Land mine
Land mines are explosive devices buried underground, primarily designed to inflict harm or death when triggered. They emerged in the eighteenth century but gained widespread usage during the twentieth century, particularly in warfare. There are two main types of land mines: antipersonnel mines, which target individuals and can be activated by pressure or trip wires, and antitank mines, which are larger and intended to destroy armored vehicles. Antipersonnel mines can be categorized into blast, fragmentation, and bounding mines, each with different mechanisms and impacts on human targets.
Humanitarian concerns have arisen due to the long-lasting danger these mines pose to civilians, as many remain active long after conflicts have ended, leading to numerous injuries and fatalities. Groups advocating against land mines highlight the challenges of detecting and disarming them, particularly in areas where they were deployed indiscriminately. The legacy of land mines is a contentious topic, with calls for greater regulation and efforts to clear affected regions, as the number of new mines often exceeds the rate at which existing ones are removed.
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Land mine
Land mines are shallow mines with explosive objects hidden below the ground that are designed to maim or kill. They were first designed in the eighteenth century, but they did not become commonly used as a weapon until the twentieth century. Land mines can be divided into two primary categories: antipersonnel mines and antitank mines. Antipersonnel mines are designed to kill or maim people who trigger them. Most are triggered by pressure; however, some may be tied to a trip wire. The most common forms of antipersonnel mines are blast mines, fragmentation mines, and bounding mines. Antitank mines are significantly larger and produce an extremely powerful blast. They are designed to cripple or destroy armored vehicles.
Many human rights groups oppose the use of land mines. Most land mines are not found or disarmed after a war ends. These mines remain active for years, and civilians often trigger them. This has led to countless civilian deaths from land mine explosions across the world. In some countries, aerial drops of land mines have led to massive unmarked minefields. Removing these mines without loss of life is a costly and difficult process.
Background
Humans have used various forms of traps as weapons since ancient times. When the invention of gunpowder began to revolutionize European warfare, weapons manufacturers wondered if they could make explosive traps. In the fourteenth century, Italian and Sicilian inventors began experimenting with gunpowder to achieve this goal.
These early devices, which inventors of the time called fougasses, served the same purpose as modern land mines. They held a designated amount of explosive gunpowder, as well as rocks and other debris. When the device was triggered, the gunpowder would ignite, causing an explosion that propelled rocks at victims. Early fougasses were considered unreliable by armies of time. Damp weather conditions could cause fougasses to fail to ignite, rendering them useless.
In the eighteenth century, German weapons makers developed the fladdermine. The fladdermine was a ceramic sphere filled with gunpowder, metal, and glass. When the ceramic shell was broken, the gunpowder would explode, causing shards of metal and glass to be propelled outward. The mines could be buried just underground, causing anyone who stepped on them to break their shell and trigger an explosion. A trip wire could also trigger them.
The United States was the first nation to really make use of land mines. Brigadier General Gabriel J. Rains ordered his troops to bury pressure-activated artillery shells while battling Native Americans in the 1840s. Rains later employed such traps in the American Civil War. By the beginning of the twentieth century, most conventional armies made use of land mines.
During World War I, weapons makers created the first antitank mines to combat newer, faster-moving tanks. These larger mines were pressure sensitive, causing an extremely powerful explosion when triggered. This explosion was powerful enough to disable any tank that triggered it. To protect antitank mines from being disarmed in advance, armies surrounded them by smaller antipersonnel mines designed to kill individual soldiers.
The use of antitank and antipersonnel mines continued into World War II. Soldiers trained in finding and disarming mines were equipped with metal detectors and sent ahead of other forces. Mines disarmed by these soldiers could be rearmed and reused. In some cases, armies built mines out of wood or plastic to make them more difficult to detect.
Overview
Land mines can be divided into two primary types: antipersonnel mines and antitank mines. Antipersonnel mines come in three primary varieties: blast mines, fragmentation mines, and bounding mines. Blast mines use explosive energy to grievously injure anyone near the mine's detonation. They are most often triggered by being stepped on. Blast mines cause serious injury to anyone who steps on them. Often, afflicted individuals require amputation of damaged limbs. These mines, which are small and cheap to manufacture, are commonly found in modern war zones.
Fragmentation mines are comprised of an explosive charge contained within a metal casing. They may also contain ball bearings or metal fragments. When the mine detonates, its contents are propelled outward at incredibly high speeds. Fragmentation minds are more deadly than blast mines and can kill individuals up to 164 feet (50 meters) away from the initial explosion.
Bounding mines function similarly to fragmentation mines. Unlike fragmentation mines, bounding mines use two separate timed explosions. The first explosion propels the bounding mine into the air, usually close to waist height on the average person. The second explosion detonates the mine, sending shrapnel, ball bearings, or other projectiles outward in a 360-degree arc. Because the projectiles are launched outward at a height close to vital organs, bounding mines are extremely likely to kill anyone within 114 feet (35 meters) of the mine's detonation.
Modern antitank mines are much larger and more powerful than antipersonnel mines. They are designed to completely destroy or incapacitate a heavily armored vehicle. They are placed in roadways, fields, or anywhere an army expects enemy tanks to move. Few traditional or lightly armored vehicles can withstand a blast from an antitank mine.
Many activists protest the use of land mines in modern warfare. Mines can remain active for decades after a battle has ended, and the governments that deploy them rarely collect or disarm them afterward. In some battles, large numbers of mines were dropped from aircraft, leading to unmarked active minefields. Many individuals across the world are injured or killed by land mines every year. While activist groups attempt to find and disarm land mines, the process is dangerous and expensive. Many research groups claim that each year, the number of new land mines constructed surpasses the number that activists are able to disarm.
Bibliography
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