The POMZ, POMZ-2 and POMZ-2M (ПОМЗ, ПОМЗ-2, ПОМЗ-2М) are three types of

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

-made stake mounted anti-personnel fragmentation mine. The POMZ mine was used during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. It was superseded by the POMZ-2, and later by the improved POMZ-2M. These mines (and copies thereof) have been used in numerous conflicts, including 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 ...

and the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

Description

The mines consist of a small

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 ...

explosive charge inside a hollow cylindrical-cast iron fragmentation sleeve. The sleeve has large fragments cast into the outside and is open at the bottom to accept the insertion of a wooden or plastic mounting stake. On top is a weather cap, covering a standardised

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 ...

well, which in operation is normally armed with an pull-action fuze ''MUV-2'' ( Rus. MУВ-2) or ''VPF'' ( Rus. ВПФ) pull and tilt

tripwire A tripwire is a passive triggering mechanism. Typically, a wire or cord is attached to a device for detecting or reacting to physical movement. Military applications Such tripwires may be attached to one or more mines⁠especially fragme ...

fuze. The tripwire can be set to detonate via both pressure or pressure release. The POMZ-2M has a threaded fuze well, while the earlier POMZ-2 was unthreaded and the fuze and igniter would sometimes fall out if the mine was disturbed. The POMZ-2 has 6 rows of square preformed fragments, while the POMZ-2M has 5 rows and is slightly shorter. The crude fragmentation jacket produces an uneven fragmentation effect. The effective radius of the mine is often quoted as four meters at 360 degrees, but a small number of large fragments may be lethal at ranges far exceeding that. The wooden stakes tend to rot in tropical climates, leaving the mine, if armed, in an extremely unpredictable state.

Variants

Being of simple construction, these mines have been widely copied, including non-standardised patterns from informal

guerrilla Guerrilla warfare is a form of unconventional warfare in which small groups of irregular military, such as rebels, Partisan (military), partisans, paramilitary personnel or armed civilians, which may include Children in the military, recruite ...

workshops. Some mass-produced copies: *Type 58 and Type 59,

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

(POMZ-2 and POMZ-2M) *MAP and Model 15 (POMZ-2 and POMZ-2M copies) *PMR-1 and PMR-2A,

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

*PP Mi-SK,

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

(POMZ-2, used with an RO-1 fuze) *MM-1,

Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...

(POMZ-2) *MBV-78A1,

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

(POMZ-2) *PMFH-1, PMFH-2,

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

(POMZ-2 copies)

Specification

These specifications of a POMZ-2 and POMZ-2M are typical for their various copies

Packaging

The POMZ 2M comes packed in a rectangular wooden box which has a clamp in each corner to lock on the lid. It holds eight mine bodies, eight stakes, eight 75g charges, tripwire, and eight MUV series fuzes complete with detonators.

References

* Eddie Banks, ''Brassey's Essential Guide to Anti-Personnel Landmines'', Brassey's, 1998, {{ISBN, 1857532287 Anti-personnel mines Land mines of the Soviet Union

Description

Variants

Specification

Packaging

See also

References