Assessment of the technical condition of mines with mechanical fuses

Contemporary armed conflicts reveal that the use of effective mine barriers has a significant impact on the course of hostilities. Therefore, the Polish Armed Forces selected reliable and effective explosive ordnance as a priority, both newly-acquired material and those currently in operation. For this reason, among others, strict supervision over the technical condition of mines is exercised, in particular during their long-term storage. The reasons behind the increased mine unreliability may include physical and chemical changes in the construction materials used (corrosion, deformations, loss of strength properties), deterioration of the physicochemical properties of the main charge, booster and primer-detonator, inadequate technical condition of the safety components, or the failure of mine fuse mechanisms. In order to assess the mine’s operational reliability, each mine fuse subassembly is examined and then a check of the entire assembled mine is performed. This requires proper planning of the full test cycle and the use of inspected and calibrated measuring devices and test stands enabling the precise adjustment of mechanical and climatic stress parameters.