One of the most terrible opponents of tanks on the battlefield are anti-tank mines. Military engineers of different armies are able to quickly create mine-explosive barriers in areas dangerous for tanks, so that formidable armored combat vehicles will stop in front of them as if rooted to the spot. Already in the years of the First World War, inventors puzzled over the problem of overcoming minefields, and the first working samples of minesweepers belong to that time.
During the Second World War, both tanks and anti-tank mines were widely used in the armies of the warring states. Different countries took various approaches for solving the problem of mine barriers being overcame by armored vehicles. If the protection of tanks from the anti-tank guns fire was in most cases reduced to increasing the thickness of the armor and its inclination angle, the fight against anti-tank mines gave birth to much more original engineering solutions.
If the background of the photos interferes with the reading of the reference information, you can hover the mouse cursor over the text — this will darken the background of the caption.
British Crab mine flail based on the American-made Sherman tank
British Conger demining mount. It was a Universal Carrier — a light armored personnel carrier — which engine and other equipment were removed. A rocket and a 5 cm diameter and 300 m long hose with a liquid explosive were placed in the released space. Blowing up the hose made it possible to clear a lane about 6 meters wide from mines
A Prototype of the German heavy Krupp Räumer S minesweeper, captured by the Allies. The weight of the vehicle is 130 tons. This mine-sweeping vehicle was not used in combat
A Prototype of the German Alkett Vkfz 617 Minenräumer mine roller. The front part of the hull and the turret with MG34 machine guns are «borrowed» from the light tank Panzerkampfwagen I. The only built vehicle captured by Soviet troops in Germany
German radio remote controled Sd. Kfz. 300 Borgward BI Minenräumwagen mine cleaning vehicle, equipped with a mine roller (on the right). On the left is the command vehicle SdKfz 265 Panzerbefehlswagen, from which the mine cleaning vehicle was controled
Soviet experimental mine roller mounted on the Stalinets-2 artillery tractor (with armored screens installed)
American T1E3 Aunt Jemima mine roller mounted on the M4 tank. Developed in 1943. About 75 vehicles were produced. This vehicle's nickname was given after the popular brand of flour mixture for baking pancakes, because its rollers resembled giant pancakes
American T1E1 Earthworm mine roller based on ARV (armored recovery vehicle) M32
Scorpion mine flail of British production placed on the American M4 tank in North Africa in 1943
American experimental T10 self-propelled roller based on the M4 tank during tests at the Aberdeen proving ground in June 1944 the.shadock.free.fr
Improvised American «Joker» mine flail based on the M4 tank on Saipan. Photos of the British Sherman Crab flails were used as a model for its creation, and the minesweeper itself was created from truck parts and other unnecessary components the.shadock.free.fr
One of the most terrible opponents of tanks on the battlefield are anti-tank mines. Military engineers of different armies are able to quickly create mine-explosive barriers in areas dangerous for tanks, so that formidable armored combat vehicles will stop in front of them as if rooted to the spot. Already in the years of the First World War, inventors puzzled over the problem of overcoming minefields, and the first working samples of minesweepers belong to that time.
During the Second World War, both tanks and anti-tank mines were widely used in the armies of the warring states. Different countries took various approaches for solving the problem of mine barriers being overcame by armored vehicles. If the protection of tanks from the anti-tank guns fire was in most cases reduced to increasing the thickness of the armor and its inclination angle, the fight against anti-tank mines gave birth to much more original engineering solutions.
If the background of the photos interferes with the reading of the reference information, you can hover the mouse cursor over the text — this will darken the background of the caption.
British Crab mine flail based on the American-made Sherman tank
British Conger demining mount. It was a Universal Carrier — a light armored personnel carrier — which engine and other equipment were removed. A rocket and a 5 cm diameter and 300 m long hose with a liquid explosive were placed in the released space. Blowing up the hose made it possible to clear a lane about 6 meters wide from mines
A Prototype of the German heavy Krupp Räumer S minesweeper, captured by the Allies. The weight of the vehicle is 130 tons. This mine-sweeping vehicle was not used in combat
A Prototype of the German Alkett Vkfz 617 Minenräumer mine roller. The front part of the hull and the turret with MG34 machine guns are «borrowed» from the light tank Panzerkampfwagen I. The only built vehicle captured by Soviet troops in Germany
German radio remote controled Sd. Kfz. 300 Borgward BI Minenräumwagen mine cleaning vehicle, equipped with a mine roller (on the right). On the left is the command vehicle SdKfz 265 Panzerbefehlswagen, from which the mine cleaning vehicle was controled
Soviet experimental mine roller mounted on the Stalinets-2 artillery tractor (with armored screens installed)
American T1E3 Aunt Jemima mine roller mounted on the M4 tank. Developed in 1943. About 75 vehicles were produced. This vehicle's nickname was given after the popular brand of flour mixture for baking pancakes, because its rollers resembled giant pancakes
American T1E1 Earthworm mine roller based on ARV (armored recovery vehicle) M32
Scorpion mine flail of British production placed on the American M4 tank in North Africa in 1943
American experimental T10 self-propelled roller based on the M4 tank during tests at the Aberdeen proving ground in June 1944 the.shadock.free.fr
Improvised American «Joker» mine flail based on the M4 tank on Saipan. Photos of the British Sherman Crab flails were used as a model for its creation, and the minesweeper itself was created from truck parts and other unnecessary components the.shadock.free.fr
