U.S. anti-personnel mines boost Ukraine's defence efforts
Landmines are one of Ukraine's most effective ways to slow down or redirect the enemy's attack. Now, the Americans have decided to provide Ukraine with anti-personnel mines.
So far, Ukraine has eagerly used anti-tank mines but has lacked anti-personnel mines. This is particularly problematic on the front lines, where the Russians have a numerical advantage and attack using infantry. These types of attacks, called "human wave attacks," aim to trigger Ukrainian defences, onto which guided bombs are dropped.
In such conditions, anti-personnel mines would be immensely helpful, in addition to cluster munitions with area coverage. Unfortunately, in hindsight, Ukraine's signing of the Ottawa Treaty on February 24, 1999, and ratification of it on December 27, 2005, can be considered a mistake.
The treaty prohibits the use, stockpiling, production, and transfer of anti-personnel mines and mandates the destruction of existing stocks. The idea is sound, but the brutal reality shows that if not for these restrictions, Ukraine would have greater defence capabilities against the Russians.
It's worth noting that countries such as Russia, China, and the USA, which have huge stocks of simple anti-personnel mines from the Cold War era, have not ratified the Ottawa Treaty. Now, the Americans will transfer some of their stocks to Ukraine, which will significantly strengthen its defence, similar to what happened with cluster munitions banned in many countries.
Simple anti-personnel mines
The Ottawa Treaty banned the use of most types of antipersonnel mines, including simple pressure-triggered mines known since World War I and II and motion sensor mines. This category also includes scatterable mines used in artillery or rocket projectiles. The exception is mines that can be remotely detonated, e.g., by radio signal.
The Americans last used anti-personnel mines on a large scale in 1991 during the Gulf War, not counting the small-scale use in Afghanistan in 2002. In 2022, Stan Brown, serving as the principal deputy assistant secretary in the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, admitted in one of the discussions that the USA possesses exactly 3 million anti-personnel mines. They are intended for use solely on the Korean Peninsula.
Among the simplest anti-personnel mines are the M14 and M16, designed in the 1950s. The first is a cylindrical, difficult-to-detect plastic mine, with the only metal part being a pin that detonates about 28 grams of explosive material. Its pressure trigger activates with just 11 to 14 kilograms.
The second is practically a copy of the German WWII S-mine capable of affecting an entire squad, not just the person who steps on it. The M16 is a 3.5-kilogram mine in a metallic casing containing 454 grams of explosive material. It is equipped with a pressure trigger with a sensitivity of 3.5 to 9 kilograms or a tripwire that can be attached to, for example, a nearby tree. Upon activation, the mine is launched upward and detonates above ground, scattering shrapnel over a 30-metre area.
These mines require manual placement, but it's expected that Ukrainians will use drones or remotely controlled vehicles, as is already the case with TM62 anti-tank mines.
Scatterable mines — can be deployed by artillery
Scatterable mines like the Area-Denial Artillery Munition (ADAM) will be much more useful for Ukrainians. These are used, among other things, in special versions of 155 mm artillery shells, each containing 36 wedge-shaped mines. The shell is designed to explode in the air after a set time to release the mines' payload.
Upon landing, the mines shoot out three or four 6-metre wires that embed into anything. They then become a trigger, and pulling them with a force of about 1 to 1.5 kilograms is enough to cause the explosion of the armed mine. Each contains 20 grams of explosive material designed to rise to a height of 0.6 to 2.5 metres and explode with an impact range of 6 to 10 metres. The mines have a self-destruct mechanism that triggers a maximum of 48 hours after deployment.
The range of these shells for artillery systems with a barrel length of 39 calibres was specified at 19 kilometres. For new systems with a 52-calibre gun, the effective range of ADAM shells may be a few kilometres greater.
It's worth noting that for Ukrainians, a large supply of anti-personnel mines may be even more helpful than a few dozen MGM-140 ATACMS ballistic missiles, as the ability to mine approaches to trenches near Pokrovsk or in the Kursk region may significantly reduce the effectiveness of Russian "human wave attacks."
