Defense Express: US Anti-Personnel Mines Will Stop Russian ‘Meat’ Assaults
- 20.11.2024, 12:45
Experts have revealed what effective weapons Ukraine will receive.
The US has decided to supply Ukraine with anti-personnel mines. Consequently, the Ukrainian Armed Forces can now count on expanding their capabilities to repel Russian “meat” assaults with the help of new means, Defense Express writes.
A big question arises regarding the type of anti-personnel mines themselves. Many aid packages included M18A1 Claymore directional mines. At the same time, these deliveries began back in 2022, and their transfer is also included in the list of weapons and military equipment transferred to Ukraine, but without specifying the quantity.
Obviously, we are talking about different means. The Washington Post, which reported on the new US decision, did not disclose their type, and from all the details, they have a self-destruction or self-deactivation mechanism. Probably, this refers to the ADAM remote mining system.
This assumption is due to the fact that the US Armed Forces as a whole do not have many types of anti-personnel mines in service. At the same time, ADAM is already partially familiar to the Ukrainian Armed Forces, as it is part of the FASCAM family, like the 155-mm RAAM shells. In particular, RAAM shells, which are equipped with M741 and M718 anti-tank mines, have been received by the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the amount of more than 60 thousand in August 2024.
ADAM has a similar operating principle, but with M67 or M72 anti-personnel mines, 36 in each shell, which has the index M692 and M731, respectively. The only difference is in the self-destruction time — 4 or 48 hours, if this does not happen, it still becomes inactive no later than 14 days, because the mine battery, which powers the detonator, will be discharged before this time.
When falling to the ground, M67 and M72 ADAM mines release “whiskers”, a contract with which leads to the activation of the mine by the triggering of the expelling charge, which shoots the fragmentation element to a height of about 1.5 meters, where it explodes. The effective radius of destruction of manpower is 7 meters.
One ADAM shell scatters mines at a distance of up to 600 meters from the aiming point. Therefore, for the dense mining of the area, it is necessary to carry out a series of shots.
The ADAM system entered service with the United States in 1975 and was developed specifically for the conditions of a full-scale war with the USSR. If Ukraine receives these mines, this means a truly effective strengthening of Ukraine's defense with a powerful means against the Russian infantry invasion.