Anti-Personnel Mine POB “Pilka”

Technical and Tactical Characteristics of the POB “Pilka” Mine

Type of mine: anti-personnel fragmentation mine with all-round effect
Body: plastic
Weight: 23 kg
Weight of TG-40 explosive: 0.51 kg
Diameter: 90 mm
Height: 170 mm
Length of target sensor: 20 m
Height of detonation above ground surface: 0.4 - 0.6 m
Type of fragmentation casualty-producing elements: flat semi-preformed
Detonator sensitivity: 0.35 - 0.45 kg
Continuous casualty radius: 20 m
Operating temperature range: -40 to +50 °C

Left - POB mine with NM electric percussion mechanism; center - POB mine without a detonator compared with an OZM-72 mine on the right

The mine is used with MUV-2, MUV-3, MUV-4, MVE-72, MVE-NS, and MVE-92 break-action detonators. The mine can also be used with the NM electric percussion mechanism. With it, the mine may be used either simply as a command-detonated mine (actuated by an electrical impulse from a control point), or as part of the NVU-P or NVU-P2 explosive device kit; that is, the principle is the same as for the OZM-72 mine.

The mine is emplaced manually in the ground, and when emplacement in the ground is not possible, on the ground surface (in this case the mine is tied to a stake driven into the ground).

The mine’s service life in combat is not limited. The mine is not fitted with a self-destruct mechanism. It has no anti-removal or anti-neutralization elements; however, the very high sensitivity of the MUV detonator, and especially of the MVE-72 and MVE-NS detonators, makes neutralization of the mine impossible. It can be fitted for anti-removal using booby-trap mines.

The safety level during mine emplacement depends on the type of detonator. For example, when using MUV-2 or MUV-3 detonators, from the moment the safety pin is pulled until the detonator becomes armed, depending on ambient temperature, between 3 minutes (at 40°C) and 59 hours (at -40°C) elapses.

The mine body contains a set of annular plates with the same internal diameter and different external diameters, which form the casualty-producing elements when the mine detonates. Injury to one or more persons is caused by fragments of the annular plates when the mine charge detonates at the moment a person contacts the target sensor (a thin nylon thread 20 m long).