The PROM-1 is a

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 ...

n manufactured

bounding Bounding may refer to: * Establishing limits on the behavior of a process or device, see Listing and approval use and compliance * Bounding overwatch, a variety of military maneuver * A cyclical type of jumping Jumping or leaping is a form ...

anti-personnel mine An anti-personnel mine or anti-personnel landmine (APL) is a form of land mine, mine designed for use against human, humans, as opposed to an anti-tank mine, which target vehicles. APLs are classified into: blast mines and fragmentation mines; ...

. 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 German S-mine (''Schrapnellmine'', ''Springmine'' or ''Splittermine'' in German), known by enemy Allied Forces as the "Bouncing Betty" on the Western Front and "frog-mine" on the Eastern Front, is the best-known version of a class of mines ...

. The mine is triggered by the tilting of the prongs situated on top of the mine. This is caused by either direct pressure on the prongs or by tension on a

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 ...

attached to them. Tilting the prongs allows at least one of three striker retaining balls to escape. This releases the spring-loaded striker, which is flipped downwards into the

percussion cap The percussion cap, percussion primer, or caplock, introduced in the early 1820s, is a type of single-use percussion ignition device for muzzle loader firearm locks enabling them to fire reliably in any weather condition. Its invention gave ...

and fires the three gram propellant charge. The explosion of the propellant charge forces the upper half of the mine body out of the ground and up into the air, shearing off several brass screws and leaving the base plug of the mine behind in the ground. The mine's body is tethered to its base by a short length of wire, which unwinds behind it as it rises. When the mine reaches a height of approximately 65 centimetres the wire is pulled. This jerks 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 ...

assembly downwards into the striker. The detonator fires, triggering the main explosive charge, which shatters the internally grooved body into a large number of high-velocity steel fragments, which spray in all directions. Because the time taken from triggering the mine to

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 ...

is so short (typically one second), there is no time to take cover from the blast. As with all bounding mines the PROM-1 is lethal at relatively long distances. It is capable of projecting dangerous fragments to range of 100 metres or more, with a potentially lethal range of around 50 metres. This mine will almost certainly kill or seriously injure anyone caught within 30 metres of the blast. As with any bounding mine, wearing standard

kevlar Kevlar (para-aramid) is a strong, heat-resistant synthetic fiber, related to other aramids such as Nomex and Technora. Developed by Stephanie Kwolek at DuPont in 1965, the high-strength material was first used commercially in the early 1970s as ...

body armour Body armour, personal armour (also spelled ''armor''), armoured suit (''armored'') or coat of armour, among others, is armour for human body, a person's body: protective clothing or close-fitting hands-free shields designed to absorb or deflect ...

offers no guarantee of safety: the large number of fragments produced by a PROM-1 will

wound A wound is any disruption of or damage to living tissue, such as skin, mucous membranes, or organs. Wounds can either be the sudden result of direct trauma (mechanical, thermal, chemical), or can develop slowly over time due to underlying diseas ...

the unprotected limbs, face and

eye An eye is a sensory organ that allows an organism to perceive visual information. It detects light and converts it into electro-chemical impulses in neurons (neurones). It is part of an organism's visual system. In higher organisms, the ey ...

s of its victim(s). UPROM-1 Fuze

The PROM-1 can be particularly hard to spot in undergrowth because, apart from the prongs, most of it is buried underground and therefore cannot be seen. Although this mine contains much steel (thereby making it easy to detect with a mine-detector) the act of sweeping the detection head over the ground can easily strike the prongs (or connected tripwire) and detonate the mine. In any case, PROM-1s in a minefield may be surrounded by various types of minimum metal antipersonnel blast mines (e.g. the VS-50) which further hinders the clearance process. The PROM-1 is difficult to render safe because its

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 ...

becomes unstable after being exposed to weather for several years. Most deminers therefore recommend that this mine is destroyed

in situ is a Latin phrase meaning 'in place' or 'on site', derived from ' ('in') and ' ( ablative of ''situs'', ). The term typically refers to the examination or occurrence of a process within its original context, without relocation. The term is use ...

by detonating an explosive charge next to it. PROM-1_AP-mine

Usually (though not always) trip-wires measuring around in length are fitted to this mine in order to increase its activation area. When tracking trip-wires back to their source, deminers must keep in mind that other landmines may have been planted along its length. It is all too easy to concentrate on following a trip-wire back to its source, forgetting that there could be

PMA-3 PMA-3 may refer to: * PMA-3 mine, a Yugoslavian anti-personnel mine * Pressurized Mating Adapter-3, a spacecraft adapter used in the International Space Station {{disambiguation ...

, PMN or similar blast mines lying buried underneath. The mine has been 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 ...

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, Chile,

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Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...

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and

Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

Specifications

* Diameter: 75 mm * Height : 260 mm (unfuzed) * Weight: 3 kg * Explosive content: 425 g

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 straight cast

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 ...

* Operating pressure: 9 kg to 16 kg or 3 kg to 5 kg pull

References

* ''Jane's Mines and Mine Clearance 2005-2006'' * ''Brassey's Essential Guide to Anti-Personnel Landmines'', Eddie Banks *

External links

{{Commons category
''James Madison University'': PROM-1 and demining in Kosovo''Military Periscope'': PROM-1Other Yugoslavian mines, including the PROM-1
Anti-personnel mines Land mines of Yugoslavia

Specifications

See also

References

External links