World experts are unanimous in the opinion that the role of mine weapons used both in the offensive and in defense depends on the qualitative development of equipment and devices for installing mines, as well as on the improvement of the mines themselves. Military designers and engineers are constantly improving systems for high-speed installation of mines in the ground and throwing in. Real successes in this area make it possible to use minefields in the course of modern combat.
Usually, minefields are placed to cover the occupied positions in order to delay the advancing enemy forces or to force them to go into other zones, where they will come under striking fire with other types of weapons. A strategy of laying mines directly on the enemy's routes of movement and in his rear is envisaged to prevent the introduction of second echelons or reserves into battle. Minefields are capable of stopping the enemy breaking through the line of defense or strengthening the already existing defense of the defenders.
But even in the offensive, the role of mines is difficult to overestimate - open flanks are covered with minefields, the combat forces of the counterattacking enemy are delayed and destroyed, and minefields also slow down the enemy's retreat to their positions after an attack.
If we analyze the ways of development of means of mining, then the following directions can be distinguished:
- the use of mechanical equipment for the installation of mines, which makes it possible to very quickly install minefields with small forces;
- paying maximum attention to improving anti-tank mines as an effective means of destroying enemy armored vehicles, as well as modifying anti-vehicle mines that hit unarmored targets (transporters, cars, engineering vehicles, aircraft and helicopters);
- a significant increase in the effectiveness of mines due to the use of a directed destruction charge, as well as the use of an electronic fuse (non-contact and contact) with an anti-handling element and a controlled combat service life. Such a mine, after the expiration of the programmed period, self-destructs either by detonation or by transition to a safe state;
- a significant increase in the mechanical properties of mines due to the use of high-strength materials and new design solutions that allow mines to fall from significant heights, withstanding large accelerations (the method of setting mines in a throw-in);
- development and application of remote mining systems, which makes it possible to install minefields not only for engineering units, but also for other types of troops: aviation, artillery, and the Navy;
- development of new methods of organizing the work of rear services to provide troops with ammunition for mines, in connection with the increased capabilities of various units for the arrangement of minefields.
Currently, NATO mainly uses minelayers for the installation of anti-tank mines. Mine layers are divided into trailed and self-propelled - the first is the most. The main job of minelayers is to install mines on the surface and in the ground itself. The design provides for a change in the step of mining, which allows you to set a predetermined density of the barrier. Basically, when mining, anti-tank anti-bottom and anti-track mines are used.
The minelayers FFV 5821 of the Federal Republic of Germany, manufactured by a Swedish company, entered service in the Bundeswehr and the Dutch armed forces. The minelayer belongs to the trailed type and is towed by a 7-ton vehicle loaded with 720 mines, the rate of setting a mine row is 20 minutes per minute.
The British Army is also equipped with trailed minelayers, which are towed by an FV 432 Trojan tracked armored personnel carrier with 144 mines in its cargo hold. It is also allowed to use the FV 602 "Stolvet" car loaded with 500 mines to transport the minelayer.
The minelayer ST-AT / V, made in Spain, belongs to the trailed type and installs anti-tank anti-bottom, anti-track mines in the ground or on the surface. The minelayer is towing an armored personnel carrier loaded with 200 mines.
French minelayer mod. F1 works on a wheelbase. Its peculiarity is that it digs holes for each of the mines without damaging the plant layer. The mine is placed under the raised layer of earth, and then the installation site is rolled with a roller. This minelayer is designed for the installation of anti-tank anti-bottom mines HPD mod. F2 and anti-track ASRM. The cargo compartment of the machine can hold four cassettes of 112 minutes each. All actions to install a mine are performed automatically. French minelayers were also purchased by the Belgian army. The rate of mining is 400 minutes per hour.
The western armies are also armed with remote mining systems. These systems are a fundamentally new tool for installing minefields in a short time (a few minutes) at a distance from tens of meters to hundreds of kilometers. The remote mining system includes anti-vehicle, anti-personnel and anti-tank mines, carriers of means of installation. The role of the carrier can be performed by a ground vehicle, rocket, helicopter, aircraft, artillery shell.
Mines that have fallen to the ground are transferred to a combat position and are triggered on a designated target. Any attempt by the enemy to remove the mine leads to its detonation. At the end of its service life, the mine itself self-destructs. Tests have shown that the detection of mines by the crews of combat vehicles is difficult and, as a rule, mines go unnoticed.
The ground-based mining system GEMSS (USA) is also of interest, the basis of which is the M128 trailed minelayer, moved by the M113 tracked armored personnel carrier. The installed mines of two types - anti-tank anti-bottom M75 and anti-personnel fragmentation M74, are loaded into the compartment in the amount of 800 pieces. During the movement of the minelayer, the mines are scattered at a distance of up to 60 meters. Within 15 minutes, the minelayer creates a mined strip 1000X60 m in size. 60 sets of the GEMSS ground mining system have been tested by the US ground forces in Europe. As a result of operation, the disadvantages of the complex were revealed - the large mass of the minelayer itself and the difficulty of giving the mine rotation 2500 rpm in order to remove one of the fuse protection stages.
The US Army is also armed with the Vulcan universal mining systems. They are mounted on a 5-ton M817 vehicle or a Black Hawk helicopter. The system's ammunition includes four modules of 40 disposable mine cassettes. Each cassette contains one anti-personnel fragmentation mine and five anti-tank mines. One refueling provides mining in 30 minutes on an area of 1000X50 m. This system is used by the American "rapid deployment forces".
The US military is also successfully using the new missile mining system. It consists of a 12-barreled MLRS MLRS and a missile with min. The firing range is up to 40 km, the duration of the salvo is 60 s, the mined area is 1000x400 m. This system is also in service with France, England, Italy.
The British Army is equipped with the Ranger ground-based mining system, which is designed to install anti-personnel high-explosive mines. There are 1296 minutes in one filling of the system. The firing range is 100 meters, the rate is 18 minutes per minute. The system is recharged by two employees in 6 minutes. The main purpose of the mining system is to strengthen non-explosive obstacles and anti-tank minefields.
Western military units also use helicopter mining systems, which are designed to restrict the mobility of enemy mechanized and tank units. But the system has a significant drawback - the vulnerability of helicopters. One helicopter refueling contributes to the establishment of a mine strip measuring 1000x50 m in 17 minutes.
Today, the armies of the NATO countries are testing new samples of minelayers, the main principle of which is the pyrotechnic installation of anti-tank and anti-personnel mines. For example, the modular mining system MOPMS (USA) sets up focal mixed fields to cover defended positions. Mining is controlled remotely (by radio or by wire). Minami covers the area - within a radius of 35 meters.
The portable mining installation (Italy) is very interesting. It is intended for all types of troops. Allows for the minimum time to block defended positions from the penetration of enemy infantry.
But work on improving minefield systems is ongoing. Experts expect a breakthrough in this area in the very near future.
The production of minelayers is also carried out in the countries of the former Soviet Union. So, in Ukraine, their production is carried out at the Kryukov Machine-Building Plant.
This plant is one of the oldest production facilities. It was created in 1869 as a car repair workshops engaged in the current repair of cars for the Kharkov-Nikolaev railway. Since 1900, 400 workers have worked in production, who repaired not only 120 freight, but also 20 passenger cars per month for the needs of the railway.
Today, the Kryukovsky Carriage Works occupies a leading position in the development and production of passenger cars for the railway, as well as metro cars. But, in addition to civilian products, the plant produces special armored vehicles - including the I-52 minelayer, designed for remote setting of minefields. The I-52 is capable of placing antipersonnel and anti-tank mines at any time of the day and in a wide temperature range - from minus 45 ° C to plus 45 ° C, as well as with terrain slopes (ascents, descents, slopes) up to 15 degrees. The minelayer I-52 in the process of movement provides one- and two-lane installation of minefields by the injection method. When parked, the I-52 is capable of installing minefields by automatically firing mines from cassettes. The cassettes are in special containers mounted on the MT-LBu lightweight multipurpose chassis.
The multipurpose chassis includes: a mining control panel, a block of containers for shooting mines, a mechanism for bringing containers into working condition, a structure for sliding containers, a device for rotating a block of containers.
The minelayer I-52 is in service with the 12th engineer regiment, stationed in the Zhytomyr region in the city of Novograd-Volynsky.
Main technical characteristics of the I-52 minelayer:
The maximum transportation speed with a full set of cargo is 61.5 km / h.
The fuel range is 500 km.
The operating weight at full load is 16,000 kg.
Overall dimensions in transport position: 2200 mm (height), 7210 mm (length), 2850 mm (width).
Overall dimensions in working position: 3300 mm (height), 7210 mm (length), 3450 mm (width).
Crew - 2 people.
The types of minefields installed are anti-personnel, anti-tank and mixed. Mine types: PFM-1, PMF-1S, KSO-1, POM-1, POM-2, GTM-1, PTM-3.
The method of installing mines is shooting from cassettes, ejection.
The number of containers - 2, 90 pieces of mines in each.
The number of minefield strips installed in one pass of the machine is 1 or 2.
Mining speed - 10-40 km / h.
The rotation angle of containers in the horizontal plane is 360 degrees.
The angle of installation of cassettes in containers in the vertical plane is 50 degrees.
The time to bring the car from transport to working condition is 5 minutes.
Ammunition reload time - 120 min. (by crew) or 20 min. (sapper unit).
Minelayers are in demand in the market for weapons manufacturers. Therefore, Ukrainian suppliers of this segment of military equipment have prospects and incentives for the development, modification and expansion of the range of production of minelayers of various types and purposes.
