The M18 Claymore anti-personnel mine is specifically designed to kill or maim enemy ground troops approaching a location from a specific direction. During the Vietnam War, the U.S. Army used the mine in ambush missions against NVA (North Vietnamese Army) and VC (Viet Cong) forces along commonly used jungle trails. The advantage of this weapon is the wide distribution of lethal steel ball bearings at distances of up to 100 meters. By contrast, another Vietnam anti-personnel weapon available to the U.S.
Army is the M67 fragmentation grenade, which has a kill zone of up to 16.5 feet (though throw distance is limited by the thrower's arm capabilities). , as well as the M79 single-shot grenade launcher, a precision weapon that can fire 40mm high-explosive (HE) grenades from 1,149 feet although they are similarly limited, with a kill range of about 20 feet.
The M18 was originally designed between 1952-1956 by inventor Norman A. MacLeod of Explosive Research Corporation. Developments that occurred as far back as World War II found that explosions could be "directed". The Korean War (1950-1953) prompted further consideration of the development of a highly lethal anti-personnel mine.
During the war, UN forces were constantly attacked by infantry, including large concentrations of enemy forces, such as Japanese raids in World War II and targeted anti-personnel mines.
The Canadians developed the "Phoenix," which fires blocks of steel at the target area with a 5-pound blast of composition B, but the range is limited to 25 yards. Norman McLeod began developing his T-48 concept version in 1952, which was submitted to the U.S. Army.
The Army liked what they saw and incorporated the design (with some modifications) into their inventory as the "M18". The M18 was further developed into the M18A1 after 1954 to meet Picatinny Arsenal's request for an improved profile.
The collection as a whole has been produced in thousands by many factories around the world.
The M18 Claymore anti-personnel mine comes in two different versions - one with a sight glass and one without. The sight glass is designed to provide Claymore operators with a "vision" of the semicircular explosion pattern seen when the M18 is detonated.
The training version is distinguished by its rich blue color, while the operational M18 has an olive finish.
The lead assembly itself consists of a concave and rectangular plastic housing. Along the "active" side of the case is "Front Toward Enemy" embossed, while the back has "Back" embossed to prevent the operator from making fatal mistakes during setup. Plastic parts contain C3 explosive ingredients.
The concave nature of the mine design allows the front blasting area to form a scalloped steel ball pattern on a horizontal arc of approximately 60 degrees. The steel ball loaded in the mine is then propelled to a height of about 2 meters by the explosion above the ground, with a maximum killing radius of 100 meters and an effective killing range of 50 meters. A wound 270 yards from the blast zone has been recorded, but a range of 55 yards is considered optimal. As you might expect, the most professional measures should be taken when setting up Claymores.
This is not only due to the inherent explosive nature of the mine, but also because up to 20% of the inner steel ball projectile can recoil towards its own course when detonated. Therefore, common practice on M18 sites includes the use of natural mounds or mounds located behind claymore to help eliminate or reduce such friendly fire incidents.
Originally, early M18 Claymore systems were detonated by means of an electric fuze device that was ejected with each mine. The ignition system was found not to be completely reliable, sometimes causing the explosive to explode prematurely. Therefore, a workaround was taken to replace the M18 battery holder igniter with a standard M57 igniter. The M57 device (called "Klacker") is hand-held and has a trigger that is pulled multiple times by the Claymore operator to convert mechanical energy into electrical energy using an armature and magnet. The M18 can still be fired electrically or non-electrically, making it useful as a dedicated mine or "single weapon".
In fact, as soon as the operator found a way to activate the detonator, the M18 would catch fire.
The M18 Claymore system measures approximately 8.5 inches long, 1.375 inches wide, and 3.25 inches high, and weighs just 3.5 pounds. 700 steel-based ball bearings (10.5 grains) are used as projectiles embedded in epoxy resin and detonated with a 1.5-pound C-4 combo charge.
Detonation is triggered by #2 Electric Detonator. The M18 Claymore system has 4 x 6" spiked legs on the bottom to easily attach mines to loose ground. You get a strap when you wear M18 Claymores, which also includes instructions.
As expected, the M18 Claymore is named after a long, tall two-handed sword of Scottish origin. The M18 is used by a variety of foreign armed forces, and some countries even believe it can replicate the original U.S. design including the Cold War-era Soviet Union.
It has various designations in world armies such as M18 (Chile), Type 66 (China), Viuhkapanos (Finland), IHR-60 (Hungary), VS-DAFM 7 (Italy), P5 Mk 1 (Pakistan). , M18A2 (Philippines), MON-50 (Soviet/Russia), No. 2 Howitzer (South Africa), K440 and KM18A1 (South Korea), FFV-013, Forsvarsladdning 21 and LI-12 Truppmina 12 (Sweden), MDH-C40 (Vietnam ) and MRUD (Yugoslavia).
Arizona-based Arms-Tech Ltd builds the MM-1 "Minimore" for US Special Forces ("MM-1 Directional Command Detonation Mine/Minimore-1 Miniature Field Loaded Claymore Mine"). It is essentially a scaled down (1/3 size) and lighter version of the M18A1 base used by the US Army.
The MM-1 has a more limited damage range, but it makes up for it in portability, weighing just 14.5 ounces and measuring 5 inches on its longest side.
- Professional roles
216 mm (8.50 in)
1.59 kg
Not applicable.
Orientation trigger sensitive
164 ft (50 m; 55 yd)
M18 "Claymore" - US base series name
MM-1 "Minimore" - US designation; an improved portable version designed for use by US Special Forces.
Type 66 - Chinese name
Viuhkapanos VP88 / VP84 - Finnish name for basic series and heavy mines.
IHR-60 - Hungarian name
VS-DAFM 7 - Italian name
P5 Mk1 - Pakistan Designation
MON-50 - Russian Designation
shrapnel mine #2 - South African name
K440, KM18A1 - Korean designation
FFV-103, Forsvarsladdning 21, LI-12, Truppmina 12 - Swedish designation.
MDH-C40 - Vietnamese name
MRUD - Yugoslav name