{{Short description|Japanese WWII anti-aircraft weapon}} {{no footnotes|date=June 2017}} [[Image:Japanese Anti-Aircraft parachute mines.gif|right|thumb|250px|Parachute mines deploying]] The '''AA mine discharger''' was a Japanese [[anti-aircraft]] weapon of the [[Second World War]]. The device was a simple tube like an [[infantry mortar]] of {{convert|70|mm|abbr=on}} or {{convert|81|mm|abbr=on}} [[caliber]]. Instead of a standard mortar bomb, the projectile was a tube containing seven individual mines, each approximately 11/16ths of an inch in diameter (18 mm) and {{convert|3|in|mm}} long. Each mine was equipped with its own [[parachute]]. When fired, the mortar threw the shell to a range of 3,000 to 4,000 feet (900 to 1,200 m) and a maximum altitude of approximately {{convert|600|m|abbr=on}}. The shell ejected the mines at the top of its arc. They would then float down on their parachutes. They were fused to detonate on contact or after a fixed time period, damaging nearby aircraft. The projectile could alternatively be launched using a standard [[Type 11 70 mm infantry mortar]].
The weapon could also be used like a simple [[cluster bomb]], by firing over enemy troops.
==External links== [[Image:70_mm_AA_spike_mortar.png|A 70 mm barrage mortar|thumb|200px]] * [https://takihomepage.web.fc2.com/aa.htm AA Weapons at Taki's Japanese Imperial Army website] * [http://www.lonesentry.com/articles/jp_ormoc/ Lone Sentry: New Weapons Captured at Ormoc, Japanese (U.S. WWII Intelligence Bulletin, March 1945)] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20050219144251/http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/Japan/IJA/HB/HB-9-2.html HyperWar: Handbook on Japanese Military Forces]
==See also== *[[Unrotated projectile]] a British rocket launched parachute aerial mine system for ship defence. *[[Type 4 Incendiary Rocket (RoSa)]], a Navy anti-aircraft rocket for ship defence.
==External links== {{Imperial Japanese Army artillery}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Aa Mine Discharger}} [[Category:World War II anti-aircraft guns]] [[Category:Anti-aircraft guns of Japan]] [[Category:World War II weapons of Japan]] [[Category:World War II mortars of Japan|9]] [[Category:World War II infantry weapons of Japan]] [[Category:Infantry mortars of Japan]] [[Category:Military equipment introduced in the 1940s]] {{artillery-stub}}