View source for PMD series mines

{{Short description|Soviet Union anti-personnel mines}}

{{Infobox weapon
| name               = PMD
| image              = PMD-6 2 (ORDATA).jpg
| image_size         = 300
| alt                = 
| caption            = A PMD-6
| type               = [[Anti-personnel mine]]
| origin             = Soviet Union
<!-- Type selection -->
| is_explosive       = yes
<!-- Service history -->
| service            = 
| used_by            = See ''[[#Users|users]]''
| wars               = {{plainlist|
*[[World War II]]
*[[Myanmar conflict]]
*[[Korean War]]
*[[Vietnam War]]
*[[Portuguese Colonial War]]
*[[Eritrean War of Independence]]
*[[North Yemen civil war]]
*[[Aden Emergency]]
*[[Rhodesian Bush War]]
*[[Cambodian Civil War]]
*[[Angolan Civil War]]
*[[Nicaraguan Revolution]]
*[[Soviet-Afghan War]]
*[[First Nagorno-Karabakh War]]
*[[Gulf War]]
*[[Tajik Civil War]]
*[[Yemeni civil war (1994)]]
*[[First Congo War]]
}}
<!-- Production history -->
| designer           = 
| design_date        = 
| manufacturer       = 
| developed_from     =
| developed_into     =
| unit_cost          = 
| production_date    = 
| number             = 
| variants           = See ''[[#Variants|variants]]''
<!-- General specifications -->
| spec_label         = PMD-6
| mass               = {{cvt|400|g}}
| length             = {{cvt|190|mm}}
| part_length        = 
| width              = {{cvt|90|mm}}
| height             = {{cvt|65|mm}}
| diameter           = 
| crew               = 
| passengers         = 
<!-- Explosive specifications --> 
| filling            = [[TNT]]
| filling_weight     = {{cvt|200|g}}
| detonation         = Pressure or [[tripwire]]
| yield              = 
<!-- For all -->
| ref                = {{sfn|King|1998|page=227}}
}}

The '''PMD-6, PMD-7 and PMD-57 series mines''' are [[Soviet Union]] blast-type [[anti-personnel mine]]s that consist of a wooden box with a hinged lid with a slot cut into it. The slot presses down against a retaining pin, which holds back the striker. When sufficient pressure is applied to the lid of the box the retaining pin moves, allowing the striker to hit the [[detonator]]. The mines typically have an operating pressure of 1 to 10&nbsp;kg.

Due its minimal use of metal, it was virtually indetectable by 1940s metal detectors, but by the late 1990s it could be located at a range of {{cvt|30|m}} with a Ebinger 420 or other contemporary detectors.{{sfn|Croll|1998|page=137}} As with other wooden box mines, the mine has a relatively short lifetime since the box is vulnerable to rotting and splitting, disabling the mine.{{sfn|King|1998|page=227}} In dry climates however,  PMD-6s were found in operational condition up to ten years after being laid.{{sfn|Croll|1998|page=44}}

The mines are sometimes used with mortar bombs in place of the normal explosive blocks.

==Variants==
* '''PMD-6''' − original version of the mine, first used in the 1939 [[Winter War]] between the Soviet Union and Finland.
* '''PMD-6M''' − slightly larger version of the mine, with a leaf spring installed inside the box to increase operating pressure, which allows safer handling during minelaying.
* '''PMD-6F''' − a version used extensively during the [[Siege of Leningrad]], with an ammonium nitrate/fuel oil ([[ANFO]]) main charge.
* '''PMD-7''' − smaller version of the mine, using a cylindrical main charge.
* '''PMD-7ts''' − consists of a solid wooden block hollowed out to accept the main charge and fuse.
* '''PMD-57''' − A later, larger box mine, using a larger warhead.
* '''Type 59''' − Chinese copy{{sfn|King|1998|page=227}}
* '''[[PP Mi-D mine|PP Mi-D]]''' − Czech copy{{sfn|King|1998|page=227}}
* '''PMD-1''' − Yugoslav copy{{sfn|King|1998|page=227}}

Due the mine simple construction and to evade the arms embargo, Rhodesia produced copies of the PMD-6 during the [[Rhodesian Bush War]].{{sfn|Croll|1998|page=117}}

==Specifications==
{|class=wikitable
!          || PMD-6    ||    PMD-6M    || PMD-7 || PMD-7ts || PMD-57 
|-
! Weight 
|             400 g    ||    400 g     || 400 g (approx) || 400 g || 
|-
! Explosive content
|              200 g     ||    200 g     || 75 or 200 g  || 50 or 75 g || 400 g
|-
! Length   
|              198&nbsp;mm    ||    190&nbsp;mm    
|colspan=2 align=center| 152&nbsp;mm 
| 200&nbsp;mm
|-
! Width       
|              85&nbsp;mm     ||    89&nbsp;mm     
|colspan=2 align=center| 76&nbsp;mm
| 100&nbsp;mm
|-
! Height  
|              65&nbsp;mm     ||    65&nbsp;mm     
|colspan=2 align=center| 51&nbsp;mm
| 80&nbsp;mm 
|-
! Operating pressure
|             1 to 10&nbsp;kg ||    6&nbsp;kg      
|colspan=2 align=center| 1 to 9&nbsp;kg
|19&nbsp;kg 
|}

==Users==

*{{flag|Afghanistan|1980}}{{sfn|King|1998|page=227}}
*{{flaglist|Albania}} − PMD-6 produced locally until 1991. Stockpiles destroyed in 2002{{sfn|Landmine Monitor|2004|pages=99−100}}
*{{ALG}} − PMD-6 and PMD-6M, used for training only{{sfn|Landmine Monitor|2004|page=115}}
*{{ANG}} − PMD-6, used for training only{{sfn|Landmine Monitor|2004|page=120}}
*{{ARM}}{{sfn|Landmine Monitor|2004|page=919}}
*{{CHN}} − Produced locally as the Type 59{{sfn|Landmine Monitor|1999|page=458}}
*{{flaglist|Congo-Kinshasa}} − PMD-6, used for training only{{sfn|Landmine Monitor|2004|page=357}}
*{{CZS}} − Produced locally as the [[PP Mi-D mine|PP Mi-D]]{{sfn|King|1998|page=227}}
*{{ECU}} − PMD-6M. Stockpiles destroyed in 2002{{sfn|Landmine Monitor|2004|page=402}}
*{{ERI}} − PMD-6, seized from Ethiopian depots or minefields{{sfn|Landmine Monitor|2004|pages=421,425}}
*{{flag|Derg|name=Ethiopia}}{{sfn|King|1998|page=227}}
*{{flag|Ba'athist Iraq|name=Iraq}} − PMD-6{{sfn|Jacobson|1991|page=36}}
*{{GNB}} − PMD-6 {{sfn|Landmine Monitor|2004|page=478}}
*{{PRK}} − PMD-6{{sfn|Croll|1998|page=101}}
*{{MOZ}} − PMD-6{{sfn|Landmine Monitor|2004|page=580}}
*{{MYA}} − PMD-6{{sfn|Landmine Monitor|2004|page=938}}
*{{NAM}}{{sfn|Landmine Monitor|2004|page=598}}
*{{flaglist|Nepal}} − PMD-6{{sfn|Landmine Monitor|2004|page=1078}}
*{{NIC}} − PMD-6M. Stockpiles destroyed between 1999 and 2002{{sfn|Landmine Monitor|2004|page=619}}
*{{PER}} − PMD-6 and PMD-6M, used for training only{{sfn|Landmine Monitor|2004|page=658}}
*{{POL}} − PMD-6 produced locally until 1957, remaining stockpiles used for training only{{sfn|Landmine Monitor|2004|page=907}}
*{{flag|Rhodesia}} − Locally produced copies of the PMD-6{{sfn|Croll|1998|page=117}}
*{{URS}} − Replaced by the [[PMN mine|PMN]] in the early 1960s{{sfn|Croll|1998|page=103}}
*{{TJK}} − PMD-6{{sfn|Landmine Monitor|2004|page=790}}
*{{TKM}}{{sfn|Landmine Monitor|2004|page=831}}
*{{UGA}} − PMD-6 produced locally{{sfn|Landmine Monitor|2004|page=835}}
*{{YEM}} − PMD-6, used for training only{{sfn|Landmine Monitor|2004|page=866}}
*{{YUG}} − Produced locally as the PMD-1{{sfn|King|1998|page=227}}

===Non-state actors===

*{{flagicon image|Bandera Resistencia Nicaragüense.png}} [[Contras]]− PMD-6{{sfn|Landmine Monitor|2004|page=488}}
*{{flagicon image|Flag of Democratic Kampuchea.svg}} [[Khmer Rouge]] − PMD-6{{sfn|Physicians for Human Rights|1993|page=172}}
*{{flag|Viet Cong}} − PMD-6{{sfn|Croll|1998|page=103}}

==See also==
* [[Schu-mine 42]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

===Bibliography===
*{{cite book |last1=Croll |first1=Mike |title=The history of landmines |date=1998 |publisher=Leo Cooper |location=Barnsley, UK |isbn=978-0-85052-628-8 |url=https://archive.org/details/historyoflandmin0000crol/page/116/ |url-access=registration}}
*{{cite book |last1=Landmine Monitor |title=Landmine Monitor Report 1999: Toward a Mine-free World |date=1999 |publisher=Human Rights Watch |isbn=978-1-56432-231-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hiwJHi8Pa2IC&pg=PA458 |language=en}}
*{{cite book |last1=Landmine Monitor |title=Landmine Monitor Report |date=2004 |publisher=Human Rights Watch |isbn=978-1-56432-327-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XJAsufi7pDMC&pg=PA99 |language=en}}
*{{cite journal |last1=Jacobson |first1=Michael R. |editor1-last=Garland |editor1-first=Albert N. |title=Iraqi Infantry |journal=Infantry |date=January–February 1991 |volume=81 |issue=1 |pages=33–37 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qjTt-i8WCeIC&pg=PA35 |access-date=21 April 2025 |publisher=U.S. Army Infantry School |location=Fort Benning, GA |language=en |issn=0019-9532}}
*{{cite book |editor1-last=King |editor1-first=Colin |title=Jane's Mines and Mine Clearance, 1998-99 |date=1998 |publisher=Jane's Information Group |location=Coulsdon, Surrey, UK and Alexandria, VA |isbn=978-0-7106-1803-0 |edition=3rd |url=https://archive.org/details/janesminesminecl0000unse |url-access=registration}}
*{{cite book |last1=Physicians for Human Rights |title=Landmines: A Deadly Legacy |date=1993 |publisher=Human Rights Watch |isbn=978-1-56432-113-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EqWsbzQh0g4C&pg=PA172 |language=en}}
* ''Brassey's Essential Guide To Anti-Personnel Landmines, Recognizing and Disarming'', Eddie Banks, {{ISBN|1-85753-228-7}}
* ''Jane's Mines and Mine Clearance 2005-2006''
* ''TM 5-223, Foreign Mine Warfare Equipment''

==External links==
{{commons category|PMD}}
* {{ORDATA mines|5647|PMD-57}}
* {{ORDATA mines|7519|PMD-6 and 7}}
* {{ORDATA mines|6103|PMD-7ts}}

[[Category:Anti-personnel mines]]
[[Category:Land mines of the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Military equipment introduced in the 1930s]]