The VS-1.6 is an Italian

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 circular plastic-cased scatterable anti-tank blast mine

Anti-tank mine

An anti-tank mine, , is a type of land mine designed to damage or destroy vehicles including tanks and armored fighting vehicles....

. It has very few metal components and is resistant to overpressure and shock. The mine can also be deployed conventionally and from helicopter

Helicopter

A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally...

s. It was produced by Valsella Meccanotecnica

Valsella Meccanotecnica

Valsella Meccanotecnica SpA was one of Italy's largest manufacturers of mines. The Company's headquarters initially were in Montichiari and with two production plants in Castenedolo near Brescia, Italy....

, but production has ceased.

Description

The mine is normally olive green or sand-coloured and is circular with two circular bands around the circumference, which act to cushion shock when the mine is deployed from the air. The fuse is air pressure driven with pressure on the top plate of the mine forcing air into a diaphragm which exerts pressure on the striker. Shocks from overpressure are too short to inflate the diaphragm; additionally the striker must first rotate a locking collar before it can activate the mine, this requires gradual pressure giving even greater resistance to shock. The sealed nature of the mine means that it can be deployed in up to 1 meter of water

The main charge of the mine is relatively small for an anti-tank mine, so it would tend to disable rather than destroy vehicles. An electronically fuzed version of the mine, the VS-1.6EL with an integral electronic anti-handling device

Anti-handling device

An anti-handling device is an attachment to or integral part of a landmine or other munition e.g. some fuze types found in air-dropped bombs such as the M83, cluster bombs and sea mines. It is specifically designed to prevent tampering. When the protected device is disturbed it detonates, killing...

 and programmable self-destruct fuze was also produced.

The mine is found in Iraq

Iraq

Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....

, Kuwait

Kuwait

The State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab state situated in the north-east of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south at Khafji, and Iraq to the north at Basra. It lies on the north-western shore of the Persian Gulf. The name Kuwait is derived from the...

, Lebanon

Lebanon

Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...

, Burma and the Western Sahara

Western Sahara

Western Sahara is a disputed territory in North Africa, bordered by Morocco to the north, Algeria to the northeast, Mauritania to the east and south, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. Its surface area amounts to . It is one of the most sparsely populated territories in the world, mainly...

.

Specifications

• Weight: 3 kg
• Explosive content: 1.85 kg of Composition B
  Composition B
  Composition B, colloquially "comp B", is an explosive consisting of castable mixtures of RDX and TNT. It is used as the main explosive filling in artillery projectiles, rockets, land mines, hand grenades, sticky bombs and various other munitions...
  
  
• Diameter: 222 mm
• Height: 92 mm
• Operating pressure: 180 to 220 kg