The M6, M6A1 and M6A2 are a series of metal-cased, circular, heavy anti-tank landmines produced by the United States from May 1944 to May 1945. Work on the M6 mine began in 1943, after the campaigns in North Africa. Testing had revealed the smaller M1 mine, filled with of

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 ...

, had difficulties breaking the tracks of heavy tanks such as the

Tiger I The Tiger I () was a Nazi Germany, German heavy tank of World War II that began operational duty in 1942 in North African Campaign, Africa and in the Soviet Union, usually in independent German heavy tank battalion, heavy tank battalions. It g ...

, and it was desired that in addition to correcting technical defects with the M1, a heavy mine similar to the German

Teller mine The Teller mine () was a German-made antitank mine common in World War II. With explosives sealed inside a sheet metal casing and fitted with a pressure-actuated fuze, Teller mines had a built-in carrying handle on the side. As the name suggests ...

(with of explosives) be available to American forces. After correction of defects in the T6E1, contracts were issued before the mine was standardized, and it began production in May 1944. The T6E1 was standardized as the M6 in September 1944. Because of a lessening need for antitank mines as the Allies went on the offensive in 1944, the T6E1/M6 was not deployed to the European theater. They were superseded in service after WWII by the larger M15 mine. The mine is normally painted olive green and has a large central pressure plate. In the center of the pressure plate is an arming plug that has an arming lever with three settings: ARMED, DANGER and SAFE. The pressure plate rests on a concertina-like structure, which when enough force is applied is compressed. Compression results in a transfer plate under the arming plug pressing downwards onto a belleville spring which inverts, flipping the

firing pin 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 ...

into 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 ...

, which triggers the adjacent

explosive booster An explosive booster is a sensitive explosive charge that acts as a bridge between a (relatively weak) conventional detonator and a low-sensitivity (but typically high-energy) explosive such as TNT. By itself, the initiating detonator would not d ...

and main explosive charge. The mine is fitted with two secondary fuze wells on the side and bottom to enable

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, ...

s to be fitted. The M6 and M6A1 variants were fitted with chemical fuzes, the M600 and M601, the later M6A2 used the mechanical M603 fuze. The mines are found in

Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

, Korea,

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

Rwanda Rwanda, officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of East Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator, Rwanda is bordered by ...

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

, the

Western Sahara Western Sahara is a territorial dispute, disputed territory in Maghreb, North-western Africa. It has a surface area of . Approximately 30% of the territory () is controlled by the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR); the remaining 70% is ...

, although these may in fact have been M15 mines that were misidentified.

Specifications

* Diameter: * Height: with arming plug * Weight: * Explosive content: of

* Operating pressure:

References

* Jane's Mines and Mine Clearance 2005-2006 * {{ORDATA mines, 7553, M6 series Anti-tank mines Land mines of the United States Weapons and ammunition introduced in 1944