Technical and Tactical Specifications of the TM-73 Mine
- Mine type
- side-attack shaped-charge anti-tank mine
- Body
- steel
- Weight
- 8 kg
- Grenade weight
- 2.6 kg
- Okfol explosive weight
- 0.3 kg
- Length
- 1090 mm
- Width
- 290 mm
- Height
- 370 mm
- Mine effect
- 300 mm of armor from a distance of up to 30 m
- Breakwire target sensor length
- 15 m
- Arming time
- 50-180 seconds
- Operational life
- 30 days
- Emplacement time (2 persons)
- 8 - 20 min
- Breakwire tensile force
- 0.3-0.4 kg
- Self-destruction/self-neutralization
- absent/upon depletion of the detonator power-supply battery
- Rendering safe
- possible
- Operating temperature range
- -40 to +50 °C
The mine consists of three main components:
1. RPG-18 "Mukha" rocket-propelled anti-tank grenade. 2. An explosive device with an MVE-72 detonator and a firing device. 3. A set of accessories for emplacing the mine in the field.
The mine is emplaced in the field transverse to the target’s direction of movement, 20-25 meters from the target’s route, at a height of 37 cm above the ground surface. The breakwire target sensor of the MVE-72 detonator is stretched across the target’s direction of movement at a height of 0.8 - 1.2 meters above the ground surface, and the firing device is secured to the grenade tube. The percussion mechanism of the MVE-72 detonator is connected to the firing device. When a moving enemy tank breaks the breakwire target sensor stretched over the road, the MVE-72 detonator sends an electrical impulse to its percussion mechanism. The striker of the percussion mechanism initiates the primer of the firing device; this ignites the UZV-5 propellant charge, and the pressure of the propellant gases depresses the sear trigger lever of the RPG-18 grenade. A shot is fired and the grenade engages the target. The action of the TM-73 mine is analogous to firing an RPG-18 grenade, with the only difference being that the shot is fired not by a grenadier, but by the target itself, by actuating the mine’s target sensor.
Due to the fact that the MVE series detonator and the RPG-18 grenade cannot be returned to a safe condition, they are to be destroyed by detonation.
Coloration
As a rule, the mine is painted dark green or olive green.
Marking
Applied in black letters with paint on the body and includes an affixed instruction reminder for use.
