eli5: Do real mines explode the moment it is stepped on or when the foot is released?

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Saw too much movies where people step on mines and they don’t explode if the foot stay on. Do real mines work this way?

In: Engineering

8 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

It depends, most anti-personnel mines the step is the first stage in activation, sometimes this releases a spring which lifts the mine into the air where it explodes creating a lethal area around the mine. Some anti-tank (vehicle) mines explode on contact where they are designed to blow wheels or tracks off vehicles and possibly damage the underside of the vehicle meaning people have to abandon the vehicle. Anti-tank mines are often mixed in with anti-personnel mines in a mixed minefield so that the crew of the vehicles struggle to get out of the minefield.

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