RE: Mine Probing

>
>------------------------------
>
>Date: Fri, 4 Oct 2002 18:26:20 -0700 (PDT)
>From: John Atkinson <johnmatkinson@yahoo.com>
>Subject: RE: Mine Probing
>
>- --- B Lin <lin@rxkinetix.com> wrote:
>
>>(Note that the Russians already have a lot of
>>experience in making booby-trapped toys, mines and
>>other displacement sensitive explosive that can be
>>delivered by air or dispersed by ground troops)
>>
>
>Cite source or retract.  And creditable source, thank
>you.  This is a silly urban legend that really gets on
>my nerves.
>
>As for displacement sensitive scatterable mines, I
>defy you to safely pick up a US scat mine.
>
>John
>
The origins of	the "toy" mine are true but it wasn't a toy.

The Russians developed an  air dropable anti personnel mine that had
a plastic casing. It was camouflaged and was of a somewhat unusual shape
(non aerodynamic to slow it down?) and it was used in Afghanistan. Kids
 being what they are would see plastic green(?) colored thing and pick 
it up.

The reason I remember the article was that one version of the ICM
(Improved
Conventional Munitions) that the US used did not go off on contact and I
wondered what it looked like. I will be honest and say that I didn't 
keep track
of the source of the article.

If  I remember correctly the US scat mine is designed to self distrust 
after a
fixed time has passed. The ICM round did not have any self distruct but
it was not  a common round (the explode on contact was the most common
version of ICM round).

Scott Siebold