Appendix D: U.S. Antipersonnel Mine Types

The U.S. currently has twelve basic types of antipersonnel mines in its inventory.217 Included are six types of "dumb" (non-self-destructing) mines-M2A1/M2A4, M3, M14, M16/M16A1/ M16A2, M18/M18A1, and M26-and six types of "smart" (self-destructing) mines-ADAM M692/M731,Volcano M87/M87A1, GEMSS M74, PDM M86, MOPMS M131, and Gator CBU-89/CBU-78.218 There are a total of about fifteen million U.S. antipersonnel mines (ten million smart mines and five million dumb mines). The mines are stockpiled both in the U.S. and at overseas locations.

Below are descriptions of the main U.S. antipersonnel mines.

ADAM (Artillery Delivered Antipersonnel Mine)

ADAM was first fielded with the U.S. Army in Europe in 1983. Thirty-six mines are loaded into a 155mm artillery shell. When the mines fall from the disintegrating shell they release a "tripwire-fired, pop-up fragmenting warhead."219 The mines eject seven tripwires that, when disturbed, trigger the mine to jump four to eight feet in the air and spray shrapnel across a forty-foot area. Mines in the M731 projectile self-destruct in four hours. Those in the M692 projectile self-destruct in forty-eight hours. ADAM projectiles can be fired from a maximum distance of 17,740 meters.220

Gator

Gator mines are released from the air in the form of cluster bombs.221 Gator BLU-92/B antipersonnel mines are loaded into Navy CBU-78/B and Air Force CBU-89/B cylinder shaped cluster bomb canisters and dumped from the air. The Navy's CBU-78/B shell contains fifteen BLU-92/B antipersonnel and forty-five BLU-91/B antitank Gator mines. Each Air Force CBU-89/B contains twenty-two antipersonnel Gator mines and seventy-two antitank Gator mines.

GEMSS (Ground-Emplaced Mine Scattering System)

GEMSS was scheduled to be first fielded in June 1985 but production problems led to numerous delays.222 The GEMSS M128 dispenser, towed by a truck, flips one mine out of a tube every two seconds from a distance of thirty to fifty meters.223 The M128 can fire off eight hundred M74 antipersonnel mines and M75 antitank mines per load. These mines are similar to those used in the ADAM system. There are normally five antitank mines to each antipersonnel mine. M74 and M75 mines can be dispensed simultaneously or separately during a mining mission.

MOPMS 131 (The Modular Pack Mine System)

MOPMS is the only U.S. smart mine system that deploys mines by means of a hand-held remote control radio unit.224 The mines can be fired out of a box by troops who have already left the scene. MOPMS is the most ambitious example of what mine enthusiasts talk about when they refer to "smart mines" operating in an "intelligent minefield." A MOPMS minefield is deemed to be "intelligent" because, theoretically, it can be "turned on or off" using a switch of a hand-held terminal that resembles a television remote control. The user should be able to turn off the minefield if he must pass through it, and turn it on to entrap or harass the enemy.

Initial Army forecasts spoke of a requirement for 183,000 MOPMS mines. Following a 1979 research and development contract, Hughes Aircraft was contracted in 1987 to produce 50,000 MOPMS mines and 3,000 remote control units. The system was plagued from the start with technical malfunctions, allegations of a breakdown in quality control, and soaring expenses for a product that could not perform to standard. There were no follow-on contracts after the U.S. government canceled a second 1989 contract in 1993 and sued defense contractor Accudyne Corp.

MOPMS mines are loaded twenty-one at a time into a 165-pound styrofoam dispenser. Four of the mines are antipersonnel. Inside the dispenser seven launch tubes each hold three mines. Once the mines have been emplaced by hand, Army personnel use a remote control unit to signal the dispenser from a distance of 300 meters to one kilometer away. The mines, once ejected, take a minute and a half to arm and discharge four forty-foot-long tripwires in four directions. The tripwires are stronger but not much thicker than thread and are programmed to trigger the mine to explode when a minimum of one pound of pressure is applied.

M86 PDM (Pursuit Deterrent Munition)

The M86 PDM is an adaptation of the ADAM modified for hand emplacement.225 The mines, favorites of the U.S. Special Forces, are intended to deter pursuit by the enemy. The M86 is a one-pound bouncing self-destruct explosive device that ejects seven twenty-foot trip wires when armed. Upon detonation the mine jumps four to eight

feet into the air and sprays shrapnel in a forty-foot radius. In 1988 the Army procured 15,000 M86 PDM antipersonnel mines. The prime contractor for the mines was Alliant Techsystems. Production was completed in 1990.

Volcano (Multiple Delivery Mine System)

The Volcano system uses the Gator mine and is called a multiple delivery mine system because it can be deployed from different vehicles, using the M139 launcher rack, as well as from Blackhawk helicopters.226 The M139 Volcano launcher rack holds up to forty M87 Volcano canisters, each containing six Gator antitank mines and one Gator antipersonnel mine. Ground vehicles towing the Volcano travel five to fifty miles per hour. From the air, mines are dumped five to 150 feet above ground at a speed of 20-200 knots. The resulting minefield has a density of .012 mines per square meter. The average minefield length is 960 meters.

M18A1 (Claymore)

The M18A1, also known as the "Claymore," is one of the most commonly copied and used antipersonnel mines in the world. It can be used either with a tripwire or in a command detonated mode (with an M57 firing device or a pull wire). When fired, the Claymore sends 700 steel balls in a sixty-degree arc across a fifty-meter radius.

Although the Claymore has been classified as an antipersonnel landmine in government and private reference works in the past, the growing success of the mine ban movement has led the DoD more recently to begin referring to the Claymore as a command detonated munition and not a landmine. The U.S. has pledged to use the Claymore only in command detonated mode. Human Rights Watch does not believe that Claymores should suddenly be classified as something other than a landmine. While Claymores operated in a command detonated mode (where a soldier identifies the enemy and explodes the mine remotely) do not pose the dangers to civilians that other mines do, Human Rights Watch remains concerned about the indiscriminate nature of Claymores used with tripwires. Any mine designed to be used with a tripwire should be prohibited.

M-14

The M-14 is a small, plastic blast mine that is virtually undetectable because of its small metallic content. DoD reports that copies are made in Vietnam (MN-79) and India (M-14). DoD also reports that countries that have used or still use the M-14 include: Cambodia, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Malawi and Zambia. The mine is detonated by applying pressure to a plate, which drives a firing pin into a detonator; the detonator explodes the main charge.227 There are discrepancies in figures provided by DoD for the overall M-14 stockpile. In 1994 totals of 4,481,208 U.S. Army M-14 mines and 60,000 U.S. Navy M-14 mines were given. But in December 1996 the Humanitarian

Demining Project cited a total M-14 stockpile figure of 3.5 million.228 The discrepency in figures is not related to the proposed destruction of most U.S. dumb mines. 229 The U.S. has said it will reserve one million M-14 and M-16 mines for possible use in Korea

M-16

The M-16, used by the U.S., Angola and Zambia, is shaped like an olive green cylinder. It is often referred to as "bouncing betty"230 because it bounces one meter into the air when pressure is applied to its main plate, dispersing metal fragments in every direction. As with the M-14, DoD has provided conflicting information about total stockpile figures. In 1994 DoD provided totals of 1,396,168 U.S. Army M-16 mines, 143,000 U.S. Navy M-16 mines, and 172,711 U.S. Marine M-16 mines.231 But the figure given in 1996 was markedly different again: 1.5 million M-16 mines.232

Human Rights Watch Arms Project

Human Rights Watch is a nongovernmental organization established in 1978 to monitor and promote the observance of internationally recognized human rights in Africa, the Americas, Asia, the Middle East and among the signatories of the Helsinki accords. It is supported by contributions from private individuals and foundations worldwide. It accepts no government funds, directly or indirectly. The staff includes Kenneth Roth, executive director; Michele Alexander, development director; Cynthia Brown, program director; Barbara Guglielmo, finance and administration director; Robert Kimzey, publications director; Jeri Laber, special advisor; Lotte Leicht, Brussels office director; Susan Osnos, communications director; Jemera Rone, counsel; Wilder Tayler, general counsel; and Joanna Weschler, United Nations representative. Robert L. Bernstein is the chair of the board and Adrian W. DeWind is vice chair. Its Arms Project was established in 1992 to monitor and prevent arms transfers to governments or organizations that commit gross violations of internationally recognized human rights and the rules of war and promote freedom of information regarding arms transfers worldwide. Joost R. Hiltermann is the director; Stephen D. Goose is the program director; Zahabia Adalamy, Andrew Cooper, and Ernst Jan Hogendoorn are research assistants; Rebecca Bell is the associate; William M. Arkin, Kathi L. Austin, Ann Peters, Monica Schurtman, and Frank Smyth are consultants. Torsten N. Wiesel is the chair of the board and Nicole Ball and Vincent McGee are the vice-chairs.

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Ground-Emplaced Mine Scattering System," U.S. Army Engineer School, Fort Belvoir, VA (undated, but presumed to be mid-1980s); Honeywell 1983 FASCAM brochure.