The United States will send three types of anti-personnel mines to Ukraine that have a self-destruct function
3 December 2024 15:49
The Pentagon will send Ukraine an additional $725 million in military aid from its stockpile, including anti-personnel mines, drones, man-portable anti-aircraft missiles and anti-tank missiles. This was reported by The New York Times, according to "Komersant Ukrainian".
Among other things, the publication goes into more detail about what kind of anti-personnel mines Ukraine will receive.
This can probably be explained by the fact that the supply of anti-personnel mines to Ukraine has been condemned by various lawmakers and human rights groups due to the indiscriminate nature of these weapons. It is well known that anti-tank landmines cannot distinguish between an enemy tank and a passing civilian vehicle. Likewise, anti-personnel mines cannot distinguish between an enemy soldier and a civilian.
What kind of mines did the US supply to Ukraine?
As you know, the White House authorized the shipment of anti-personnel mines to Ukraine in September 2023. Initially, it provided 1,000 155-mm artillery shells for the RAAMS remote anti-armor mine system.
The Remote Anti-Armor Mine System (RAAMS) has two types of 155-mm howitzer shells, each containing nine anti-tank mines: M718 or M718A1 (RAAM-L) with a self-destruct time of more than 24 hours and M741 or M741A1 (RAAM-S) with a self-destruct time of less than 24 hours. Both rounds are fired with a fuze that triggers the mine release mechanism over enemy territory after a specified time. These mines can be delivered at a distance of 4 to 17.6 kilometers from the artillery battery position using M109 howitzers or M198 or M777 howitzers. Such weapons are called unstable mines because they are designed to self-destruct after a certain period of time, although such safety devices often fail during combat.
According to The New York Times, the Pentagon said that as of October 21, it had sent more than 70,000 such shells to Ukraine.
In April 2023, the Pentagon announced that it would send M21 heavy anti-tank mines from the 1960s to Ukraine. These weapons do not have a self-destruct function and remain deadly until they are cleared by bomb disposal experts.
And on November 20, 2024, the Pentagon announced that it would send anti-personnel mines to Ukraine, despite a June 2022 White House directive prohibiting such transfers.
According to the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, White House officials told nonprofit organizations on November 22 that the United States would send three types of anti-personnel mines to Ukraine, all of which are self-destructive.
What types of mines will Ukraine receive
The first type is a 155-mm projectile called Area Denial Artillery Munition. This is an artillery munition with a barrier effect – a family of American landmines and 155 mm artillery shells. The M692 or M731 shells are fitted with M67 long-range anti-personnel mines and M72 short-range anti-personnel mines, respectively. The duration refers to the self-destruct time, which is set during the production process – 4 or 48 hours.
This projectile opens in the air and releases 36 small mines, which deploy trip wires after landing, and if they are broken, the mine ejects a small warhead that explodes.
The second version, called the Modular Pack Mine System, is a modular portable mine system. It can be carried by two soldiers and scatters 17 anti-tank mines and four anti-personnel mines over the surrounding area.
The third type of mine is called Volcano. It is a minefield system that ejects a mixture of anti-personnel and anti-tank mines from cylinders mounted on trucks or helicopters to quickly create minefields. The M136 Volcano can rapidly deploy large minefields in a variety of environments using pre-packaged containers.
This weapon is capable of rapidly laying both anti-personnel and anti-tank mines over a large area, creating a deterrent against potential enemy landing forces and vehicles.
As The New York Times reminds us, this is the second batch of anti-personnel mines that the United States has recently sent to Ukraine.
