A bounding mine is an anti-personnel mine designed to be used in open areas. When tripped, a small propelling charge launches the body of the mine 3-4 feet into the air, where the main charge bursts and sprays fragmentation at roughly waist height. The original World War II German S-mine has been widely influential. Other countries that have employed bounding mines in war include the United States of America, Soviet Union, and Vietnam. China and Italy have also produced them. Some American mines designed for this purpose utilized a standard 60 mm HE mortar round with an improvised time delay fuze which is activated by the propelling charge.

Bounding mines are more expensive than typical AP blast munitions, and they do not lend themselves to scatterable designs. Because they are designed to be buried, they are appropriate for command-detonated ambushes, but tripwire operation is common as well.

Examples

• S-mine, Germany - nicknamed the Bouncing Betty by most Allied troops and nicknamed the "Jumping Jack" by Australian and New Zealand soldiers.
• M16 APM, United States, based on captured S-mine plans. It launches to chest height and scatters iron fragments with 1.15 pounds of TNT.
• OZM, Russian family of mines (OZM-4, OZM-4 and OZM-72).
• PROM-1, Yugoslavia.
• Valmara 69, Italy.

See also

• Anti-personnel mine
• Land mine

External links

• Global Security.org M14/M16 Anti-personnel mines
• Demining with Africa`s Sniffer Rats (APOPO)