Beehive Antipersonnel Land Mine
Diameter at base: 8 inches
Height (w/o fuze): 4.5 inches
Total weight: 17 pounds (approximate)
Thickness of mine wall: 3/8 inch
Explosive filling: TNT
Weight of explosive: 5 pounds (approximate)
Color and markings: Black
Description: The mine is hemispherical in shape and its surface is uniformly serrated.
The central hole in the top of the mine is internally threaded to receive one of two fuze adapters. The first adapter takes either the plastic fuze used in the Type 3 (a) ceramic and Type 3 (b) wooden land mines, or the Type 88 instantaneous artillery fuze from which the centrifugal detents have been removed. The second adapter is constructed to take the fuze employed in the Type 93 tapemeasure mine.
Both the serrations of the mine case and the thickness of the wall (3/8 inch) indicate that this mine was to be used as an antipersonnel weapon.
Employment: Antipersonnel mine
Operation: The operations of the Type 93 land mine fuze and the Type 3 (a) ceramic land mine fuze are discussed under their respective mines.
The Type 88 artillery projectile fuze from which the centrifugal detents have been removed is fired by pressure on the firing pin head. Pressure on the firing pin head compresses the anticreep spring and the firing pin is forced into the primer. BAL (Beehive Antipersonnel Land Mine (BAL Mine) anti-personnel mine (Japanese mines)
A 1946 U.S. official document refers to it as the “Beehive Antipersonnel Land Mine.” The Japanese name and index of this mine are unknown.
The mine is designed to destroy enemy infantry and can be used with three types of fuses, two of which are push-action fuses and one is combined (pressure/tripwire).
Externally, the mine is a hemispherical cast-iron body, cut into slices from the outside in order to form fragments of a given size, shape and mass. The thickness of the walls of the body is 9.5 mm. Inside the mine is filled with 2.27 kg of fused TNT. In the upper part of the body there is a socket for a fuse, under which there is an intermediate detonator made of pressed TNT.
The mine is equipped with two adapter bushings, one of which is screwed into the fuse socket. One adapter sleeve is intended for use with fuses “3” and “88”, the second for use with fuse “93”.
The mine in the pressure version is installed in the ground so that only the upper part of the fuse remains on the surface. The explosion occurs if the victim steps on a mine. A large mass of charge completely fragments a person. It is also possible that shrapnel will hit soldiers who are close enough to the mine (up to 5 meters, however, up to 95-97 percent of the fragments are absorbed by the soil and go up without causing harm.
In the tripwire version (only with fuse “3”) the mine is installed on the ground surface. In this case, the explosion of the mine and damage by fragments occurs when the victim catches on the stretched twine. The radius of destruction (50% of targets) is 15-22 meters.
Fuse “93” (also used in mine “93”) of pressure action. The triggering force is 30-32 kg. (only the “anti-personnel” version fuse is used). It is screwed into the mine so that only its upper part remains outside.
The actuation occurs when the pressure rod is pressed, which, going down under the pressure of the victim’s leg, cuts off the copper shear stud. After it cuts off the stud, it goes down sharply under the action of its spring and pierces the primer, from which the ignition pill ignites. From it, in turn, a tetryl detonator explodes. It detonates the intermediate detonator of the mine and the main charge of the mine.
Fuse “3” (also used in mines “3(a)” and “3(b)”) of pressure and tripwire action. Its location is shown in the image of the mine. Made of plastic. The peculiarity of its design is that the firing pin consists of two separate parts - the spring-loaded firing pin itself, which is placed in the pressure plunger using a firing pin covering the annular recess in the upper part of the firing pin, and the firing pin (needle), which is inserted into a washer made of hard rubber installed in the fuse body. Additionally, the needle rests on a thin membrane in the lower part of the body.
In the safety position, the striker, in addition to the firing pin, is also held in the plunger by a safety pin, which passes through the horizontal drilling of the plunger and into the hole in the firing pin shank.
The plunger is kept from shifting downwards by its own spring.
The lower part of the body has a thread for screwing into the body of the mine and a primer holder, into which the primer and primer-detonator are inserted into the mine before installing the fuse.
When the mine is brought into the firing position, the safety pin is removed from the plunger.
In the firing position, if a pressure of more than 9-11 kg is exerted on the plunger from above, the plunger, overcoming the resistance of its own spring, will begin to descend. At the same time, the pressure of the striker on the firing pin will increase and its antennae will move in different directions, releasing the firing pin. The latter, under the action of the mainspring, will go down sharply and hit the needle, which will pierce the diaphragm and puncture the primer. The flash of the primer-igniter will detonate the primer-detonator, from which the main charge of the mine will explode.
If a tension wire is tied to the combat pin, then the force on it of more than 2-5 kg will lead to the fact that the combat pin will be pulled out of the plunger. The firing pin will be released and, under the action of the mainspring, will go down sharply and hit the needle, which will pierce the diaphragm and puncture the primer. The flash of the primer-igniter will detonate the primer-detonator, from which the main charge of the mine will explode.
Fuse “88” is an artillery shell fuse with inertial and centrifugal fuses removed, which exclude the fuse from going off if there was no shot and the projectile did not begin to rotate. With the fuses removed, the “88” fuse acts only as a push-action fuse. The operation occurs when pressing the rod protruding from the body with a force of 2-5 kg.
Tactical and technical characteristics of the BAL
mine Mine type… anti-personnel high-explosive fragmentation pressure/tripwire Corps
… cast iron.
Mass… 7.71 kg.
Mass of explosive charge (TNT)… 2.27 kg.
Diameter… 20.3 cm.
Height ( on the body… 11.4 cm.
Pressure fuse actuation force “88”… 2-5 kg.
Pressure fuse actuation force “93”… 30-32 kg.
Pressure fuse actuation force “3”… 9-11 kg.
Tripwire fuse actuation force “3”… 2-5 kg.
Diameter of target pressure sensors… about 2 cm.
Length of the target tension sensor… up to 20 m.
Temperature range of application… -5 - +50 degrees…
“88”, “93”,“3”
Shrapnel Radius… 15-22 m.
High explosive efficiency… complete fragmentation of a person.
Anti-handling capability… no
Non-Neutralizable… no
Self-destruct/self-neutralization… no
Term of combat work… up to 5 years
There is no information on the number of mines produced. The mine was painted black. The markings were embossed in hieroglyphs on the upper part of the mine body. It is not possible to disassemble and reproduce them on existing copies. On the bottom of the mine, the date of manufacture (according to the Japanese chronology) was applied in white paint on a stencil, it was applied in black paint in very small hieroglyphs on the flat sides of the mine. Two types of markings were noted, either on one or both sides.
There is no information about the packaging of the mines. Presumably, each mine was packed in an individual wooden box.
There is no information about the use of this mine against the Red Army in Manchuria, the Kuril Islands, Sakhalin, or Korea. It follows from American sources that the mine was of limited use in the battles for the Pacific Islands, but no assessments of effectiveness are given.
Marginal notes. As a fragmentation mine, this mine is extremely powerful. The radius of destruction reaches 22 meters, which is comparable to the explosion of a 152 mm fragmentation projectile. But the Japanese did not think of putting this mine on a pole at least a meter high, since the mine is placed on the surface of the ground. This would increase the destructive capabilities of the mine.
According to some sources, these mines were successfully used by the Vietnamese in Vietnam against the French during the First Indochina War (1946-54).
