General_information Gravel_mines

1 general information

1.1 components
1.2 usage
1.3 manufacture

general information
components

the mines consisted of small green or brown camouflage fabric pouch filled lead(ii) azide , 30 grams of coarse ground glass between 2 sheets of plastic. no fuse required because explosive became shock-sensitive after dispersal, i.e. able detonated without fuse on contact. explosive lumps came in wedge or cubed shapes , plasticizers evaporated after 3 8 minutes exposure air. allow them handled , dropped air, mines phlegmatized freon 113, in stored soaked. once released container, freon evaporate in between 3 , 8 minutes, thereby arming mines. mines varied in size, simple warning bomblets (button mines), detonation picked air dropped acoustic sensors , relayed central control center, through larger mines, while not powerful enough kill person outright, capable of wounding stepping on it. larger mines fitted 2 tablet chemical system gradually render explosive inert, although reliability of mechanism never gauged accurately.

usage

the mines used u.s. during battle of khe sanh; however, u.s. air force history described them being little more nuisance, due viet cong clearing gravel mine fields using teams of oxen dragged logs on them , mines becoming inert after short time.

manufacture

a total of 37 million gravel mines produced between 1967 , 1968, though mines produced 1970.