17 September 1997

Fact Sheet: Landmines and Anti-Tank Munitions

The following fact sheet on landmines and anti-tank munitions was issued by the White House.

The White House
Office of the Press Secretary
September 17, 1997
Fact Sheet
Anti-Tank Munitions

The United States believes that any treaty designed to ban anti-personnel landmines must not ban anti-tank mines, as would have been the case for the U.S. were we to have signed the Ottawa process treaty. The U.S. has an inventory of high-tech anti-tank systems with submunitions, i.e., anti-handling devices, that are designed to protect the anti-tank mines. Deployed around the anti-tank mines, these submunitions are essential to the effectiveness of the anti-tank minefield by preventing rapid breaching or removal by enemy footsoldiers.

These systems are only used in the case of imminent hostilities and can be air or ground delivered. They block, disrupt or delay enemy forces and thus are known as a force multiplier on the battlefield. In Desert Storm, for example, an air delivered system called "GATOR" was used to protect the flanks of U.S. forces during combat operations, allowing the U.S. VII Corps to effectively protect and concentrate its forces during the "left hook" maneuver.

Because they are self-destructing and self-deactivating, the anti-tank mines and their submunitions do not present a threat to the civilian population after hostilities have ended. The anti-tank mines and the devices that protect the anti-tank mines blow up automatically at a pre-set time (4 hours, 48 hours, or 15 days) and, if they fail to do so, their battery rapidly runs out so that they can no longer function. With the self-deactivation feature, these mines are rendered inert within 90 days at the outside, to a reliability rate of higher than 99.99 percent. Only one in the 32,000 APL tested has missed its self-destruct time (the one that missed was one hour late).