Anti-personnel Landmines
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An anti-personnel mine or anti-personnel landmine (APL) is a form of mine designed for use against
humans Humans (''Homo sapiens'') or modern humans are the most common and widespread species of primate, and the last surviving species of the genus ''Homo''. They are Hominidae, great apes characterized by their Prehistory of nakedness and clothing ...
, as opposed to an
anti-tank mine An anti-tank or AT mine is a type of land mine designed to damage or destroy vehicles including tanks and armored fighting vehicles. Compared to anti-personnel mines, anti-tank mines typically have a much larger explosive charge, and a fuze desi ...
, which target vehicles. APLs are classified into: blast mines and fragmentation mines; the latter may or may not be a
bounding mine A bounding mine is an anti-personnel mine designed to be used in open areas. When it is tripped, a small propelling charge launches the body of the mine into the air, where the main charge detonates and sprays fragmentation at roughly waist h ...
. APLs are often designed to injure and maim, not kill, their victims to overwhelm the logistical (mostly medical) support system of enemy forces that encounter them. Some types of APLs can also damage the tracks on armoured vehicles or the tires of wheeled vehicles. The International Campaign to Ban Landmines has sought to ban mines and destroy stockpile. For this purpose, it introduced in 1997 the
Ottawa Treaty The Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction of 1997, known informally as the Ottawa Treaty, the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention, or often simply the Mine ...
, which has not yet been accepted by over 30 states and has not guaranteed the protection of citizens against APLs planted by non-state armed groups.


Use

Anti-personnel mines are used in a similar manner to anti-tank mines, in static "mine fields" along national borders or in defense of strategic positions as described in greater detail in the
land mine A land mine, or landmine, is an explosive weapon often concealed under or camouflaged on the ground, and designed to destroy or disable enemy targets as they pass over or near it. Land mines are divided into two types: anti-tank mines, wh ...
article. What makes them different from most anti-tank mines, however, is their smaller size, which enables large numbers to be simultaneously deployed over a large area. This process can be done manually, via dispensers on land vehicles, or from helicopters or aircraft. Alternatively, they can be dispensed by cargo-carrying artillery shells. Other uses specific to anti-personnel mines are where they are deployed on an ad hoc basis in the following situations: *When laying an ambush *Protecting a temporary base *To force any attackers to travel through a narrow, cleared path where firepower can be focused on the enemy *To evade pursuit (e.g. M86 pursuit deterrent munition) *To protect equipment by employing the mines as
booby trap A booby trap is a device or setup that is intended to kill, harm or surprise a human or an animal. It is triggered by the presence or actions of the victim and sometimes has some form of bait designed to lure the victim towards it. The trap may b ...
s *To
booby trap A booby trap is a device or setup that is intended to kill, harm or surprise a human or an animal. It is triggered by the presence or actions of the victim and sometimes has some form of bait designed to lure the victim towards it. The trap may b ...
other mines as a form of
anti-handling device An anti-handling device is an attachment to or an integral part of a landmine or other munition such as some fuze types found in general-purpose air-dropped bombs, cluster bombs and sea mines. It is designed to prevent tampering or disabling, ...


Blast mines

Typically, anti-personnel blast mines are triggered when the victim steps on them. Their primary purpose is to blow the victim's foot or leg off, disabling them. Injuring, rather than killing, the victim is viewed as preferable to increase the logistical (evacuation, medical) burden on the opposing force.


Effect

When a person steps on a blast mine and activates it, the mine's main charge
detonate Detonation () is a type of combustion involving a supersonic exothermic front accelerating through a medium that eventually drives a shock front propagating directly in front of it. Detonations propagate supersonically through shock waves wit ...
s, creating a blast
shock wave In physics, a shock wave (also spelled shockwave), or shock, is a type of propagating disturbance that moves faster than the local speed of sound in the medium. Like an ordinary wave, a shock wave carries energy and can propagate through a me ...
consisting of hot gases travelling at extremely high velocity. The shock wave sends a huge compressive force upwards, ejecting the mine casing and any soil covering the mine along with it. When the blast wave hits the surface, it quickly transfers the force into the subject's footwear and foot. This results in a massive compression force being applied. In most cases, the victim's foot is blown off by the blast wave. The resulting injuries to a human body depend on the size of the mine's main charge, the depth, type of soil it was laid in and how the victim contacted it, e.g. stepping on the mine, using all or part of the foot. Different types of soil will result in different amounts of energy being transferred upward into the subject's foot, with saturated "clay-like" soil transferring the most. Larger main charges result in a release of significantly more energy, driving the blast wave further up a target's foot and leg and causing greater injury, in some cases even described as severe as
traumatic amputation Amputation is the removal of a limb or other body part by trauma, medical illness, or surgery. As a surgical measure, it is used to control pain or a disease process in the affected limb, such as malignancy or gangrene. In some cases, it is ...
of the leg up to the knee. Secondary injuries from a blast mine are often caused by the material that has been torn loose by the mine's explosion. This consists of the soil and stones that were on top of the mine, parts of the victim's footwear and the small bones in the victim's foot. This debris creates wounds typical of similar secondary blast effects or fragmentation. Special footwear, including combat boots or so-called "blast boots", is only moderately protective against the destructive effects of blast mines, and the loss of a foot is a typical outcome. Blast mines have little effect on armoured vehicles, but can damage a wheeled vehicle if it runs directly over the mine. Small blast mines will severely damage a tire, rendering it irreparable while some types could also damage adjacent running gear.


Components


Mine casing

The mine casing houses the components of the mine and protects it from its environment. Early mines, such as the ones used in the World War II era, had casings made of steel or aluminium. However, by the middle of the conflict, the British Army was using the first, practical, portable metal detector – the Polish mine detector. The Germans responded with mines that had a wooden or
glass Glass is an amorphous (non-crystalline solid, non-crystalline) solid. Because it is often transparency and translucency, transparent and chemically inert, glass has found widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in window pane ...
casing to make detection harder. Wooden mines had been used by the Soviets in 1939, before the appearance of metal detectors, to save steel. Some, like the
PP Mi-D mine PP, pp or Pp may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Pianissimo'', a music term meaning ''very quiet'', from Dynamics (music), musical dynamics * Production code for the 1967–1968 ''Doctor Who'' serial ''The Enemy of the World'' * Police p ...
, continued to be used into the 1980s as they were easy to make and hard to detect. Wood has the disadvantage of rotting and splitting, rendering the mine non-functional after a comparatively short time in the ground (or the advantage, in that the mine can be considered self-disabling, and will be less likely to cause unintended injuries years later). Mines manufactured after the 1950s generally use plastic casings to hinder detection by electronic mine detectors. Some, referred to as
minimum metal mine A minimum metal mine is a land mine that is designed to use the smallest amount of metal possible in its construction. Typically, the only metal components are located inside the fuze mechanism which triggers detonation. Both minimum metal anti-ta ...
s, are constructed with as little metal as possible – often around – to make them difficult to detect. Mines containing absolutely no metal have been produced, but are uncommon. By its nature, a mine without any metal components in it cannot be found using a metal detector.


Pressure plate/fuze mechanism

The
fuze In military munitions, a fuze (sometimes fuse) is the part of the device that initiates its function. In some applications, such as torpedoes, a fuze may be identified by function as the exploder. The relative complexity of even the earliest fu ...
mechanism is designed to set off the
detonator A detonator is a device used to make an explosive or explosive device explode. Detonators come in a variety of types, depending on how they are initiated (chemically, mechanically, or electrically) and details of their inner working, which of ...
, either by striking it with a spring-loaded
firing pin A firing pin or striker is a part of the firing mechanism of a firearm that impacts the primer in the base of a cartridge and causes it to fire. In firearms terminology, a striker is a particular type of firing pin where a compressed sprin ...
, compressing a friction sensitive pyrotechnic composition, or by passing an electric charge through it. Most mines employ a spring-loaded striker that hits a stab detonator when activated by the victim. Typically, the detonator contains a tiny pellet of
lead azide Lead(II) azide is an inorganic compound. More so than other azides, it is explosive. It is used in detonators to initiate secondary explosives. In a commercially usable form, it is a white to buff powder. Preparation and handling Lead(II) azi ...
. The fuze is the most complicated component in any mine, although the amount of effort required to design and manufacture a simple fuze mechanism is quite low, similar to the retraction mechanism in a
ballpoint pen A ballpoint pen, also known as a biro (British English), ball pen (Hong Kong, Indian, Indonesian, Pakistani, and Philippine English), or dot pen ( Nepali English and South Asian English), is a pen that dispenses ink (usually in paste form) ...
. More sophisticated examples, such as the Italian
SB-33 mine The SB-33 is a small Italian minimum metal blast type anti-personnel mine formerly manufactured by '' Misar'', that entered service in 1977. The SB-33 can be emplaced by hand or scattered using the helicopter mounted SY-AT system. The body of the ...
, have a fuze mechanism that detonates the mine if subject to gradual, steady pressure, but locks the fuze if subject to a sudden shock. This defeats one of the main methods of clearing a path through a minefield – detonating the mines with explosive devices, such as
mine-clearing line charge A mine-clearing line charge (abbreviated MCLC or MICLIC; pronounced or "mick-lick") is a device used to create a breach in minefields under combat conditions. While there are many types, the basic design is for many explosive charges connecte ...
s.


Booster

The booster charge is a highly sensitive
explosive An explosive (or explosive material) is a reactive substance that contains a great amount of potential energy that can produce an explosion if released suddenly, usually accompanied by the production of light, heat, sound, and pressure. An ex ...
that will activate easily when subjected to the shock of the
detonator A detonator is a device used to make an explosive or explosive device explode. Detonators come in a variety of types, depending on how they are initiated (chemically, mechanically, or electrically) and details of their inner working, which of ...
. Typically, a pea-sized pellet of
RDX RDX (Research Department Explosive or Royal Demolition Explosive) or hexogen, among other names, is an organic compound with the formula (CH2N2O2)3. It is white, odorless, and tasteless, widely used as an explosive. Chemically, it is classified ...
is used. The purpose of the booster is to amplify the shock of the detonator and initiate the main explosive charge.


Main charge

The main charge consists of a stable explosive that is detonated by the booster charge. This is necessary, because making a mine entirely out of a highly sensitive detonator or booster explosive would be more expensive, and make the device more sensitive and thereby susceptible to accidental
detonation Detonation () is a type of combustion involving a supersonic exothermic front accelerating through a medium that eventually drives a shock front propagating directly in front of it. Detonations propagate supersonically through shock waves with ...
. In most AP blast mines
TNT Troponin T (shortened TnT or TropT) is a part of the troponin complex, which are proteins integral to the contraction of skeletal and heart muscles. They are expressed in skeletal and cardiac myocytes. Troponin T binds to tropomyosin and helps ...
,
Composition B Composition B (Comp B), also known as Hexotol and Hexolite (among others), is a high explosive consisting of castable mixtures of RDX and TNT. It is used as the main explosive filling in artillery projectiles, rockets, land mines, hand grenade ...
or
phlegmatized A phlegmatized explosive is an explosive that has had an agent (a phlegmatizer) added to stabilize or desensitize it. Phlegmatizing usually improves the handling properties of an explosive (e.g. when munitions are filled in factories.) Tr ...
RDX are used. On a US M14 mine, 29 grams of
tetryl 2,4,6-Trinitrophenylmethylnitramine or tetryl ( C7 H5 N5 O8) is an explosive compound used to make detonators and explosive booster charges. Tetryl is a nitramine booster explosive, though its use has been largely superseded by RDX. Tetryl is a ...
is used, while 240 grams of TNT is used in a Russian PMN mine.


Deployment

Anti-personnel blast mines are the most common type and are typically deployed on the surface (hidden by leaves or rocks) or buried under soil at a depth of 10–15 cm. They are activated by pressure, i.e. when the victim steps on them, but it could also be a vehicle driving over them. They were designed for use as area denial weapons. Weapons of this type are supposed to deny opposing military forces access to a specific area.


Fragmentation mines

While blast mines are designed to cause severe injury to one person, fragmentation mines (such as the World War II era German S-mine) are designed to project fragments across a wide area, causing fragmentation wounds to nearby personnel. Fragmentation mines are generally much larger and heavier than blast mines, and contain a large amount (often several kilograms) of ferrous metal. As such, they are easy to detect if the environment is not too heavily contaminated with iron.


Effect

These mines are deemed to be more efficient than purely "blast effect" mines, because the shrapnel covers a greater area, potentially injuring more combatants. The shrapnel from these mines can even disable some armoured vehicles, by puncturing their tires and—in the case of soft-skinned vehicles—also penetrating the skin and damaging internal components or injuring personnel. Because fragmentation mines generally contain a much larger charge than blast mines, they can cause severe damage to an unarmoured vehicle which runs directly over one.


Types of fragmentation mine


Stake

These mines (such as the Russian POMZ) are entirely above ground, having a fragmenting warhead mounted on a stake at a suitable height, concealed by vegetation or rubbish and triggered by one or more tripwires.


Bounding

Bounding mines have a small lifting charge that, when activated, launches the main body of the mine out of the ground before it detonates at around chest height. This produces a more lethal spray of shrapnel over a larger area. One such mine – the US
M16 mine The M16 mine is a United States-made bounding anti-personnel mine. It was based on captured plans of the World War II era German S-mine and has similar performance. Description The mine consists of a cast iron body in a thin steel sleeve. A ce ...
– can cause injuries up to away. The steel shrapnel makes bounding mines easy to detect, so they may be surrounded by minimum metal mines to make mine clearance harder. The shrapnel is around 3-10mm in size.


Directional

Directional fragmentation weapons (such as the M18 Claymore) differ from other types in that they are designed to direct their fragments only in a limited arc. They are placed so that the blast will be directed at the target area and away from friendly forces. This design also allows forces to protect themselves by placing these types of mines near their own positions, but facing the enemy. They are triggered in a conventional manner with either tripwire or command detonation. They are generally referred to as ''claymore mines'' from the US mine of this type.


Gallery

Image:Schrapnel allemand.JPG, Bounding mine - German S-Mine Image:IMP AP-mine.JPEG, Stake mine - a Yugoslav IMP mine with tripwire (Balkans 1996) Image:Non armed mon50 anti-personnel clustermine.jpg, Directional mine - Russian MON-50 Image:M14_(Mine).jpg, Blast mine - American M14 Image:PMN_(rechts)_und_PMN_2.jpeg, Blast mines - Russian PMN1 and PMN2 Image:مین ضد نفر TS 50.JPG, Blast mine - Italian TS-50 in-situ Image:VS-MK2_mine_cutaway_diagram.JPG, Blast mine - Italian VS-MK2 (cross-sectional view) Image:PROM-1 bounding landmine.jpg, Bounding mine - Yugoslavian
PROM-1 The PROM-1 is a Yugoslavian manufactured bounding mine, bounding 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 mine is ...


Improvised explosive devices

In the conflicts of the 21st century, anti-personnel
improvised explosive devices An improvised explosive device (IED) is a bomb constructed and deployed in ways other than in conventional warfare, conventional military action. It may be constructed of conventional military explosives, such as an artillery shell, attached t ...
( IED) have replaced conventional or military
landmines A land mine, or landmine, is an explosive weapon often concealed under or camouflaged on the ground, and designed to destroy or disable enemy targets as they pass over or near it. Land mines are divided into two types: anti-tank mines, whic ...
as the source of injury to dismounted (pedestrian) soldiers and civilians. These injuries were recently reported in
BMJ Open ''BMJ Open'' is a peer-reviewed open access medical journal that is dedicated to publishing medical research from all disciplines and therapeutic areas. It is published by BMJ and considers all research study types, from protocols through phase I ...
to be far worse than
landmines A land mine, or landmine, is an explosive weapon often concealed under or camouflaged on the ground, and designed to destroy or disable enemy targets as they pass over or near it. Land mines are divided into two types: anti-tank mines, whic ...
, resulting in multiple limb
amputation Amputation is the removal of a Limb (anatomy), limb or other body part by Physical trauma, trauma, medical illness, or surgery. As a surgical measure, it is used to control pain or a disease process in the affected limb, such as cancer, malign ...
s and lower body mutilation. This combination of injuries has been given the name "Dismounted Complex Blast Injury" and is thought to be the worst survivable injury ever seen in war.


Other mine types

During World War II, flame mines known as the
flame fougasse A flame fougasse (sometimes contracted to Fougasse (weapon), fougasse and may be spelled foo gas) is a type of land mine, mine or improvised explosive device which uses an explosive charge to project burning liquid onto a target. The flame foug ...
were produced by the British during the invasion crisis of 1940. Later, the Soviets produced a flame-mine, called the FOG-1. This was copied by the Germans to produce the Abwehrflammenwerfer 42, these devices were effectively disposable, trip-wire triggered
flamethrower A flamethrower is a ranged incendiary device designed to project a controllable jet of fire. First deployed by the Byzantine Empire in the 7th century AD, flamethrowers saw use in modern times during World War I, and more widely in World W ...
s. Chemical mines have also been made. They were made by Britain, the US and the Soviet Union during World War II, but never deployed. During the Cold War, the US produced the M23 chemical mine containing VX. A small explosive charge burst the mine open and dispersed the chemical when the mine was triggered.


Examples

;World War II anti-personnel mines * S-mine (''Bouncing Betty''): infamous German bounding mine; widely copied after the war. *''
Glasmine 43 The Glasmine 43 was an anti-personnel mine with a glass body used by Nazi Germany during World War II. This mine was an early minimum metal mine, designed to reduce the likelihood of detection by the Polish mine detector then in use by Allied forc ...
'': German mine made largely from glass, to make it difficult to detect. * PDM-6 and PMD-7: Soviet World War II mines, made from wood. ;Post-War, US anti-personnel mines * Gravel mine, 1960s–1970s. Simple, small mine with no moving parts. Millions were dropped during the
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...
. * M16: improved version of the German S-mine. * BLU-43 (''Dragontooth''), 1970s. Air-dropped mine used during the Vietnam War. * GATOR mine system: modern dispersal system, includes AP (''BLU-92/B'') and anti-tank mines. * M18 Claymore: directional mine. * M86 pursuit deterrent munition: tripwire triggered bounding mine that automatically deploys its own tripwires. It is intended to be dropped by special forces when evading a pursuing enemy. ;Post-War, Russian anti-personnel mines * PFM-1 (''butterfly mine'', NATO: ''Blue Parrot''), modern. * POMZ: tripwire triggered, stake-mine. * POM-3: scattered, sensor-triggered fragmentation mine * MON-50: Russian directional mine; similar to the American M18 Claymore. * PMN mine: one of the most commonly encountered mines during de-mining operations. * MON-200: large mine with a 12 kg TNT charge. Also effective against light vehicles. ;Post-War, British anti-personnel mines * HB 876 mine: 1970s–1999. An air dropped mine used as part of the JP233 runway attacking system. Each attack with a JP233 also dropped 215 HB 876s that were intended to make repair of the damaged runway slow and dangerous. ;Yugoslav anti-personnel mines * MRUD: Directional mine similar to the M18 Claymore.


Patentability

Anti-personnel mines are a typical example of subject-matter excluded from patentability under the
European Patent Convention The European Patent Convention (EPC), also known as the Convention on the Grant of European Patents of 5 October 1973, is a multilateral treaty instituting the European Patent Organisation and providing an autonomous legal system according to w ...
, because the publication or exploitation of such
invention An invention is a unique or novelty (patent), novel machine, device, Method_(patent), method, composition, idea, or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a machine, product, or process for increasing efficiency or lowering cost. It m ...
s are contrary to the " ordre public" and/or
morality Morality () is the categorization of intentions, Decision-making, decisions and Social actions, actions into those that are ''proper'', or ''right'', and those that are ''improper'', or ''wrong''. Morality can be a body of standards or principle ...
().


Criticism of name

The author Rob Nixon has criticized the use of the adjective "anti-personnel" to describe mines, noting that the word "personnel" signifies people engaged in a particular organization, whereas in reality "four-fifths of mine casualties are civilians", in particular children. Thus, he argues, the name "flatters their accuracy by implying that they target an organization, military or otherwise."


See also

*
Anti-tank mine An anti-tank or AT mine is a type of land mine designed to damage or destroy vehicles including tanks and armored fighting vehicles. Compared to anti-personnel mines, anti-tank mines typically have a much larger explosive charge, and a fuze desi ...
* Blast resistant mine *
Anti-handling device An anti-handling device is an attachment to or an integral part of a landmine or other munition such as some fuze types found in general-purpose air-dropped bombs, cluster bombs and sea mines. It is designed to prevent tampering or disabling, ...
*
Bounding mine A bounding mine is an anti-personnel mine designed to be used in open areas. When it is tripped, a small propelling charge launches the body of the mine into the air, where the main charge detonates and sprays fragmentation at roughly waist h ...
*
Demining Demining or mine clearance is the process of removing land mines from an area. In military operations, the object is to rapidly clear a path through a minefield, and this is often done with devices such as mine plows and blast waves. By cont ...
*
Fougasse (weapon) A fougasse (, ) is an improvised mortar constructed by making a hollow in the ground or rock and filling it with explosives (originally, black powder) and projectiles. The fougasse was used by Samuel Zimmermann at AugsburgThe Origins of Milita ...
* Handicap International * Mine clearance agencies *
Mines Advisory Group The Mines Advisory Group (MAG) is a non-governmental organization that assists people affected by landmines, unexploded ordnance, and small arms and light weapons. MAG takes a humanitarian approach to landmine action. They focus on the impact o ...
* Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction also known as the Ottawa Treaty * Swiss Foundation for Mine Action (FSD)


References


External links

{{Commonscat, Anti-personnel landmines
"Antipersonnel Mines"
''Popular Science'', February 1945, p. 71, article for US public about the German ''Mustard Pot Mine'' and the ''Sch-Mine''.
Mines Advisory Group
* ttp://www.nolandmines.com/Angaolaindicatorpictures/angolaindicators9r.htm Additional images of mine injuries. Warning: graphic photographsbr>Instructional video covering the treatment of mine injuries. Produced by the Red Cross. Warning: graphic videoMine injury. Warning: graphic photograph


on the ''Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction'' in th

Explosive weapons Area denial weapons