CLAYMORE MINES: 60-PLUS YEARS OF FRONTING TOWARD THE ENEMY
August 1, 2023Randall Stevens
claymore mines
Few weapons in the American arsenal are more easily identifiable than the M18A1 Claymore mine. Named for the legendary Scottish broadsword and packaged in a distinctive plastic case emblazoned with the words “Front Toward Enemy,” the Claymore anti-personnel mine was perfectly designed to disseminate carnage at a range of up to 50 meters.
The United States military first started fielding Claymore mines during the Vietnam War and has used them in every war it’s fought since. The US has also exported so many of the mines that they've now been used on almost every continent on Earth (Antarctica won’t be icy forever). The border between North and South Korea is rigged with Claymores, Ukraine is currently using them against the Russians, and even Central American drug cartels have started incorporating them into their arsenals.
It’s not hard to figure out why. Claymores are easy to use, highly effective, and incredibly cheap to produce, buy, and transport, weighing just 3.5 pounds apiece. Equipped to fire a wave of steel balls that fly at nearly 4,000 fps, they can be used in an ambush, as booby traps, and even to waylay moving vehicles. Furthermore, in the event that a Claymore isn’t detonated, moving it isn’t a problem. The arming process can be reversed so that the mine can be safely disarmed, carried again, and used elsewhere.
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