View source for M19 mine

{{Short description|US anti-tank mine}}
[[Image:M19 anti-tank mine.jpg|right|thumb|An inert M19 anti-tank mine. The arming switch is set to "S" (i.e. safe) so the [[fuze]] is not armed. A secondary fuze well (with the cap removed) is visible on the side of the mine]]
[[Image:Following the terror activity along the Jordan border, IDF units are on alert searching the area for terrorists (FL63092012).jpg|right|thumb|An Israeli soldier with an M19 anti-tank mine near the Jordanian border in 1982.]]
The '''M19''' is a large square plastic cased United States [[anti-tank mine|anti-tank blast mine]]. Intended to replace the [[M15 mine]], the design dates from the mid-1960s and contains only two metal components: the [[copper]] [[detonator]] capsule and a stainless steel [[firing pin]] which weighs 2.86 grams. It is a [[minimum metal mine]], which makes it very difficult to detect after it has been emplaced. This mine is produced under licence in Chile, South Korea and Turkey. A copy is produced in [[Iran]]. It is found in [[Afghanistan]], [[Angola]], [[Chad]], Chile, [[Cyprus]], [[Iran]], [[Iraq]], [[Jordan]], South Korea, [[Lebanon]], the [[Western Sahara]], and [[Zambia]].
U.S. stocks of the mine were approximately 74,000 before the 1990 [[Gulf War]] and had fallen to 63,000 by 2002.<ref>http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d021003.pdf {{Bare URL PDF|date=March 2022}}</ref>
An inert version of the mine intended for training purposes (called the M80) is also produced.
==Description==
The plastic casing of the mine is usually dark olive green, and has a large central fuze well. Normally it has a carrying handle on one side. The mine is normally fitted with the M606 [[fuze]] which has an arming switch with two settings, S(afe) and A(rmed). These markings are either painted in yellow or embossed into the plastic. When the switch is set to "A" and the safety clip is removed, the mine will [[detonate]] if a vehicle drives over it. The firing mechanism is triggered by a [[belleville spring]] which flips the [[firing pin]] downwards into the stab [[detonator]], setting off the adjacent [[explosive booster|booster charge]] and main explosive filling.
The mine is also fitted with two secondary fuze wells which allow [[anti-handling device]]s to be fitted e.g. the M1 pull fuze or M5 "mouse-trap" anti-lift fuze. Either or both of the secondary fuze wells on an M19 mine may be fitted with an antihandling device.
It is worth noting that a minefield containing M19s is usually protected by various [[anti-personnel mine]]s such as the [[M14 mine|M14]] and [[M16 mine|M16 bounding mine]].
==Specifications==
* Weight: 12.56&nbsp;kg
* Explosive content: 9.53&nbsp;kg of [[Composition B]]
* Length: 332&nbsp;mm
* Width: 332&nbsp;mm
* Height: 94&nbsp;mm
* Operating pressure: 118 to 226&nbsp;kg (although possibly as low as 90&nbsp;kg)
==References==
{{Reflist}}
* ''Jane's Mines and Mine Clearance 2005-2006''
[[Category:Anti-tank mines]]
[[Category:Land mines of the United States]]
[[Category:Military equipment introduced in the 1960s]]