The Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) posted a video on Tuesday of a new domestically produced anti-tank landmine which they have designated as the TM-2025.
It appears to be a modernized and updated version of the TM-62, which was available in several variants using metal, plastic, wooden and even cardboard bodies. It was the principal anti-tank landmine for the Soviet military and featured in all theaters of operations carried out by Moscow and its client states.
Visually, it retains many of the features of the older mine on which it is based, but includes fundamental improvements that make it suitable for roles other than as a simple anti-vehicle blast mine.
The body of the TM-2025 is better finished than the TM-62 with a better machined and smoother body shape. The main changes, however, involve the fusing system of the landmine.
The mine is fitted with a new electromechanical fuse, designated MPEM-1, which replaces the original mechanical fuses or older designs of electromechanical fuses used in the TM-62. Although the characteristics of the new fuse are not specified, study of the video provides some clues.
It appears that the body of the fuse, along with many of the components of the MPEM-1 have been 3D printed. In April 2024, the Militarniy website identified plastic-cased analogs of several different types of Soviet anti-personnel and anti-tank landmines, the bodies of which could also have been 3D printed.
The presence of an internal battery and electronics suggests it may include an electromagnetic sensor. This would allow the mine, when used in its primary role, to be triggered either by direct pressure or when a target vehicle passes overhead or close enough to disrupt the magnetic field.
A secondary fuse well on the side of the landmine allows it to be fitted with an anti-handling module to make combat clearance more complicated. It could also be used for remote detonation by an operator in the landmine role or if used as an engineering demolition charge.
The most innovative option is to convert the mine into an air-dropped munition delivered by unmanned aerial or ground vehicle (UAV / UGV – drones). Ukraine has previously fitted TM-62s with an improvised delivery system that allows the mine to be dropped from a UAV or driven on a UGV, such as the Ratel S system, in front of advancing Russian armor disrupting Russian assaults.
The TM-62 typically contained 7.5 kilograms (16.5 pounds) of TNT or a TNT/RDX high explosive charge. The type and weight of explosive filling of the new TM-2025 have not yet been specified.