Anti-tank landmine

An anti-tank mine (abbreviated to "AT mine") is a type of land mine designed to damage or destroy vehicles including tanks and armored fighting vehicles.

Compared to anti-personnel mines, anti-tank mines typically have a much larger explosive charge, and a fuze designed only to be triggered by vehicles or, in some cases, tampering with the mine.

While obviously the anti-tank mine as such did not pre-date the deployment of tanks in 1916, essentially identical devices were used earlier against locomotives. For example, during the U.S. Civil War, Confederate forces created pressure-activated anti-railroad mines which destroyed at least two trains.

The first anti-tank mines were improvised during the First World War as a counter measure against the first tanks introduced by the British towards the end of the war. Initially they were nothing more than a buried high explosive shell or mortar bomb with its fuze upright. Later, purpose built mines were developed, including the Flachmine 17, which was simply a wooden box packed with explosives and triggered either remotely or by a pressure fuze. By the end of the war, the Germans had developed row mining techniques, and mines accounted for 15% of U.S. tank casualties during the Battle of Saint-Mihiel, Third Battle of the Aisne, Battle of Selle and Meuse-Argonne Offensive.

The Soviet Union began developing mines in the early 1920s, and in 1924 produced its first anti-tank mine, the EZ mine. The mine, which was developed by Yegorov and Zelinskiy, had a 1 kg charge, which was enough to break the tracks of contemporary tanks. Meanwhile, in Germany, defeat spurred the development of anti-tank mines, with the first truly modern mine, the Tellermine 29, entering service in 1929. It was a disc shaped device approximately 30 cm across filled with about 5 kg of high explosives. A second mine, the Tellermine 35 was developed in 1935. Anti-tank mines were used by both sides during the Spanish Civil War. Notably, Republican forces lifted mines placed by Nationalist forces and used them against the Nationalists. This spurred the development of anti-handling devices for anti-tank mines.

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