The M7 is a small, metal-cased United States anti-tank blast mine that was used during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. It was based on the British

Hawkins grenade The Grenade, Hand, Anti-Tank, No. 75, also known as the "Hawkins grenade" was a British anti-tank hand grenade used during World War II. It was one of a number of grenades developed for use by the British Army and Home Guard in the aftermath o ...

. Approximately 2.5 million were produced before production ceased, and although it has long since been withdrawn from U.S. service, it can be found in

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailand t ...

Chad Chad (; ar, تشاد , ; french: Tchad, ), officially the Republic of Chad, '; ) is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic ...

Eritrea Eritrea ( ; ti, ኤርትራ, Ertra, ; ar, إرتريا, ʾIritriyā), officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of Eastern Africa, with its capital and largest city at Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia ...

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

, Korea,

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

Somalia Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

, and

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most cent ...

Description

The mine has a thin olive green painted steel case, with a large hinged pressure plate. This plate transfers force onto the mine's

fuze In military munitions, a fuze (sometimes fuse) is the part of the device that initiates function. In some applications, such as torpedoes, a fuze may be identified by function as the exploder. The relative complexity of even the earliest fuze d ...

. The fuze is triggered by relatively low pressures, making the mine effective against trucks and cars. Additionally, the fuze may be sensitive enough to make it effective as an

anti-personnel mine Anti-personnel mines are a form of mine designed for use against humans, as opposed to anti-tank mines, which are designed for use against vehicles. Anti-personnel mines may be classified into blast mines or fragmentation mines; the latter may ...

. The mine was normally deployed inside a cloth bag or sack to prevent rocks getting trapped under the hinged lid of the mine. The mine only has a small main charge, so was typically deployed in lines or rows of up to five mines to be effective against tanks. Several variants of the mine were produced, and two chemical (the M600 and M601) and one mechanical fuzes (the M603) were developed for the mine. A secondary fuze well may be fitted to the mine for anti-handling devices. The most common type of booby trap detonator is the M1 pull which is installed in the end fuse well. This can be attached to a trip wire or a small stake underground for anti-removal detonation. Command detonations can be achieved by screwing in an electric cap adapter and firing it with a demolition firing machine. It can even be detonated by installing a standard firing coupler with a fuse cap and safety fuse.

Specifications

* Weight: 2.2 kg * Explosive content: 1.62 kg of

Tetryl 2,4,6-Trinitrophenylmethylnitramine commonly referred to as tetryl ( C7 H5 N5 O8) is an explosive compound used to make detonators and explosive booster charges. Tetryl is a nitramine booster explosive, though its use has been largely superseded ...

* Length: 178 mm * Width: 114 mm * Height: 64 mm * Operating pressure: 60 to 110 kg

Variants

* M7 - fitted with M600 chemical fuze * M7A1 - fitted with M601 chemical fuze * M7A2 - fitted with M602 mechanical fuze

References

* ''Jane's Mines and Mine Clearance 2005-2006'' Anti-tank mines World War II infantry weapons of the United States