The US army will receive a new type of anti-tank mines

Alexander Sychev

The development of mine installations began in 2020. In any case, at this time, army officials formulated their demands, based on the operational needs of the United States in Europe. The Americans do not intend to use the XM204 on their territory. New mines are designed specifically for European conflicts. In other words, army tests, for which the first batch will be produced, can be carried out in Ukraine. In the future, the XM204, from the designation of which the letter X will disappear when put into service, will be replaced by the FASCAM family of scattered mines. Their service life is coming to an end.

Unlike conventional mines that hit cars when they run into them, the new weapon attacks armored vehicles and any ground vehicles in general from above, but it is installed on the ground, where it is carefully camouflaged to match the environment.

There is no need to run into a new mine. It is enough to appear within a radius of one hundred meters. When the acoustic and seismic sensors of the mine block detect approaching vehicles, the device processes data that it can receive not only from its own sensors, determines the range to the target and direction.

At the calculated moment, the combat element, equipped with its own infrared sensor, is fired, maneuvers and, once above the target, undermines the cumulative charge.

If for some reason the ammunition does not detect the target, then, as Textron representatives assure, in accordance with the Ottawa Convention, it will self-destruct. The same will happen to the entire block if it is not activated or forgotten to be turned off after the activation time has elapsed.

The developers mentioned the Ottawa Convention solely to demonstrate their commitment to international agreements, but not at all in connection with their intention to comply with them. The mentioned convention prohibits the use, stockpiling, production and transfer of anti-personnel landmines, however, Washington includes anti-personnel mines, in particular, M18A1 Claymore and BLU-43 / B Dragontooth, in almost every package of military assistance to Kyiv.

The new mine launcher also has a wide application profile. It can be directed against armored vehicles and with even greater success against passenger vehicles.

The module is a cube with approximately equal sides, about 60 centimeters long. In a container weighing 36 kilograms, in addition to electronics, nests are placed for four CAVM anti-vehicle ammunition.

Soldiers manually place modules in a minefield (automated deployment systems are also being developed using ground robots or from aircraft). Then, using the control panel, set the timer for the period of time during which the weapon will be active - 4 hours, 48 hours or 15 days.

Using the control panel, which operates within a radius of five kilometers, you can simultaneously monitor the state of 12 minefields, receive information from the mine about their condition, the presence of targets in the area of responsibility, the speed and direction of movement of equipment. Thus, the minefield becomes a means of obtaining valuable intelligence.

The block does not fire all four mines at once. If the passing vehicle was a single copy, then the system will store the remaining ammunition for the future.