The POMZ, POMZ-2 and POMZ-2M (ПОМЗ, ПОМЗ-2, ПОМЗ-2М) are three types of Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

n-made stake mounted anti-personnel fragmentation mine. The POMZ mine was used during the Second World War. It was superseded by the POMZ-2, and later by the improved POMZ-2M. These mines (and copies thereof) have been used in numerous conflicts, including the Vietnam War

Vietnam War

The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...

 and the Korean War

Korean War

The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...

.

Description

The mines consist of a small TNT explosive charge inside a hollow cylindrical-cast iron fragmentation sleeve. The sleeve has large fragments cast into the outside and is open at the bottom to accept the insertion of a wooden or plastic mounting stake. On top is a weather cap, covering a standardised fuze

Fuse (explosives)

In an explosive, pyrotechnic device or military munition, a fuse is the part of the device that initiates function. In common usage, the word fuse is used indiscriminately...

 well, which in operation is normally armed with an MUV or VPF tripwire

Tripwire

A tripwire is a passive triggering mechanism. Typically, a wire or cord is attached to some device for detecting or reacting to physical movement...

 fuze.

The POMZ-2M has a threaded fuze well, while the earlier POMZ-2 was unthreaded and the fuze and igniter would sometimes fall out if the mine was disturbed. The POMZ-2 has 6 rows of square preformed fragments, while the POMZ-2M has 5 rows and is slightly shorter.

The crude fragmentation jacket produces an uneven fragmentation effect. The effective radius of the mine is often quoted as four meters, but a small number of large fragments may be lethal at ranges far exceeding that.

The wooden stakes tend to rot in tropical climates, leaving the mine, if armed, in an extremely unpredictable state.

Variants

Being of simple construction, these mines have been widely copied, including non-standardised patterns informal guerrilla workshops. Some mass produced copies:

• Type 58 and Type 59, Peoples' Republic of China (POMZ-2 and POMZ-2M copies respectively)
• MAP and Model 15 (POMZ-2 and POMZ-2M copies)
• PMR-1 and PMR-2A, Yugoslavia
  Yugoslavia
  Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
  
  
• PP Mi-SK, Czechoslovakia
  Czechoslovakia
  Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
  
   (POMZ-2, used with an RO-1 fuze)
• MM-1, Myanmar
  Myanmar
  Burma , officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar , is a country in Southeast Asia. Burma is bordered by China on the northeast, Laos on the east, Thailand on the southeast, Bangladesh on the west, India on the northwest, the Bay of Bengal to the southwest, and the Andaman Sea on the south....
  
   (POMZ-2)
• MBV-78A1, Vietnam
  Vietnam
  Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
  
   (POMZ-2)
• PMFH-1,PMFH-2, Cuba
  Cuba
  The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
  
   (POMZ-2 copies)

Specification

These specifications of a POMZ-2 and POMZ-2M are typical for their various copies

	POMZ-2	POMZ-2M
Diameter	60 mm
Height of case	130 mm	107 mm
Height of stake	~300 mm but easily varied
Weight	2.3 kg	1.8 kg
Charge	75 g rod of cast TNT
Fuze	MUV series tripwire (2 to 5 kg pull)

Packaging

The POMZ 2M comes packed in a rectangular wooden box which has a clamp in each corner to lock on the lid. It holds eight mine bodies, eight stakes, eight 75g charges and eight MUV series fuzes complete with detonators.