LAND MINES.





M18 A1 "Claymore Mine"
An American army favourite, developed during the Korean War to break up the "human wave" infantry charges. Described as the sawn off shotgun of land mines, it has been copied all over the world. The Claymore contains 700 ball bearings packed in front of a strong explosive charge; when activated, it blasts the ball bearings in a 60 degree arc for 50 metres. The metal casing even bears the helpful instruction, "FRONT TOWARD ENEMY". Produced under US Depatment Of Defense contract, it has recently been manufactured by Thiokol Corp of Louisiana, USA and Day & Zimmerman Inc of Pennsylvania, USA, amongst others. The Department Of Defense has ordered 13,815 Claymores for 1996; they cost about $27 each

POMZ-2 "Stake Mine"
The POMZ-2 "stake mine" developed by the Soviets during WW2, has been used more recently in Bosnia, Cambodia and Ethiopia. Half-buried and activated by a trip wire, the olive-green casing breaks up into fragments scattering for a lethal radius of four metres. The more up-to-date POMZ-2M has one less row of fragmentaton casing. Widely copied in former Czecheslovakia and former Yugoslavia, it was produced by the ex-Soviet/CIS state armouries

HB876
One of Britain's best known Gulf War weapons, the JP233 bomb designed to destroy enemy airfields, holds hundreds of spider-shaped HB-876 "area denial" mines. While the government has strenuously denied that the HB-876 is an anti-personnel mine, the system manufacterer, Hunting Engineering of Ampthill, Bedfordshire, says that it "poses a continual threat to vehicles and crew involved in airfield repair". Stephen Warren , Sales manager of Ferranti Technologies, the UK company that produced theHB-876 fuse, recently admitted that "if you flew a Tornado over Trafalgar Square and spread these weapons, people would die". This system is currently in service with the RAF, and is also believed to have been exported to Saudi Arabia and the United States

Valsella Valmara 69
The Italian Valmara 69 is a cylindrical "bounding" mine which "leaps" almost a metre into the air - genital height in an adult - before exploding into a thousand red hot lethal metal splinters. It can be activated by a trip-wire or by direct pressure on one of the fuse prongs. The mine is fully waterproof and comes in a wide variety of colours to match sand, rocks, vegetation or earth. The manufacturer, Valsella Meccanotecnica SpA, based in Brescia, Italy, was previously half owned by Fiat. The Valmara 69 is inservice with the Italian army. At between $6.15 and $17.17 for scatterable min, Valsella's prices are at the affordable end of the mine market

BLU-92B Gator
The American BLU-92B mine, part of the Gator anti-armour system, is a self destructing fragmentation mine designed for ejection from high speed aircraft to intercept enemy forces. It is produced by Alliant Techsystems (formelyof Honeywell Defence Systems) - a company described by the Washington Post as "the worlds largest manufacturer of munitions". The Americans made wide use of the Gator system and other Alliant products during the Gulf War. Mayor investors in Alliant have included the Oppenheimer Group and philantropist George Soros' Soros Fund Management.

L10 Ranger
This British mine made by Thorn EMI, is a "Scatterable" blast mine the same size as a tin of boot polish, designed to mutilate rather than kill. Thorn EMI stopped production in the Eighties but the British Army still mantains large stocks, although the exact number remains a sate secret.

Type 72 & Type 72B "Frog"
The Chinese Type 72 is one of the cheapest mines in the world, coting about $ 3. With a maim-not-kill charge, this mine is often nick-named "the Frog" because of the crick-crack soud it makes in the millisecond before it explode. Its plastic casing means that it is extrimely difficult to detect. The identical lokking Type 72B is equiped with an antihadling device which detonates the mine if it is tilted. Both mines are made by China Noth Industries Corporation (Norinco) based in Peking.

PFM-1 "Butterfly Mine"
This Soviet-produced "scatterable" plastic mine known as "the Butterfly" bacause of its shape, was dropped in huge numbers on Afghanistan. Delivered by helicopter or mortar, it drifts to the ground, where it is activated. The outercasing, which would fit in the palm of a hand, contains enough liquid explosive to mutilate the person who disturbs it. Usually colored white, grenn or sand, They were produced by the Soviet/CIS state factories, and are in service with the CIS forces.

BPD-SB 33 Scatterable
These small light mines are easy to lay (usually by helicopter), hard to see and fiendishly to deactivate. The BPD-SB 33 isavailable in any color from dust white to tarmac black and can, at extra cost, be coated with a special paint that defies detection by infrared sensors. It is waterproof, wont float in puddles or paddies and lasts ten years. The mine's manufacturer BPD Difensa e Spazio SrL, based near Rome, was formely called Misar (complete with the the Heinz-like slogan "Misar Means Mines") until Fiat bought a 50 per cent share. These mines are in service in a number of Nato members' armies.



Russian Land Mine

Battle wounding