 90 mm ;; target sensor diameter - 220 mm; actuation force - 250 kg.
The Schwere Panzermine high-explosive anti-track mine was developed in 1939 and produced in limited numbers. The mine was a box made of cast iron. A target sensor cover was attached to the top of the shargrah. Inside the body was an explosive charge, an explosive mechanism with fuses "DZ-35" and "ZZ-35". The actuation force could be adjusted. The mine is non-removable and non-disarming. In total, about a thousand mines were made. TTX mines: weight - 36 - 37 kg; explosive mass - 16.7 kg; length - 430 mm; width - 400 mm; height - 360 mm; target sensor size - 350x300 mm; actuation force - 150 kg.
An anti-track, auxiliary, push action mine was put into service in 1942 and structurally consisted of a wooden plank box with a plank lid. A rectangular hole has been cut in the lid, into which a wooden pressure bar is inserted. The box was filled with 27 Sprengkorper 28 checkers (weight 200 g, dimensions 686x508x406 mm) and equipped with a ZZ-42 fuse. The mine is disarming, depending on the fuse it could be non-retrievable. More than 5 million mines were manufactured in total. TTX mines: weight - 8 - 8.6 kg; explosive mass - 5.2 - 5.6 kg; length - 320 - 330 mm; width - 305 - 310 mm; height - 114 - 120 mm; target sensor dimensions - 160x70 mm; actuation force - 220 kg.
The anti-tracked high-explosive mine of push action was a simplified version of the "H.Mi.42" and was distinguished by its increased size and mass of explosive. It was produced in two versions "Panzer-Schnellmine A" (Pz.Schn.Mi.A) and "Panzer-Schnellmine B" (Pz.Schn.Mi.B), which differed in the type of fuse used and therefore had differences in the design of the front and upper walls of the housing, the front of the pressure cover, the number of intermediate detonators. The mine was installed on the ground, in the ground and in the snow. The mine is recoverable, neutralized without a self-destruction mechanism. TTX mines: weight - 8 - 8.6 kg; explosive mass - 5.2 - 5.8 kg; length - 360 mm; width - 240 mm; height - 110 mm; target sensor dimensions - 360x210 mm; actuation force - 60 - 80 kg.
The auxiliary, anti-tank, anti-tracked pressurized mine had a body made of high-strength cardboard with water-repellent impregnation and was painted with oil paint. Structurally, the mine was a low cardboard cylinder open on top, inside which an explosive charge was laid in the form of a block of pressed TNT, having a recess for a fuse in the center. From above, the body was covered with a lid in the form of the same cardboard cylinder, but slightly larger in diameter and having a hole in the center for the "Pap.Mi.Z" fuse. The body and cover are glued together. The mine is recoverable, disarmed without a self-destruction device. TTX mines: weight - 6.7 kg; explosive mass - 5 kg; diameter - 305 mm; height - 127 mm; target sensor diameter - 305 mm; actuation force - 340 - 360 kg.
An auxiliary high-explosive anti-track pressure mine was put into service in the second half of 1944. Its hull was made of aluminum, unsuitable for the aircraft industry. Structurally, the mine was a low aluminum cylinder open on top, inside which an explosive charge and three cylindrical blocks made of pressed TNT were placed. From above, the body was covered with a flat aluminum disc, in which there were three threaded holes for "DZ-35" or "T.Mi.Z.42" fuses. The mine was installed on the ground, in the ground and in the snow. Mine, recoverable disarmed, without self-destruct device. TTX mines: weight - 6.4 kg; explosive mass - 3.2 kg; diameter - 305 mm; height - 95 mm; actuation force - 60 - 180 kg.
The "Hohlladungs-Spring-Mine 4672" / "Panzer-Sprengmine" (Pz.Sp.Mi.) cumulative jumping mine of oblique action was an anti-tank anti-bottom mine and was intended to destroy all types of tanks. Structurally, the mine consisted of a warhead with a shaped explosive charge and an expelling powder charge, placed in a metal glass, which in turn was attached to a plank base. A curved metal tube is inserted into the lower part of the glass, which has a thread in the upper part for screwing in an oblique-action pin fuse (Kippzuender 43 (Ki.Z.43). The mine was installed vertically with its head up into a hole dug in the ground and covered with earth so that above the ground surface only the fuse pin rose (to a height of at least 45 cm). The tank, passing over the mine, tilted the fuse pin and triggered it. The cumulative jet pierced the bottom of the car. The mine was retrievable, neutralized, with a self-neutralizing device. A total of 59 thousand mines were fired. TTX mines : weight - 4.5 kg; explosive weight - 1.6 kg; diameter - 159 mm; height - 285 mm; pin height - 682 - 914 mm; armor penetration - 100 mm; actuation force - 1 kg.
The "Panzer-Stab-Mine 43" pin mine was an anti-tank, anti-bottom mine of cumulative action. It was installed on a wooden post driven into the bottom of a cone-shaped hole so that the ground level coincided with the top surface of the mine. The fuse target sensor (metal rod) with a length of about 910 mm rose above ground level. When a tank or other vehicle moving across the field tilts the target sensor with its body, the fuse is triggered, causing a charge explosion and the cumulative jet pierces the bottom armor. The mine was installed only in the ground in the presence of sufficient density and height (about 1 m) of masking natural means (tall grass, small bushes, snow). The top surface of the mine must be completely free. It was not allowed to lay a masking layer of soil and, in general, any objects or vegetation on the mine cover. Mina was put on the cylindrical part of the post tightly with the effort of the hand. The "Knick / Kipp 43" fuse was screwed in last. A total of 25 thousand mines were manufactured. TTX mines: mine mass - 3 kg; explosive weight - 800 g; diameter - 125 mm; height without a column - 350 mm; fuse pin height - 910 mm; force for actuation - 1 kg; armor penetration - 100 mm.
Anti-track, push action mine structurally consisted of an oblong metal box (tray), a TNT charge in a metal box and a push cover with a carrying handle. The mine used two "ZZ-42" fuses, which were screwed into the sockets located at the ends of the explosive charge. In addition, in the side wall of the charge and on top there are three additional sockets for fuses, designed to install a mine for anti-handling. TTX mines: weight - 9.3 kg; explosive mass - 4 kg; length - 800 mm; width - 95 mm; height - 80 mm; target sensor size - 800x95 mm; actuation force - 180 - 360 kg.
The mine was an extended modification of the R.Mi.43, which differed from its predecessor by the installation of one T.Mi.Z.43 fuse. A total of 3 million mines "R.Mі.43" and "R.Mі.44" were produced.
Anti-tank mine, anti-bottom, oblique action was a wooden box filled with explosives and having a device on top with a wooden pin, which pulled the rod out of the "ZZ-35" fuse. A 200-gram TNT block was installed inside the body. The rest of the space was covered with powdered pentrite. A tension fuse with a detonator cap is inserted into the hole. A wooden pin about 1 meter long is inserted into the upper part of the mine. An explosion occurs when the pin is tilted by the machine body in any direction. The mine was installed in the ground and in the snow so that only a pin remained above the surface of the ground (snow). The mine is recoverable and disarmed. TTX mines: weight - 6 -7 kg; explosive mass - 2.2 - 2.6 kg; length - 254 mm; width - 153 mm; height - 89 mm; pin height - 590 - 1090 mm; target sensor height - 500 - 1000 mm; actuation force - 6 kg.
The mine was intended to destroy or disable fortifications (bunkers, bunkers, shelters), tanks and other armored vehicles, as well as other important objects, the approach to which sappers with explosives is impossible or impractical for any reason.
It was a charge of explosives, detonated electrically through wires from a control panel, and installed inside a small tracked vehicle, remotely controlled by wires. The car was equipped with a gasoline or electric engine and was produced in four serial modifications - Sd.Kfz. 302 / 303a / 303b / 3036. The signal for the explosion was also supplied via a wire line. The maximum range is determined by the ability to visually observe the machine and the amount of control cable coiled around the reel. In terms of fuel capacity, the device is able to cover up to 12 km. on the road, or 6 - 8 kilometers over rough terrain. In total, more than 5 thousand devices of all modifications were manufactured. TTX device: weight - 365 - 430 kg; explosive mass - 60-100 kg; length - 1500 - 1630 mm; width - 840 - 910 mm; height - 560 - 620 mm booking - frontal part - 5 - 10 mm; clearance - 120 - 168 mm; travel speed - 10 - 11.5 km / h; turning radius - 4 m; cruising range - 1.5 - 12 km.
During the war, the sappers of the Wehrmacht were armed with four blasting machines of the Glühzündapparat type: M-26, M-37, M-30 and M-40. The most modern machine was the "M-40", which was based on a generator that produced a voltage of 300 volts to detonate an explosive. On the top of the machine were placed two electrical contacts with latches on the thread, a socket with a rotary cylinder for a blasting key. TTX "M-40": height - 140 mm; width - 57 mm; thickness - 95 mm.
Mines from Afghanistan.
1. Anti-tank mine M19
Country of origin: USA
Used in: Afghanistan, Angola, Chad, Chile, Cyprus, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, South Korea, Lebanon, Western Sahara, Zambia
Weight: 12.56 kg
Explosive: 9.5 kg
2. Anti-tank mine TM-46
Used in: Africa, the Middle East and Southeast Asia
Weight: 8.6kg
Explosive: 5.7 kg
3. Anti-tank mine TC / 6 with a minimum of metal
Country of origin: Italy
Used in: Afghanistan, Chad, Ecuador, Lebanon, Tajikistan
Weight: 9.6kg
Explosive substance: 6 kg
4. Anti-tank non-metallic mine YM-III. The mine body is completely non-metallic, metal components are present only in the fuse
Country of origin: Iran (copy of the Chinese Type 72 mine)
Used in: Afghanistan, Bosnia, Croatia. Iran, Iraq
Weight: 7 kg
Explosive: 5.7 kg
5. Anti-tank mine YM-II, copied from the Italian land mine SB-81 with a minimum presence of metal
Country of origin: Iran (copy of Italian SB-81)
Used in: Afghanistan and Iran
Weight: 3.2kg
Explosive: 2 kg
6. MON-50 - directional anti-personnel mine. The number 50 means the radius of destruction in meters
Country of origin: Russia (USSR)
Used in: Afghanistan, Angola, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Chechnya, Ecuador, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Georgia, Lebanon, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Russia, Somalia, Tajikistan, Western Sahara, Zambia
Weight: 2KG
Explosive: 700 g
7. OZM-72 - anti-personnel jumping fragmentation mine of circular destruction, developed from OZM-3 and 4 for greater efficiency and radius of destruction
Country of origin: Russia (USSR)
Used in: Afghanistan, Angola, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Chechnya, Eriteria, Ethiopia, Georgia, Russia, Tajikistan, Zambia
Weight: 5KG
Explosive: 500 g
8.Type 69 - Jumping fragmentation mine Country of origin: China
Used in: Afghanistan, Cambodia, China, Somalia, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sudan, Thailand, Uganda
Weight: 1.35kg
Explosive: 105 g
9.POMZ-2 (Anti-personnel Fragmentation Mine Barrage) - Soviet anti-personnel fragmentation mine of tension action
Country of origin: Russia (USSR)
Used in: Africa, the Middle East and Southeast Asia
Weight: 2.3KG
Explosive: 75 g
10. MS-3 - high-explosive unloading trap based on the PMN anti-personnel mine. Designed for use with the OZM-72 mine, has the same diameter to ideally fit a mine hidden under the ground
Country of origin: Russia (USSR)
Weight: 630g
Explosive: 310 g
11. Anti-personnel mine PMN
Country of origin: Russia (USSR)
Used in: Afghanistan, Angola, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Chad, Chechnya, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Georgia, Guinea-Bissau, Honduras, Iraq, Kurdistan, Laos, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, Nicaragua, Oman , Rwanda, Somalia, Sudan, Tajikistan, Thailand, Uganda, Vietnam, Yemen
Weight: 550g
Explosive: 240 g
12. PMN2 - an improved form of PMN, created, in particular, to increase resistance during explosion
Country of origin: Russia (USSR)
Used in: Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Chechnya, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Georgia, Honduras, Lebanon, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Tajikistan, Thailand, Yemen
Weight: 450g
Explosive: 110 g
13. Iranian mine No. 4, sometimes known as Mk4, is an anti-personnel unloading mine with a box-type plastic hull. Very similar to the Egyptian mine T / 78
Country of origin: Iran
Used in: Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq and Sudan
Weight: 420g
Explosive: 200 g
14. Anti-personnel mine YM-I
Country of origin: Iran (copy of the Italian mine VS-50)
Weight: 185g
Explosive: 50 g
15. PFM - a small anti-personnel high-explosive mine with a hull made of low-density plastic
Country of origin: Russia (USSR)
Used in: Afghanistan, Chechnya
Weight: 75 g
Explosive: 37 g
The first military mines appeared almost five hundred years ago and gradually became one of the main types of weapons used in conflicts of varying degrees of locality. At first, the word "mine" was used to designate an underground horizontal shaft under the enemy's fortifications, where a powder charge was placed. Hence, by the way, and the expression "bring mines", that is, build intrigues. Subsequently, the charge itself began to be called a mine.
At the word "mine" many people think of an explosive ordnance buried underground. Meanwhile, it comes from the French mine - "mine", "digging". In military affairs, as it is easy to understand, this word was fixed during the times of siege wars, or rather, siege work during hostilities. From the same place, by the way, and the French "sapper", from saper - "undermine", "undermine". So, sappers dug trenches and approaches, and miners dug under the walls. With the advent of gunpowder, explosive charges were placed in mines. Gradually, the mine began to denote explosive ordnance. In addition to the high-explosive, fragmentation action was also used - from the beginning of the 17th and up to the beginning of the 20th century, "stone-throwing bombs" were arranged to protect the fortifications. However, in China, various versions of powder mines, including underground ("Underground Thunder"), were used even earlier, sometimes creating a kind of minefield in which the mines were detonated almost simultaneously. Black powder remained an explosive for several centuries. Reliable way explosions were searched for quite a long time, but significant success was achieved in the 1830s with the development of a fire-conducting cord by W. Bickford in England and an electric ignition system by K.A. Shilder in Russia.
From the middle of the 19th century, land mines and mine mines from the fortress war began to turn into a field war, and the experience of the Crimean War of 1853-1856 played a big role here. Antipersonnel mines and land mines were used in Civil war in the USA in 1861-1865, in the Russian-Turkish 1877-1878.
At the same time, the history of new high explosives began: in 1832 the Frenchman A. Braconno received xyloidin, in 1846 the German H. Schönbein - pyroxylin, in 1847 the Italian A. Sobrero - liquid nitroglycerin. In Russia, based on nitroglycerin N.N. Zinin and V.F. Petrushevsky developed explosive compositions, later called dynamites, and in 1855 A.P. Davydov discovered the phenomenon of detonation in explosives. In 1867, Alfred Nobel in Sweden proposed an explosive mercury-based detonator capsule design. New explosives, discovering ways to industrial production, detonator caps and detonating cord sparked a technical revolution in explosives. By the end of the 19th century, dynamite, picric acid, TNT, ammonium nitrate explosives found practical application; at the beginning of the 20th century, tetryl, PETN, RDX and others were added to them. Self-explosive field bombs appeared - prototypes of modern mines with automatically operating fuses.
In the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905, factory-made anti-personnel mines were already used. During the First World War, the belligerents covered the approaches to their positions with mines, blocked passages, and brought mine mines under the enemy's forward trenches. With the appearance of tanks on the battlefield, anti-tank mines began to operate, and by the end of the war - and the first experienced mine detectors and mine sweepers.
However, during the interwar period, mines were still considered an addition to non-explosive barriers and chemical "curtains". Although D.M. Already in the 1930s, Karbyshev wrote that of all types of obstacles "the most profitable is mining" and pointed out the need for mines triggered by pressure, concussion, delayed-action mines, automatic landmines - such mines were in service with the Red Army, but in insufficient quantity. The situation was significantly changed by the Soviet-Finnish war of 1939-1940, which was followed by the rapid development in our country, on the one hand, of mine weapons, on the other, means of detecting and overcoming mine-explosive obstacles.
During World War II, mine barriers played a special role. Thus, the Red Army and Soviet partisans used about 40 types of mines. Total number ground anti-personnel and anti-tank mines different types used on the Soviet-German front of World War II exceeded 200 million.
Local wars further increased the value of various mines. So, in the Arab-Israeli war of 1973, 20% of the losses of armored vehicles fell on mine explosions. And in the Vietnamese war, with its predominantly partisan character, in 1970 alone, American losses from mine explosions accounted for 70% of all losses of armored vehicles and 33% of losses in manpower. In addition to new generations of mines, the means of their mechanized installation, fundamentally new systems and mining complexes, and new means of mine countermeasures were created.
And the concept of "mine warfare" has been present in special and popular literature for a quarter of a century. The Soviet army had to face the waging of such a war by dushmans in Afghanistan. If in 1982 5,118 various mines and land mines were discovered and removed there, then in 1983-1987 8-10 thousand were removed annually. In addition to the scale of the use of this weapon, the variety of its use also grew. According to experts, explosive losses accounted for about 25% of all losses of Soviet troops in Afghanistan, and most of them are the result of explosions. Russian army for more than ten years now it has been facing a mine war in the North Caucasus. In Chechnya, losses from mines, landmines and camouflaged explosive devices, according to some estimates, amounted to about 70% of all losses of the federal forces. And in the American troops in Iraq, losses from explosions exceed 50% of all losses.
The "shell-armor" competition usually takes place with the advantage of the "shell", this is also evident in mine warfare - the design and tactics of using mine-explosive obstacles outstrip the development of means and methods of mine countermeasures.
Modern mine weapons are an extraordinary variety of types, families and samples of different generations. In technical terms, the range of mine weapons is very wide - from the simplest mines and fuses, which differ from the old self-arrows only in materials and technology, to the complexes of "smart" weapons with the ability to work in autonomous and remotely controlled versions. In local wars and military conflicts, mines for various purposes, all kinds of brands and generations made in Italy, China, Pakistan, Romania, USSR, USA, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia have found widespread use; other countries have also made a significant contribution.By designation, antipersonnel, anti-tank, anti-vehicle, anti-amphibious (used in the coastal zone), special (incendiary, booby-trapped, sabotage, signal mines) and object mines are distinguished. But they also created "engineering nuclear bombs".
We will begin our careful "tour" of mine weapons with antipersonnel (AP) mines. The variety of this type of ammunition is generated both by the simultaneous existence of mines of different generations, and by the difference in technological capabilities, but above all by the variety of tasks and methods of using PP-mines. They are placed as part of anti-personnel or combined minefields, in groups and individual mines, they cover the approach to their positions and targets, the withdrawal of their units or block the path of movement in the rear of the enemy, fetter his maneuver or force him to move into a “fire bag”, “protect” anti-tank mines, used as traps or means of detonating landmines, and so on. Particular attention was and is being paid not only to increasing the damaging effect of mines, but also to the creation of samples adapted to mechanized installation and use as part of remote mining systems (artillery, jet, aviation).
Explosion and shrapnel
Most mines consist of three main elements - an explosive charge, a fuse, and a housing.
The action of any mine is based on an explosion, that is, an extremely fast release a large number energy, accompanied by the appearance and propagation of a shock wave.
Explosive transformation propagates in the mass of a conventional explosive (explosive) either by heat transfer and radiation emitted during combustion, or by mechanical action of a shock wave propagating through the mass of explosive at a supersonic speed. In the first case, the process is called combustion, in the second, detonation.
Depending on the application, explosives are divided into: initiating (designed to initiate explosive processes), blasting, or crushing (used for destruction), propellant, pyrotechnic compositions.
In mines for various purposes, blasting agents that are sensitive to detonation are mainly used. These include such products organic chemistry, such as TNT, tetryl, RDX, PETN, plastids and others, as well as cheap ammonium nitrate explosives (ammonites). Pyrotechnic compositions are used, for example, in signal and incendiary mines.
But the energy of the explosion must also be used to defeat the enemy. Mine-explosive damage is usually combined, caused by several factors at once, but two are distinguished as the main ones - fragmentation and high-explosive damage.
The high-explosive action consists in hitting the target with incandescent high-speed explosion products - at close distances, and then by excess pressure in the front and the high-speed pressure of the shock wave. Even a slight overpressure of 0.2-0.3 kg / cm2 can cause serious injury. Undermining on a high-explosive mine is usually associated with the separation or destruction of a limb, damage internal organs, great vessels, nerve pillars.
As for the splinters, a splinter is considered to be lethal if it has a kinetic energy of about 100 J. ... A heavy splinter of irregular shape causes, of course, great destruction of tissues, but the concussion inflicted on the tissues of the body at a low speed is less. In addition, the splinter must still hit the target, and since the explosion is "non-aimed", it is better to "have more" splinters. If at a certain distance from the explosion point at least half of the targets (and the target is a human figure, approximately 1.5-2 by 0.5 meters) "receive" 1-2 lethal fragments, this distance is called the effective hit radius, if at least 70 % - continuous damage (although in the descriptions of fragmentation mines you can find confusion in these radii). Shrapnel wounds are usually penetrating, if the fragments are irregular, they are also torn, with severe damage to internal organs, rupture of blood vessels and nerve tissues, and bone fractures. Finished spherical fragments, used in a number of mines, leave small channels in the body, but at the same time "ball wounds" are characterized by multiplicity. A steel ball in the tissues of the body moves along a peculiar trajectory, sharply changing directions, the wound has numerous blind channels, accompanied by ruptures of internal organs.
Order to defeat
Let's start with the most important thing in the mine - the detonator. After all, do not fire it on time - and the power of the charge, shock wave or fragments, the efforts of designers and sappers will be wasted or even go to the detriment of their own. On the other hand, it is the "cunning" of the detonator that makes the mine really dangerous for the enemy.
According to the principle of operation, fuses are divided into contact, requiring direct contact with the object, and non-contact, according to the timing of their operation - instantaneous and delayed action. An instantaneous contact detonator "reacts" to the impact from the target, which can be touching a tensioned wire or thread (pulling action), applying pressure (pushing), or, conversely, removing pressure (unloading) from the mine cover. Mechanical fuses of pull and push action are old, but still the most common types. Combined fuses like the American M3 can use pull, push or unloading action.
With all modern technologies stretching is still widely used - a low-tension wire or thread connected to the pin or lever of the firing mechanism of the fuse. But the stretch must still be placed and masked in the grass, bushes, debris. In addition, the grass and branches have a habit of swaying. The "antennae" (short elastic rods) of the fuse or thin threads with weights scattered to the sides of the mine can serve as a target sensor. Of course, this requires a more sensitive fuse, and in order to protect the miners, it is automatically transferred to a firing position only some time after the mine has been placed. For this, a long-range cocking mechanism is used. In remote mining systems, such a mechanism is especially important.
For proximity fuses, the target sensor can be a device that reacts to mechanical or electromagnetic vibrations created by the target (or if the target crosses the "beam"). Examples are a vibration or heat sensor configured to operate above a predetermined level, a paralazer emitter-receiver (through the beam), and so on. The fuse serves to directly initiate the detonation of the charge and can be part of the fuse or be inserted into the mine separately - when it is installed.
The igniter can include, for example, a primer-igniter, which is triggered by a puncture by a striker and detonates the primer-detonator, which in turn causes an explosion of the detonator and the explosive charge. The grating fuse acts by friction. When equipping a mine with cast TNT or ammonium nitrate explosives, an additional detonator is also required.
An electric igniter, including an electric detonator, a current source, wires and a contactor, allows the use of a wide variety of contact and non-contact circuits. For example, there might be a contact underneath a swinging floorboard, separated by a small gap from a contact on another board. Having stepped on a cover or a board, the soldier will close the electric circuit, and the fuse installed on the side of the trail or mine deck will go off. A more modern version - an optical cable loop is thrown across the road. It is enough to crush or break it so that the receiving element stops receiving a signal, and a simple electronic circuit will issue a command to detonate. The signal to the electric detonator can also come from such a target sensor as a combination of a push rod and a piezoelectric element, a pair of LED-photodiode (crossing the beam by the target), from a photosensitive sensor that reacts to illumination with a strong flashlight, etc.
A number of mines are equipped with an additional detonator and a fuse socket for installation on anti-handling devices - the fuse will react to an attempt, say, to move the mine or defuse it.
There are also mechanisms for self-destruction (self-detonation). Option - an electronic timer, launched simultaneously with bringing the mine into a firing position. True, electronic mechanisms easily fail when current sources freeze, and when high temperatures their work is unstable. And yet, fuses like this are finding increasing use. They allow you to give mines a number of possibilities at once - selectivity for the target (man, machine), long-range cocking, self-destruction or self-neutralization (transfer to a safe position) after a given time or by a coded signal, setting for anti-handling when different conditions(shift, tilt, approach of the mine detector), the ability to "interrogate" mines and determine their combat state.
"Many-sided" land mineHigh-explosive mines are designed to defeat one infantryman in army shoes, and are small in size and weight. They are difficult to detect visually or with a probe. During the Great Patriotic War Soviet troops widely used wooden high-explosive anti-personnel mine PMD with a push cover. Its scheme was used after the war. In Hungary, for example, they first produced a wooden copy of the Soviet PMD-7, and later - an M62 with a plastic body. Practically according to the same scheme, but with a different (grating instead of shock) fuse, the Yugoslavian PMA-1A mine was also made. In high-explosive mines, bodies made of plastic, ceramics, pressed cardboard, and fabric have been widely used for a long time. The use of plastics is caused by a number of factors - a decrease in mass (with the size of these mines, the strength did not decrease), a reduction in cost, the difficulty of detecting with an induction mine detector (and high-explosive PP mines are placed at a shallow depth). Non-metallic parts in the fuse also contribute to the difficulty of detection. So, in the Italian SB-33 mine there is only 0.86 grams of metal, and the fuse for the Chinese Type 72A mine has only one metal part - the striker firing pin.
An example of a high-explosive PP-mine with a plastic body is the Soviet PMN-4. The fuse built into the design is very sensitive, therefore there is a long-range cocking mechanism of a hydromechanical type. The push-action sensor is designed to “catch” the pressure on the mine's rubber cap, even with slight contact with the leg. For the Yugoslav PMA-3, for the same purpose, the upper part with a warhead under the pressure of the leg rotates relative to the lower one, forcing the grating fuse to work.
They tried to further reduce the size of PP-mines by using a shaped charge. So, the American M25 LC mine carries a shaped charge of only 8.5 grams and looks like a peg driven into the ground. And the "Grevel" mine was made simply in the form of a cloth bag with a charge based on lead azide, exploding from pressure and not requiring a special detonator.
In fact, high-explosive anti-personnel mines also include mines or charges used as anti-handling devices. For example, the Soviet MS-3 surprise mine with a plastic body, weighing 550 grams, a charge of 200 grams and a detonating fuse. Such a mine, placed under an anti-tank or anti-personnel mine (if they do not have their anti-handling devices) or an explosive charge, will work when trying to move them and cause detonation. The ML-7 booby-trap weighing 100 grams is used in a similar way.By the way, PP-mines of even more "local" action were produced - "bullet" ones that shot a soldier in the leg. Here you can recall the German Kugelmine during the Second World War, and the Soviet PMP of the early 1960s (equipped with a pistol cartridge 7.62x25 TT, triggered by pressing the cap with an effort of 7-30 kgf), and various partisan homemade products different countries and peoples. However, the effectiveness of the bullet mines turned out to be very low.
On the other hand, incendiary mines and landmines of circular or directional destruction were used to combat the infantry. For example, the Americans in Korea and Vietnam prepared them on the basis of barrels, cans or cans with liquid or thickened (napalm) combustible mixtures and expelling charges. "Fire" mines could be equipped with solid mixtures - for example, pressed termite. Gradually, the use of "firing" PP-mines almost disappeared, but incendiary mixtures were replaced by volume-detonating and thermobaric ones. For example, the Yugoslavian guided mine UDAR contained a container fired upward with 20 kilograms of liquid fuel, which, being sprayed into an aerosol cloud and detonating, would kill manpower within a radius of 40 meters.
"All-round defense"Fragment mines differ primarily in the method of installation and in the "direction" of the action. An example of a simple and cheap mine is the Soviet anti-personnel fragmentation barrage mines like POMZ-2, developed during the Great Patriotic War, and its modification POMZ-2M. A cast-iron cylindrical body with an external notch is placed on a wooden peg somewhere in the grass, equipped with a standard 75-gram TNT block, stretchers are stretched to the MUV-2 mechanical fuse from 2-3 pegs.
POMZ mines were widely copied around the world, and among their counterparts (not copies) one can mention the Belgian PRB-413 mine. The roundabout mine POM-2 belongs to a completely different generation, if only due to its use in remote mining systems. They are loaded into cassettes and installed with the help of the VSM-1 helicopter system, the UMP self-propelled mine layer or the PKM portable set. This required a simple "automation" to install and bring the mine into a combat position. After falling to the ground, six folding spring-loaded blades put the mine in a vertical position, then thin wires with weights are fired off to the sides, serving as target sensors. When exploded, the fragments of the hull hit the enemy. In the self-destruction mechanism, electronic circuits were dispensed with - just the piston gradually "pushes" the rubber gel until the firing pin reaches the capsule. Although the system depends on the air temperature, in the end it works where the electronics can fail.
The American BLU-92 / B mine is also installed on the ground by a remote mining system, but the combat position is simpler. In addition to target sensors in the form of four nylon threads with weights, it has a backup seismic sensor, which is triggered when the target approaches 3-4 meters. The detonator also acts when trying to move a mine, that is, it serves as an anti-handling device.
Deadly "frogs"Explosive devices that are simply placed above the ground are easier to detect. Therefore, the appearance of "jumping out" mines hidden in the ground was only a matter of time. Their prototype, in fact, was the "shrapnel land mine" of the headquarters captain Karasev, which was used even in the defense of Port Arthur. During the Second World War, Soviet troops widely used guided mines of the OZM type, based on an ejection chamber and shrapnel shells or mortar mines, detonated on a signal by wire. However, the most effective proved to be the German "Springmine" SMi-35 with three automatic fuses, nicknamed by our engineers "frog". The explosion of a fragmentation element, equipped with 300 steel balls, occurred 1-1.5 meters above the ground, the radius of destruction reached 20 meters.
Jumping mines were further improved after the war. An example is the Soviet OZM-4 and OZM72. The latter is installed in the hole, the fuse is screwed into the socket, after which the device is masked. If a mechanical fuse MUV is used, an extension mounted on pegs is brought to its check. When using an MVE-2 electromechanical fuse, an enemy soldier only needs to hook a wire thrown on the ground from the fuse to the mine. When the fuse is triggered, the expelling charge ejects a steel body with an explosive charge and ready-made fragments in the form of steel rollers stacked in several rows from the guide cup. When the cable connecting the glass to the percussion mechanism is pulled, the striker and the fuse are triggered, and an explosion occurs at a height of 0.6-0.9 meters, ready-made fragments and fragments of the hull hit the enemy within a radius of up to 25 meters. Let's compare - for POM-2, which explodes over the ground, the radius of destruction is no more than 16 meters.
Jumping mines are also used in remote mining systems. Such are, for example, the American M67 and M72, which are put in a "throw-in" with the help of 155-mm artillery shells (ADAM system). The mine has the shape of a cylinder segment and a fuse with tension threads, scattered to the sides by the force of the springs after the mine has landed. When the thread touches, the breaking element is thrown up and explodes at a height of 1-1.5 meters, giving a radius of damage of 10-15 meters. And on the basis of the M67, the jumping PDB M86 was created, which is quickly installed with a simple throw by hand, like a grenade.
Balls are flying and rollersSimple geometric considerations make it possible to understand that the radius of effective destruction of a round-trip mine is small. The range of lethal action, depending on the power of the charge and the mass of the fragment, can reach 200 or 300 meters, but the number of fragments per unit area is rapidly decreasing. On the other hand, when laying mines, it is often possible to predict with a high degree of certainty from which direction the enemy will appear. So isn't it better to direct the stream of debris to a specific sector of space? This idea also has a long history - remember the same stone-throwing land mines.
In the second half of the 20th century, much attention was drawn to the American experience of using the M18 Claymore directional mines in Vietnam with a plastic body and ready-made fragments. The use of ready-made fragments with a light hull allows for a more uniform and “predictable” fragmentation field and reduces energy losses for the destruction of the hull. "Claymore" began to be widely copied and modified. MON-50 became its Soviet counterpart.
The body of the mine is a flat plastic box bent in two planes, and due to the concavity of the front wall of the MON-50, the vertical dispersion of fragments is less than that of the American prototype, which means that the density of the flux of fragments is higher. An explosive charge is placed inside the body, and a layer of fragments with a total mass of about 1 kilogram is located at the front wall. MON-50 is installed on four folding legs or mounted on a tree, wall, metal pipe.
When installing a mine using a simple "sight" is guided along the axis of the intended sector of destruction. The shock wave, of course, spreads both back and to the sides, so that the mine is "dangerous" outside the sector, which is taken into account when installing it. Fuses can be used of various types - electromechanical MVE-72, mechanical MUV-2 and MUV-4, electric detonator EDP-r. The latter receives a signal from the control panel, then a mine or a group of mines becomes in the hands of the operator a kind of multiple launch rocket weapon.Directional mines are placed on the enemy's paths, and they cover their positions and approaches to targets. They are considered very convenient for organizing booby traps. The number of fragments and the angle of their dispersal are linked to the radius of continuous destruction. For example, for the French F1 (APED), containing 500 fragments, this is 30 meters at an angle of 50 °, for MON-50 (485 fragments) - 50 meters at an angle of 54 °. For comparison, the OZM-160 guided jumping mine has a radius of circular damage of up to 40 meters, but at the same time the mine itself weighs 85 kilograms, and its fragmentation projectile - 45.
More powerful models are also in service - for example, MON-100 and MON-200. Their body in the form of a concave disc is suspended on a support. These mines are used only in a controlled manner. When MON-100 explodes, 400 fragments hit targets within a radius of up to 100 meters. In addition to manpower, it can be unarmored vehicles, and automobile tires, so that heavy directional mines like MON-100 or FFV model "13" can be considered anti-vehicle. There are also "homemade products" here. For example, Afghan spooks made directional mines from shell casings, pouring pieces of metal over the gunpowder, and using an electric igniter instead of a primer.
Mines are fire!"Controlled" (exploded at the request of the miner) mines appeared earlier than "automatic" ones. An example of a modern control kit for an anti-personnel minefield, made up of mines of the OZM type or the MON type, is the domestic UMP-3. The operator uses the control panel, from which 4 wire control lines go to 40 actuators installed on the minefield, electric detonators of mines are connected to the actuators. UMP-3 allows to control 80 mines at a distance of up to 1 kilometer, carry out their selective detonation, quickly, in 5 seconds, bring the minefield into a combat position, and in 3 seconds transfer it to a safe one. True, such a set weighs 370 kilograms. The more portable (95 kilograms) "Crab-IM" kit allows you to control only 11 mines by wires at the same range.
The non-contact explosive device NVU-P ("Okhota"), which successfully passed its baptism of fire back in Afghanistan, will be more complicated. NVU-P allows the use of a group of five mines OZM-72 or MON-50 with remote (from the MZU console, via wire lines) or autonomous control. In the latter case, a geophone (seismic vibration sensor) serves as the target sensor. The signal from the geophone is processed by a logical device that separates the steps of a person from the entire spectrum and sends a signal to the switchgear, which detonates the first mine through the knock-down device mounted on the mine. If the footstep signal comes again (the target is not hit or a new one has appeared), a second mine is detonated, and so on. With the detonation of the fifth mine, the device itself is self-destructed. In addition, NVU-P provides long-range cocking and self-destruction when the batteries are discharged.
Modern technology makes it possible to move much further in the organization and management of the minefield. Let's say the Machine-Building Research Institute suggested “ engineering ammunition with a cluster warhead ", known as the M-225. In fact, this is a cluster rocket, installed vertically into the ground and controlled remotely from a PU404P wired remote control (at a distance of up to 4 kilometers) or a PU-404R radio remote control (up to 10). One remote control can operate for up to 100 minutes. Each of them is equipped with a combined target sensor, including a seismic sensor with logical selection of targets (machine or person), magnetic with selection by metal mass, thermal with selection by the amount of heat generated. The remote control, with its software and hardware, processes signals from mines and gives the operator recommendations: which mine or group of mines is more expedient to detonate. According to a signal from the remote control, the cover of the mine with a layer of soil first breaks down, then the jet engine raises it to a height of 45-60 meters. Here, within a radius of 85-95 meters, 40 combat shaped-charge fragmentation elements with tape stabilizers are scattered. When hitting the ground or on a target, the element is undermined and strikes either manpower with shrapnel within a radius of 17 meters, or a vehicle with a shaped charge (the thickness of the penetrated armor is up to 30 millimeters). Taking into account the possible set of combat elements, the mine can be considered anti-personnel, anti-vehicle, and anti-tank. The control panel sets the mines on alert or passive waiting mode, self-destruction (in time or when communication with the control panel is lost), undermining (non-handling) or self-deactivation.
That is, the minefield turns into a "reconnaissance and barrage" complex - by analogy with missile-artillery reconnaissance-strike complexes.
(To be continued)
“The swiftly moving German tanks could crush the entire front line of defense in an instant, but here interesting things began to happen on the battlefield. The first car literally stumbled on level ground, jumping up like a matchbox, and then froze dead. A plume of flame appeared over the wrecked car, and a little later, along with the roar of the explosion, thick clouds of smoke appeared. Following the lead vehicle, the neighboring T-IV ran into a mine and spun on the spot. Within 5 minutes, 4 enemy steel vehicles were disabled. In the trenches, the soldiers silently watched the excellent results of the night work of sappers. " The action of anti-tank minefields, often used on the battlefields of the Second World War, looks approximately in this vein.
The picture described in Simonov's novel "The Living and the Dead" clearly illustrates how skillfully and correctly placed Soviet anti-tank mines turned out to be in place.
Anti-tank mines on the land front
Following the TM-35 into service engineering troops The Red Army receives the TM-39 and TMD-40 anti-tank mine. All of these samples had a powerful warhead, and were activated by a push-down fuse. A characteristic drawback of all mines of the pre-war period was their disposability. After being installed on a combat platoon, the mines could neither be secured nor removed from the ground.
With these samples of mine weapons, the Red Army entered the Great Patriotic War. Insufficient attention from the country's Supreme Military Leadership led to the fact that in the most difficult period, in the fall and winter of 1941, the Red Army was not ready for effective anti-tank defense. German tank columns quickly broke through the defensive formations in open areas, successfully hacked the flanks of the defending Soviet units. The lack of anti-tank mines in the required quantity did not allow the creation of a solid and stable defense in the most tank-hazardous areas.
Anti-tank mine TM and the Great Patriotic War
The active use of mine weapons in the Second World War began at the end of 1941, when the Red Army was trying to create a powerful echeloned defense around Moscow. Troops capable of completely covering all areas at that time were sorely lacking. Anti-tank artillery was absent in sufficient quantity. It was decided to strengthen the main directions of the main attack of the German forces in the zone of the Western Front and the flanks held by the troops of the Kalinin and Southwestern Fronts. During the two weeks that preceded the start of Operation Typhoon, Soviet engineering units deployed up to 200,000 mines in the fields near Moscow. Basically, the models TM35, TM39, TM41 and TMD40 were used. In some areas, new YM-5 mines were installed, designed for multiple use.
Soviet landmines, placed over vast areas, significantly limited the maneuver of German shock tank formations, forcing them to break through the defenses in narrow areas. However, the most massively anti-tank mines TM41 were used on the battlefields near Kursk, where the Soviet army managed to equip an in-depth defense against German shock units. Most of the losses German tanks and self-propelled guns, participating in the battle on the northern and southern faces of the Kursk Bulge, it was the action of mine weapons. The performance characteristics of Soviet anti-tank mines, which were produced in subsequent years, significantly increased not only the charge power, but also ensured better performance. When the territory was liberated, the mines that were placed in the initial period of the war had to be blown up with the help of tank trawls. Later mine laying was cleared by sappers in the demining mode. At the end of the war, the TM-44 anti-tank mine, characterized by a large charge, became the main mine ammunition. This model could even be installed under water.
German mines on the Eastern Front began to appear on the battlefield beginning in 1942. The continuous strike strategy was not designed to create a passive defense. The first minefields exposed by the Germans appeared in the defense zone of the 16th and 18th armies of the Wehrmacht near Leningrad and on the Rzhevsky ledge, where it was necessary to create a solid defense. The main ammunition in German army steel T.Mine35 and T.Mine42. According to the principle of action and performance characteristics, they were identical to the late Soviet models of this weapon. German ammunition was distinguished by a reliable fuse design, moreover, they were originally designed for subsequent demining.
The Germans, being innovators in military tactics, were able to take the initiative in mine warfare. Mine laying had a mixed scheme, where anti-personnel mines were installed in the intervals between anti-tank mines. Unlike the secular minefields, which were passable by the infantry, the German mine positions were a real surprise for the Soviet sappers.
The modern era of anti-tank mines
Anti-tank mine TM of late modifications continued to be in service Soviet army and after the war. Most of the ammunition left in warehouses after the war was transferred to a number of "brotherly countries" as a defensive weapon. In the Soviet Army, up to the mid-60s, anti-tank mines were in service, created during the Great Patriotic War.
In 1962, to equip the engineering troops of the Soviet Army entered new model anti-tank mine, type TM-62. The design and device of this ammunition became the basis for a whole family of mines, which became the main type of engineering and defensive means in the Soviet Army, and then in the armed forces of the Russian Federation. The anti-tank mine of the TM-62M modification is the basic model and is a universal anti-tracked ammunition. The main explosive is 7-8 kg of TNT, TGA or MS explosives. The mine can be installed in the ground, in the snow cover, and even in the water. The duration of the ammunition is not limited. Even if the metal body is destroyed, the mine retains its combat characteristics.
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