The United States will send three types of remote anti-personnel mines with a self-destruct function to Ukraine as part of the latest aid package announced.
This was reported by the New York Times.
The first mine is a 155 mm ADAM (Area Denial Artillery Munition) shell that opens in the air and releases 36 small mines that deploy tripwires when they land. When the tripwires are broken, the mine ejects a small warhead that explodes.
The second is the MOPMS (Modular Pack Mine System), a portable mixed minefield system that can be carried by two soldiers and scatters 17 anti-tank mines and four anti-personnel mines over the surrounding area.
The latter system is called Volcano, which ejects a mixture of anti-personnel and anti-tank mines from cylinders mounted on trucks or helicopters to quickly create minefields.
This will be the second batch of anti-personnel mines that Ukraine will receive from the United States. The White House authorised the shipment of anti-personnel mines to Ukraine in September 2023.
Initially, Washington provided 1,000 155mm RAAMS artillery shells for the Remote Anti-Aircraft Mine System, which are launched from howitzers and scatter small mines to destroy enemy tanks.
Such weapons are called unstable mines because they are designed to self-destruct after a set period of time. It should be noted that such mines often fail during combat. The Pentagon said that as of 21 October, the United States had sent more than 70,000 such shells to Ukraine.
- On 20 November, the US Department of Defence announced that it would send anti-personnel mines to Ukraine. According to the Washington Post, Ukrainian officials promised not to use the mines in densely populated areas.