The Mk 7 mine was a circular British anti-tank blast mine. It replaced the World War 2-era

Mk 5 mine The Anti-Tank Mine, General Service, Mk V was a cylindrical, metal-cased United Kingdom anti-tank blast mine that entered service in 1943, during the Second World War. It was replaced in British service with the Mk 7 mine. Two versions of the mine ...

, and has in turn been replaced by the L9 bar mine. The Mk 7 can be laid either by hand or from a mechanical mine layer. The mine is conventional in design. It has a steel casing with a central, main fuze well, below which is a

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 Tetryl is a nitramine booster explosive, though its use has been largely superseded ...

booster charge {{unreferenced, date=August 2011 An explosive booster is a sensitive explosive charge that acts as a bridge between a (relatively weak) conventional detonator and a low-sensitivity (but typically high-energy) explosive such as TNT. By itself, the ...

, both surrounded by the main explosive filling of

TNT Trinitrotoluene (), more commonly known as TNT, more specifically 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, and by its preferred IUPAC name 2-methyl-1,3,5-trinitrobenzene, is a chemical compound with the formula C6H2(NO2)3CH3. TNT is occasionally used as a reagen ...

. The mine can be fitted with a variety of

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 ...

s, including a double-impulse fuze (which gives it some resistance to explosive demining methods) or the L93A1

tilt-rod fuze Russian TM-57 mine with a tilt-rod fuze A tilt-rod fuze is a device used to trigger anti-vehicle landmines. Typically it consists of a vertical pole, normally around a meter high, which is connected to the top of a landmine. When the track or m ...

, which gives it a full width attack capability. The mine has a secondary fuze well for an anti-lifting device and a mechanical

anti-handling device An anti-handling device is an attachment to or an integral part of a landmine or other munition such as some fuze types found in general-purpose air-dropped bombs, cluster bombs and sea mines. It is designed to prevent tampering or disabling, o ...

was also produced for the mine, although this is reported to have never been used. The mine is currently being phased out of service with the British army. The mine is found in Afghanistan, Angola, Cyprus, Egypt, Eritrea,

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 ...

, Lebanon, Libya, Namibia, Oman, Somalia, and Zambia. The two most modern variants of the mine, the Mk 7/4 (standard) and the Mk 7/7 (waterproof), were taken out of service by the UK by March 2003, after which disposal of existing stockpiles commenced. A Soviet-era mine was responsible for the deaths of 10 Afghan girls, aged between nine and thirteen years, in December 2012. Two Mk7 mines were found nearby and presumed to be of the same type as the mine that exploded.

Specifications

* Diameter: * Height: * Weight: * Explosive content: kg of

* Operating pressure:

Variants

* Mk 7/4 (standard) * Mk 7/7 (waterproof)

References

Anti-tank mines of the United Kingdom Cold War weapons of the United Kingdom {{Landmine-stub