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M14 anti-personnel mine
The M14 anti-personnel mine is a minimum-metal pressure-triggered antipersonnel land mine which entered service with the United States Army in the early 1950s and was withdrawn from service in 1974, though the US retains a stockpile of around 1.5 million, primarily for rapid deployment on the Korean border. It is a tiny device, just 2.2 inches in diameter and 1.58 inches tall, with the payload 1oz of tetryl explosive. Because the device uses a conical belleville spring with a stab detonator, the explosive is under a concave divider which makes it function somewhat like a hollow charge, directing its entire blast upwards into the leg of the person who triggered it. It is designed to wound rather than kill, and usually causes no damage above knee level. The device's effect led to the nickname of "toe popper."
The mine is extremely simple to operate: the plug in the base is removed and a stab detonator screwed in, and then the retaining clip is pulled from the top of the mine and the locking ring for the pressure plate rotated from the safe to arm position. In theory this process can simply be reversed to disarm it, though since mines are often booby-trapped or part of mixed fields, they are usually destroyed in place.
It is infamously difficult to detect due to its near-total lack of metallic components, and later issued mines had a metal washer glued to their underside to assist in clearing. It is not blast-resistant, and so if it can be located it is relatively easy to deal with. The mine has been extensively copied, with Turkey and India producing their own versions and Vietnam producing a copy with a simplified fuzing system called the MD-82.
The M14 anti-personnel mine and variants can be seen in the following films, television series, video games, and anime used by the following actors:
Video Games
| Game Title | Referred as | Mods | Notation | Release Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operation Flashpoint 2: Dragon Rising | Used by modern USMC | 2009 | ||
| Operation Flashpoint: Red River | Used by modern USMC | 2011 | ||
| Rising Storm 2: Vietnam | MD-82 | Vietnamese MD-82 variant | 2017 |