The Taiwan military played a "new trump card": using second-hand landmines more than 20 years ago to deal with mainland 99A tanks

For a long time, there has been such a small group of people in Taiwan who have tried to split the motherland and dreamed of the spring and autumn big dream of "building an independent country". However, with the comprehensive strength of Taiwan and the mainland, especially the military strength, the Taiwan authorities can only find ways to "asymmetric warfare" in order to seek to resist reunification by force, so all kinds of "wonderful ideas" come out up. Among them, Taiwan has thought of a "new" weapon to deal with the mainland's Type 99A main battle tank-landmines.

(M136 "Volcano" mine-laying vehicle)

Starting from this year, the Taiwan authorities have used the "Nine Array Project" as the codename to purchase the M136 "Volcano" vehicle-mounted mobile mine-laying system from the United States. According to reports, relevant departments in Taiwan have compiled a procurement plan A budget of NT$4.9 billion was raised. According to the plan, this system will be equipped with anti-tank mines and , which will be used to lay mines in the beachhead area to perform anti-landing operations. The Taiwan military regards it as a "trump card" against the People's Liberation Army's Type 99A tank.

M136 Mine mine system was developed by the United States during the Cold War. It is divided into two types: airborne and vehicle-mounted. After signing the "Ottawa Treaty" against anti-personnel anti-personnel mines, the system was sealed for 20 years until the 2014 Ukraine conflict After the outbreak, the U.S. military reactivated the system in 2017. At the same time, the U.S. military eliminated the anti-personnel geographically in the original system and changed it to anti-tank mines, thus avoiding the constraints of the "Ottawa Treaty", so the M136 system was able to be re-produced and equipped.

(anti-tank mine)

M136 "Volcano" vehicle-mounted mine-laying system is carried on a heavy-duty tactical truck. There are two standard mine-laying tanks, namely BLU-91/B "war mine protection" and BLU-92/B "personnel mine mine" ", but the current anti-personnel mines have been destroyed, so the version purchased by Taiwan is only equipped with BLU-91/B "war mine protection". It is "anti-tank mine".

(U.S. military is installing mine tubes for M136)

BLU-91/B anti-tank mines are oblate, 140mm in diameter, and contain 800 grams of polymer adhesive explosives. The mines are equipped with magnetic induction fuzes, even if the tank tracks do not Pressed on the mine, the magnetic induction fuze inside the mine will also sense the magnetic force change brought by the tank, thus detonating the mine. Since the main armor of contemporary tanks is concentrated on the turret and the front of the tank, the armor on the roof and chassis is relatively weak, so anti-tank mines only need a small amount of charge, which is enough to blow through the bottom plate of the tank and cause damage to the tank . From this point of view, Taiwan's attempt to use anti-tank mines to deal with the People's Liberation Army's armored unit is not unfounded.

(The main purpose of modern mines is not to kill personnel, but to delay the actions of enemy armored forces. The picture shows Russian engineers clearing mines in . The armored forces in the rear can only move forward after the minesweeping operation is completed)

M136 Although the device lays mines very quickly, the mines are scattered directly on the ground without any camouflage. It is too naive to really expect that the landmines thrown on the ground can effectively damage the tanks of the People's Liberation Army. In fact, this large-scale rapid mine-laying method is mainly used to delay the rapid advance of the enemy's armored forces, because even if the landmines are still on the ground without the slightest camouflage, they must be eliminated first, and then the armored forces can pass through safely. So when the armored troops encounter this kind of minefield, they have to stop and wait for the engineers to remove the mines. Once the armored troops gather and stop, they become the best target for the enemy. The Taiwanese army can use various artillery and rocket launchers Implement fire coverage on the stalled PLA armored units.

(The scene of the PLA exercise was exposed, these vehicles are unmanned combat vehicles, and there are no tanks to bomb the Taiwan army)

However, although the Taiwan military thinks very "full", the reality is still very "skinny", because the PLA The high probability of the first batch of landings is not a manned amphibious assault vehicle or main battle tank at all, but an unmanned combat vehicle, so even if it is blown over by a mine, it will not affect the follow-up attack at all, and there will be no casualties. And Taiwan's Since the mining vehicle must be loaded by a heavy truck, it is large in size and has a large target. It is easy to be discovered by the People's Liberation Army UAV hovering in the air, and it will be directly "named". The mainland's 726 air-cushion landing craft can even directly cross the beachhead and send heavy equipment such as tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, , etc. directly into the inland. ", not only can't touch the mines, but even the magnetic induction is very weak, and it is almost impossible to detonate the anti-tank mines. Finally, today's PLA has been equipped with a large number of helicopters. When landing in Taiwan in the future, PLA landing troops can take helicopters to cross the beachhead and land directly in deep areas of Taiwan. A small number of M136 mine mine vehicles in Taiwan cannot prevent the PLA from landing on Taiwan Island .

(now the People’s Liberation Army is also "vertical landing", and Taiwan’s deployment of minefields can’t stop the People’s Liberation Army at all)

Finally, according to Taiwan’s own reports, the M136 mine mine vehicles that Taiwan intends to order are actually stockpiled by the U.S. military more than 20 years ago Used goods, after more than 20 years, whether these weapons can still be used normally is a question. In addition, most of the manufacturers of these weapons have closed down, and the Taiwan military can't find anyone to buy spare parts. In the final analysis, the United States just changed a beautiful gimmick, and then disposed of a pile of garbage that was in stock and was close to end-of-life, to Taiwan, that's all!