The TM-46 mine is a large, circular, metal-cased

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 ...

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 ...

. It uses either a pressure or tilt-rod

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 ...

, which is screwed into the top. Anti-tank mines with this type of fuze were capable of inflicting much more damage to armored vehicles, when compared to a typical

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; ...

. Because the TM-46 has a metal casing, it is very easy to detect with a

metal detector A metal detector is an instrument that detects the nearby presence of metal. Metal detectors are useful for finding metal objects on the surface, underground, and under water. A metal detector consists of a control box, an adjustable shaft, and ...

. However, mine-fields containing TM-46s may have also been sown with

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, e.g. the

PMA-2 A Pressurized Mating Adapter (PMA) is a component used on the International Space Station (ISS) to convert the Common Berthing Mechanism (CBM) interface used to connect ISS modules to an Androgynous Peripheral Attach System#APAS-95, APAS-95 spac ...

Combat use

The mine was used by the

People's Army of Vietnam The People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN), officially the Vietnam People's Army (VPA; , , ), also recognized as the Vietnamese Army (), the People's Army () or colloquially the Troops ( ), is the national Military, military force of the Vietnam, S ...

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 ...

, and is found in many countries in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

, the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

and

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

Action

MVM-583 fuze

The MVM-583 is a mechanical pressure fuze. The activation pressure of this fuze is 140 kf. It comprises a striking mechanism, safety pin and the MD-6N

shock tube detonator A shock tube detonator is a non-electric explosive fuse (explosives), fuze or pyrotechnic initiator, initiator in the form of a small-diameter hollow plastic tube (fluid conveyance), tubing used to transport an initiating signal to an explosive by ...

. Upon a vehicle driving over a TM-46 mine equipped with this fuze, the lid of the mine deforms along with the fuze. Upon further deformation, the tip of the fuze casing cuts through the diaphragm in the mine, releasing the striking mechanism, which activates the MD-6N detonator, and causes the explosion of the main charge of the mine.

MVSh-46 fuze

The MVSh-46 is a mechanical

tilt-rod fuze Russian TM-57 mine with a tilt-rod fuze A tilt-rod fuze is a device used to trigger anti-vehicle landmines. Typically it consists of a vertical pole, normally around a meter high, which is connected to the top of a landmine. When the track or m ...

without a safety mechanism. The activation pressure of this fuze is 120–450 kf. The required deviation of the tilt-rod from its initial composition is 25–30°. It comprises a striking mechanism and the MD-10

. Upon a vehicle driving over a TM-46 mine equipped with this fuze, the MVSh-46 deforms, activating the MD-10 detonator and causing the explosion of the main charge of the mine.

TMN-46 variant

The TMN-46 is a variant of the mine fitted with a secondary pull-action fuze ''MUV-2'' ( Rus. МУВ-2) well on the bottom (where it cannot be seen), which is slightly off-set from the centre of the mine. It is connected with a thin strip of wire to a peg inserted into the ground. The MUV-2 fuze is hooked to an ''MD-6N'' ( Rus. МД-6Н)

, which functions as an

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, ...

. Upon trying to move the mine, the wire pulls the fuze, and the mine detonates. Upon an attempt at dislocation of the TMN-46 mine, the wire attached between the MUV-2 fuze and the peg pulls the safety pin. The fuze actives MD-6N detonator and causes it to explode along with the main charge of the mine.

Specifications

*Diameter: 305 mm *Height **With MVM-583 fuze: 108 mm **With MVSh-46 tilt rod fuze: 260 mm *Activation pressure: 120–450 kf (21 kg tilt pressure) *Weight **Full assembly: 8.6 kg **Charge: 5.7 kg (

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 ...

)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tm-46 Mine Anti-tank mines Land mines of the Soviet Union Cold War weapons of the Soviet Union