P.R.O.M-1 YUGOSLAVIAN LAND MINE (Historical Prop)

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The PROM-1 is a Yugoslavian manufactured bouncing type of anti-personnel mine. It consists of a cylindrical body with a pronged fuze inserted into the top of the mine. The mine operates similarly to the German S-mine in terms of its mechanism. A human: The PROM-1 is triggered by tilting the prongs located on top of the mine, which can be caused by direct pressure or tension on a tripwire attached to them. Tilting the prongs releases at least one of three striker retaining balls, allowing the spring-loaded striker to escape and fire the percussion cap, releasing the propellant charge. The explosion of the propellant charge forces the upper half of the mine body out of the ground and up into the air, shearing off brass screws and leaving the base plug behind. A short length of wire tethers the mine's body to its base, unwinding as it rises until it reaches a height of approximately 65 centimeters, at which point the detonator assembly is pulled down into the striker by the jerking motion. The detonator fires, triggering the main explosive charge, which shatters the internally grooved body into high-velocity steel fragments that spray in all directions due to the short time frame between triggering and detonation (typically one second). As with all bounding mines, the PROM-1 is lethal at relatively long distances, capable of projecting dangerous fragments up to 100 meters or more, with a potentially lethal range of around 50 meters. Anyone caught within 30 meters will almost certainly be killed or seriously injured by the blast. Wearing standard kevlar body armor offers no guarantee of safety due to the large number of fragments produced by a PROM-1, which can wound unprotected limbs, face, and eyes of its victims. A PROM-1 buried so that only the prongs of the fuze are visible can be activated by connecting a tripwire to the central prong (which has a hole in it), increasing the activation area. The mine is difficult to spot in undergrowth because most of it is buried underground, leaving only the prongs visible. Although the PROM-1 contains lots of steel, making it detectable with a mine detector, sweeping the detection head over the ground can easily strike the prongs or connected tripwire and detonate the mine. In minefields, PROM-1s may be surrounded by various types of minimum metal antipersonnel blast mines (e.g. the VS-50), further hindering clearance. The PROM-1 is difficult to render safe because its fuze becomes unstable after being exposed to weather for several years, making most deminers recommend destroying it in situ by detonating an explosive charge next to it. Trip-wires measuring around 20 feet (6 meters) in length are often fitted to this mine to increase its activation area. When tracking trip-wires back to their source, deminers must keep in mind that other landmines may have been planted along its length. It is easy to concentrate on following a trip-wire back to its source while forgetting that there could be PMA-3, PMN, or similar blast mines lying buried underneath. The mine has been found in Angola, Bosnia, Chile, Croatia, Eritrea, Iraq, Kosovo, Mozambique, and Namibia. Specifications: Diameter: 75 mm Height: 260 mm (unfuzed) Weight: 3 kg Explosive content: 425 g Composition B or straight cast TNT Operating pressure: 9 kg to 16 kg or 3 kg to 5 kg pull