M6 mine
The M6, M6A1 and M6A2 are a series of metal-cased, circular anti-tank landmines produced by the United States; they were superseded in service by the larger M15 mine. The mine is normally painted olive green and has a large central pressure plate. In the centre of the pressure plate is an arming plug that has an arming lever with three settings: ARMED, DANGER and SAFE. The pressure plate rests on a concertina-like structure, which when enough force is applied is compressed. Compression results in a transfer plate under the arming plug pressing downwards onto a belleville spring which inverts, flipping the firing pin into the detonator, which triggers the adjacent explosive booster and main explosive charge.
The mine is fitted with two secondary fuze wells on the side and bottom to enable anti-handling devices to be fitted. The M6 and M6A1 variants were fitted with chemical fuzes, the M600 and M601, the later M6A2 used the mechanical M603 fuze. The mines are found in Angola, Cyprus, Korea, Lebanon, Rwanda, Thailand, the Western Sahara, although these may in fact have been M15 mines that were misidentified.
Specifications
- Diameter: 333 mm
- Height: 83 mm
- Weight: 99.1 kg
- Explosive content: 4.45 kg of TNT
- Operating pressure: 160 to 340 kg
