Rifle defense laying mine DM31

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Rifle defense laying mine DM31


General Information
Designation: DM-31
Type: Anti-personnel mine
Country of origin: Germany
Technical specifications
Combat weight: 4,100 grams
Charge: 530 grams of TNT
Diameter: 100 millimeters
Height: 135 millimeters
Detonator: Draft fuse
Lists on the subject

The rifle defense laying mine DM 31 (official name of the Bundeswehr for this type of mine ) was a jumping mine of the German Bundeswehr and the Federal Border Police . It consists of a cylindrical mine pot and a mine body inserted into it. The mine body is thrown out of the mine pot by the combustion gases of an ejection charge and detonates at a height of about one meter. The fragments in the mine body have an effective range of up to 100 m against people. From 1962 to 1967 it was procured for 49.2 million DM from the Karlsruhe industrial works ( LOS IWK). According to Küchenmeister and Nassauer, the DM31 was probably manufactured at the Karlsruhe- Grötzingen location .

According to the safety regulations of the Bundeswehr, it was only allowed to be laid by pioneers . Following the accession of the Federal Republic of Germany to the Ottawa Convention , the mine was segregated between 1995 and the end of 1998.

Since the federal government, unlike other mines, does not provide any information about the destruction of the DM31, it can be assumed that the complete remaining stocks comprised more than 795,000 mines and that these were given to the Greek armed forces . The Federal Border Guard gave up its last stocks of 5000 DM31 in 1974.

Layout and function

Mine pot

SchAMi DM 31.JPG

The cylindrical mine pot contains the mine body and associated parts. The upper edge of the mine pot is flanged and thus connected to the mine body. Before the flanging, a sealing compound made of synthetic resin was applied to the inner beaded edge. The separation of the mine pot and mine body can be seen on the top of the mine by a fine groove. A twisting of the lead body to the lead pot is prevented by punching the bead on the flange. The base plate with the pull rope attached to it is glued to the bottom of the mine pot.

Mine body

The cylindrical mine body essentially consists of an explosive charge, fragments, a transfer charge, an ignition device and an ejection charge. Around 360 cylindrical splinters are loosely filled in between the outer and inner casing of the mine body. The splinters are about 9 mm long and about 8 mm in diameter. If one assumes that the splinters are made of steel with a density of 7.85 g / cm 3 , the weight of an individual splinter is 3.55 g and the total splinter weight is 1280 g.

The locking pin is located at the other end of the approximately 1.25 m long pull rope attached to the bottom plate of the mine pot. This is inserted into a longitudinal bore of the firing pin and has a transverse bore to accommodate two locking balls. The locking pin presses the balls located in the transverse bore outwards against a shoulder in the guide sleeve. This fixes the preloaded firing pin and cannot snap onto the primer cap. If the mine is triggered and the mine body is thrown out of the mine pot, the pull rope is taut. The locking pin moves backwards against the direction of flight of the mine body and continues to tension the preloaded firing pin. When the locking pin moves backwards, the locking balls are initially prevented from giving way to the side by the wall of the guide sleeve. The connection between locking pin and firing pin remains for the time being. In the conically widened area of ​​the guide sleeve, the locking balls are pressed outwards and the connection between locking and firing pins is released. The firing pin snaps onto the percussion cap, which detonates the detonator. On the top of the mine there are two threaded holes with inserted screw plugs. The central hole is used to accommodate the detonator DM11 in the transfer charge. A laterally offset threaded hole is used to accommodate the detonator, which ignites the ejection charge below.

Explosive, ejector and transfer charges

The explosive charge consists of about 500 g TNT and is cast into the mine body. The 21 g Tetryl transfer charge transfers the detonation of the detonator to the charge. In order to hurl the mine body out of the mine pot, an approximately 4.5 g heavy ejection charge made of black powder is built in.

Detonator

MiZü DM 56.JPG
Mine detonators DM56A1 and DM56

The rifle defense laying mine DM31 was originally delivered with the articulated fuse DM19. This is a simple pull fuse with two pull wires to be laid by hand. During the period of use, the mine was equipped with the DM56 and DM56A1B1 pull and push detonators. The non-explosive detonators DM56 (A1B1) with delay consist of a preloaded firing pin, which is held by a locking spring and secured by a locking pin with a nut. The locking pin and locking nut rest on two sides with their collar on the locking spring and secure the firing pin against unintentional triggering. At the two ends of the locking spring, a pull wire is attached to this wire for triggering by pulling it. To unlock the detonator, unscrew the locking nut from the locking pin and pull the locking pin with the unlocking cord out of the hole in the firing pin shaft. The firing pin is then only held by the locking spring. If the locking spring is not able to hold the firing pin due to breakage or material fatigue, it strikes the primer and triggers the mine. The danger for the pioneer unlocking the mine of being killed or injured is not insignificant due to the limited length of the unlocking cord.

In contrast to the DM56 igniter, the DM56A1B1 igniter has an additional safeguard against failure of the locking spring. An additional ring groove was added to the top of the igniter and the width of the collar of the locking pin and locking nut was reduced. In the event of a defective locking spring, when the locking pin is pulled out, its collar is pressed by the spring force of the preloaded firing pin up to the top of the fuse. If the locking pin is pulled off further, its collar engages in the ring groove of the detonator face and is thus fixed. It is not possible to pull out the locking pin any further and the firing pin remains locked.

Non-defective and unlocked mine detonators DM56 and DM56A1B1 are triggered from a pulling force of more than 100 N (approx. 10 kg) on ​​one of the two pull wires by pulling off the locking spring to the side. Alternatively, a pressure of 50 N (approx. 5 kg) on ​​the firing pin (by stepping directly on it) is sufficient to push the locking spring apart and thus release the firing pin. The detonator has a pyrotechnic delay of about 2 s, which ignites the mine’s discharge charge after it has burned down. Both fuse versions are made of brass with embossed writing. The DM56 is not painted and the DM56A1B1 fawn brown. Both versions were made by Rinker Menden (LOS RM).

The Bundeswehr has banned the relocation of the DM31 anti-rifle mine for training purposes. The only exception was instruction bursting. The mine was triggered with the DM29 electric detonator.

colour

The color of the lead is olive yellow, the lettering (here: Sch Mi DM 31 TNT LOS IWK - 185 ) chrome yellow. If you decipher the labeling you get:

  • Sch Mi = rifle mine or anti-rifle installation mine
  • DM31 = German model 31 introduced into the Bundeswehr
  • TNT = the contained explosive is TNT
  • LOT IWK-185 = Lot number 185 of the manufacturer IWK (IndustrieWerke Karlsruhe)

effect

The metal splinters of the mine body have an effective range of around one hundred meters around the detonation point and are effective against people and unarmored vehicles. Within a radius of sixty meters, unprotected people can be expected to be fifty percent fatal and up to a hundred meters with severe to minor injuries. Damage and even failure must be expected in unarmored vehicles within a radius of twenty meters.

Laying type

As a rule, the mine was laid in a so-called mine pulp with an anti-tank laying mine DM 11 or anti-tank laying mine DM 21 and possibly a rifle laying mine DM 11 . It was dug up to the edge in the earth, but not covered with earth. For the quick digging of mine holes, a simple hand drill called a soil excavator was in the inventory of the pioneer troops.

If the DM31 is laid as a wire mine, two V-shaped wires were stretched out from the detonator for about twenty meters each. The wires are guided by staples on wooden pegs driven in at ankle height, which are about five meters apart.

Users

armed forces

The anti-rifle mine DM31 was procured for the Bundeswehr from 1962 to 1967 for 49.2 million DM . Küchenmeister and Nassauer estimate the purchase price at the time at DM 30 to 45, which corresponds to a total purchased number of around 1.1 to 1.64 million pieces. At the same time they quote Angelika Beer , member of the Bundestag , who had the exact figures, that the Bundeswehr no longer knows exactly how many DM31 were procured. It can be assumed that over a period of use of 30 to 35 years, around a third of the mines were rejected due to defects or obsolescence. It is particularly noticeable that the federal government never commented on the destruction of the DM31.

Greek armed forces

The Greek forces in 2004 were still in possession approximately 795,000 DM31 mines. These Greek anti-rifle laying mines DM31 are most certainly the remnants released by the German armed forces in the late 1990s as part of the waiver of anti-personnel mines. Greece signed the Ottawa Convention on December 3, 1997, but only ratified it on September 25, 2003. The ban on the use, manufacture, storage and distribution of anti-personnel mines became binding on Greece on March 1, 2004. The four-year deadline for demolishing the mines (until March 1, 2008) was not met by Greece. The destruction only began in November 2008. The stocks of the Greek armed forces at DM31 have developed as follows:

  • 2004-2009: 794,400
  • 2010–2012: 792.780
  • 2013: 241,760

Danish Armed Forces

The Danish armed forces used the DM31 as an M / 66 mine. Before the end of 1999, 12,770 M / 66 were destroyed. The exact number of mines procured is unclear. In the report from the Danish government to the United Nations, lot number IWK-01-66 is listed and a picture of an M / 66 with lot number IWK-1-71 is also shown.

It can be assumed that the mine was procured directly from the Karlsruhe industrial works in the 1960s and 1970s. This contradicts the statements of the federal government, which has no knowledge of DM31 exports to (among other things) Denmark.

Swedish Armed Forces

The Swedish armed forces used the DM31 as Truppmina 11 (anti-personnel mine 11). In 1999 there were still 121,000 Truppmina 11 in stock, which were completely destroyed by the end of 2001. The reported lot numbers of the mines do not contain the manufacturer code IWK and are therefore probably manufactured under license in Sweden.

Swiss Army

The DM31 was used by the Swiss Army under the designation Springmine 63 (Spri-Mi-63) . In 1990 it was decided to withdraw all anti-personnel mines. The last jumping mines 63 were destroyed in 1997.

Other states

Küchenmeister and Nassauer also describe the possible use of the DM31 in the armed forces of Great Britain, France, Angola and Zambia. However, there are not enough reliable sources on this.

Practice mine DM28

The DM28 anti-rifle training mine was introduced as an aid for training in mine fighting. In terms of shape and dimensions, this corresponds to the DM31 anti-rifle laying mine. The push and pull detonators DM56 (A1B1), the electric detonator DM29 and the previously used articulated detonator DM19 can also be used as detonators. The practice mine does not have an explosive charge, but a pyrotechnic smoke charge DM48, which indicates that the mine has been triggered by smoke development. The smoke generator is inserted through a screw plug in the bottom of the mine. After it has been ignited, it develops smoke for about 15 seconds, which can escape through twelve smoke ducts in the igniter nipple. Instead of the detonator cap DM11, a training detonator cap DM18 without explosives is used in mine DM28. By renewing the igniter and the DM48 smoke charge, the practice mine can be reused. The paint of the lead DM28 is light blue (RAL 5012) and the lettering is cream white (RAL 9001). Older models are labeled “ÜB SCH MI” (practice rifle mine), while newer models are labeled “UEBSCHAMI” (practice rifle defense mine).

Other varieties of the mine

  • Exercise lead (yellow olive with white lettering).
  • Rifle defense laying mine DM41 (like SchaMi DM31) with attachment for independently ejecting contact wires. Development was abandoned.

See also

Web links

Commons : Schützenabwehrverlegemine DM31  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

source

  • Central service regulation (ZDv) 3/701: Lock and blast
  • Thomas Küchenmeister, Otfried Nassauer: Good mine for bad game. Komzi Verlags GmbH, Idstein 1995.
  • Council of Ministers of the German Democratic Republic - Ministry for National Defense: K 052/3/001 Pioneer combat equipment of the NATO and French land forces. 1988
  • Ammunition data sheet for anti-rifle mine DM31. Dresdner Sprengschule GmbH, 2009.
  • Ammunition data sheet anti-rifle mine over DM28. Dresdner Sprengschule GmbH, 2012.
  • Ammunition data sheet push and pull fuse DM 56 A1B1. Dresdner Sprengschule GmbH, 2009.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b German Bundestag: Printed matter 13/1159. April 21, 1995, accessed July 18, 2014 .
  2. ↑ a b c d German Bundestag: Printed matter 13/1473. May 22, 1995. Retrieved July 18, 2014 .
  3. ↑ a b c d Thomas kitchen master, Otfried Nassauer: Good mine for bad game. Komzi Verlags GmbH, Idstein 1995.
  4. ↑ CONVENTION ON THE PROHIBITION OF THE USE, STOCKPILING, PRODUCTION AND TRANSFER OF ANTI-PERSONNEL MINES AND ON THEIR DESTRUCTION - Reporting Formats for Article 7 - Germany 2000. April 30, 2000, accessed on July 18, 2014 .
  5. ↑ a b c CONVENTION ON THE PROHIBITION OF THE USE, STOCKPILING, PRODUCTION AND TRANSFER OF ANTI-PERSONNEL MINES AND ON THEIR DESTRUCTION - Reporting Formats for Article 7 - Greece 2004. July 14, 2004, accessed on July 18, 2014 .
  6. ↑ Grenades, mines and boobytraps. Retrieved August 26, 2014 .
  7. ↑ International Campaign to Ban Landmines: Landmine Monitor Report 2009. Canada 2009, ISBN 978-0-9738955-5-1
  8. ↑ CONVENTION ON THE PROHIBITION OF THE USE, STOCKPILING, PRODUCTION AND TRANSFER OF ANTI-PERSONNEL MINES AND ON THEIR DESTRUCTION - Reporting Formats for Article 7 - Greece 2009. April 2010, accessed on July 18, 2014 .
  9. ↑ CONVENTION ON THE PROHIBITION OF THE USE, STOCKPILING, PRODUCTION AND TRANSFER OF ANTI-PERSONNEL MINES AND ON THEIR DESTRUCTION - Reporting Formats for Article 7 - Greece 2010. April 2011, accessed on July 18, 2014 .
  10. ↑ CONVENTION ON THE PROHIBITION OF THE USE, STOCKPILING, PRODUCTION AND TRANSFER OF ANTI-PERSONNEL MINES AND ON THEIR DESTRUCTION - Reporting Formats for Article 7 - Greece 2012. April 2013, accessed on July 18, 2014 .
  11. ↑ CONVENTION ON THE PROHIBITION OF THE USE, STOCKPILING, PRODUCTION AND TRANSFER OF ANTI-PERSONNEL MINES AND ON THEIR DESTRUCTION - Reporting Formats for Article 7 - Greece 2013. April 2014, accessed on July 18, 2014 .
  12. ↑ CONVENTION ON THE PROHIBITION OF THE USE, STOCKPILING, PRODUCTION AND TRANSFER OF ANTI-PERSONNEL MINES AND ON THEIR DESTRUCTION - Reporting Formats for Article 7 - Denmark 1999. August 27, 1999, accessed on July 18, 2014 .
  13. ↑ CONVENTION ON THE PROHIBITION OF THE USE, STOCKPILING, PRODUCTION AND TRANSFER OF ANTI-PERSONNEL MINES AND ON THEIR DESTRUCTION - Reporting Formats for Article 7 - Denmark 1999 picture. August 27, 1999, accessed July 18, 2014 .
  14. ↑ German Bundestag Printed Matter 13/2252. September 5, 1995, accessed July 18, 2014 .
  15. ↑ CONVENTION ON THE PROHIBITION OF THE USE, STOCKPILING, PRODUCTION AND TRANSFER OF ANTI-PERSONNEL MINES AND ON THEIR DESTRUCTION - Reporting Formats for Article 7 - Sweden 1999. October 29, 1999, accessed July 18, 2014 .
  16. ↑ CONVENTION ON THE PROHIBITION OF THE USE, STOCKPILING, PRODUCTION AND TRANSFER OF ANTI-PERSONNEL MINES AND ON THEIR DESTRUCTION - Reporting Formats for Article 7 - Sweden 2002. April 30, 2003, accessed July 18, 2014 .
  17. ↑ Springmine 63. In: lexpev.nl. LEXPEV, accessed October 9, 2018 .
  18. ↑ The Swiss Army is a pioneer in the destruction of anti-personnel mines. In: checkpoint-online.ch. Check Point, accessed October 9, 2018 .
  19. ↑ The Swiss Army no longer has anti-personnel mines. In: admin.ch. The federal authorities of the Swiss Confederation, December 2, 1997, accessed on October 9, 2018 .