{{Short description|US air-dropped anti-personnel land mine}} [[File:BLU-43B external.jpg|thumb|right|BLU-43/B schematic: external]] [[File:BLU-43B internal.jpg|thumb|right|BLU-43/B schematic: internal cutaway view]]
'''BLU-43/B''' and '''BLU-44/B (Bomb Live Unit) "Dragontooth"''' were air-dropped [[cluster munition|cluster]]-type [[land mine]]s used by the United States during the Vietnam War. It is chemically activated and has a relatively low explosive content, typically [[Mutilation|maiming]] rather than killing.
==Overview== The Dragontooth was designed during the [[Vietnam War]] as part of a number of programs designed to prevent infiltration into South Vietnam. Dragontooth was one of several airborne land mines tested, being preferred by the military because they could be used to deny access to large areas to foot traffic. Its area-denial qualities were exemplified in the fact that the explosive content of any individual mine was readily capable of killing the victim, being powerful enough to remove a person's foot, but potentially incapable of even flattening the tire of a truck passing over it.<ref name="United States, 1971. p. 138">United States, 1971. p. 138</ref>
The use of Dragontooth mines in Vietnam went largely unnoticed,{{By whom|date=February 2015}} likely as a product of its essentially classified usage primarily in Laos as part of [[Operation Igloo White]]. Production of the system had ceased by 1970, and it was predicted that existing stocks would be exhausted by the end of 1971.<ref name="United States, 1971. p. 138"/>
In stark contrast to the lack of public commentary on the Dragontooth system, the subsequent [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] equivalent, the [[PFM-1]], spurred a lot of controversy after being used in [[Afghanistan]] during the [[Soviet intervention in Afghanistan]], being a key element leading to the [[International Campaign to Ban Landmines]].{{Citation needed|date=March 2008}}
== Design == The mine itself is made out of plastic, and is hydraulically activated and contact/pressure detonated. The color of the plastic varied and could be olive drab, tan, brown, or camouflaged, and had no painted or molded markings. Each mine contained a small amount of liquid nitromethane/nitroethane explosive and was designed with a shape that would cause it to spiral down to the ground, removing the need for a parachute. A chemical self-neutralization system was used in the mines, rendering the main explosive content inert after a period of time after activation. The two major variants, the BLU–43/B and BLU–44/B, differ only in the process by which they were thus "sterilized."<ref>Parsch, Andreas. ''Designation-Systems.net''. 4 February 2008. [http://www.designation-systems.net/usmilav/asetds/u-b.html#_BLU BAK to BSU/BSG - Equipment Listing]. Access Date: 27 March 2008; ''ORDATA Online''. [http://ordatamines.maic.jmu.edu/displaydata.aspx?OrDataId=263 U.S. MINE UNIT, APERS, BLU–43/B, –44/B, & –44A/B; MINE UNIT, TRAINING, BLU-43(T-1)/B & -43(T-2)/B] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110823200542/http://ordatamines.maic.jmu.edu/displaydata.aspx?OrDataId=263 |date=2011-08-23 }}. Access Date: 27 March 2008</ref> However the reliability of the mechanism was largely unknown, and the detonator and booster charge could still present a hazard.{{Citation needed|date=March 2008}}
The complete Dragontooth system involved the loading of either the BLU–43/B or BLU–44/B (or its variant BLU–44A/B) into complete cluster munitions. A total of 120 BLU–43/B fit into a single CDU–2/B cluster adapter, forty of which were then loaded into a SUU-13/A cluster dispenser to form the complete CBU-28/A cluster munition. An identical number of BLU–44/B mines loaded into an identical number of CDU–3/B adapters fitted to the SUU–13/A dispenser formed the complete CBU–37/A.<ref>Parsch, Andreas. ''Designation-Systems.net''. 4 February 2008. [http://www.designation-systems.net/usmilav/asetds/u-b.html#_BLU BAK to BSU/BSG - Equipment Listing]. Access Date: 27 March 2008</ref> The SUU–13/A was a cluster dispenser that remained attached to the aircraft, dispensing cluster adapters of mines as the aircraft flew forward, unlike cluster bombs, which are released from an aircraft and then dispense their submunitions.
==Specifications== * Weight: {{Convert|20|g|abbr=on}} * Length: {{Convert|75|mm|abbr=on}} * Width: {{Convert|45|mm|abbr=on}} (when armed) * Depth: {{Convert|45|mm|abbr=on}} * Explosive content: {{Convert|9|g|abbr=on}} of a [[nitromethane]]-[[nitroethane]] mixture * Sensitizer: [[propylenediamine]] and [[methanol]]
==See also== * [[Gravel mine]], a small US made fabric wrapped mine used in Vietnam. * [[PFM-1 mine]] Soviet/Russian counterpart.
==References==
===Citations=== {{reflist}}
===Sources=== * United States Government, United States Senate. ''Hearings Before the Electronic Battlefield Subcommittee of the [[Senate Preparedness Investigating Subcommittee|Preparedness Investigating Subcommittee]] of the Committee on Armed Services.'' Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 1971. * Jane's Mines and Mine Clearance 2005–2006
[[Category:Anti-personnel mines]] [[Category:Cold War weapons of the United States]] [[Category:Military equipment introduced in the 1960s]] [[Category:Submunitions]]