Bar mine L9 is a large rectangular British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 anti-tank landmine. The bar mine's principal advantage is its long length - a typical anti-tank landmine is circular, and for it to activate a vehicle's wheel or track must actually press on the mine. The vehicle's wheels or tracks actually make up only a small proportion of its total width. To increase the probability of a vehicle striking the mine, the mine's effective trigger width must be increased.

The bar mine allows a 50% reduction in the number of mines in a minefield without reducing its effectiveness. It was reported that it would take 90 sappers 150 minutes to lay a 1,000 yard mine field consisting of 1,250 Mk 7 British anti-tank mines, weighing a total of 17 tonnes. By comparison, it would take 30 sappers 60 minutes to lay a 1,000 yard minefield consisting of 655 barmines weighing a total of 7.2 tonnes.

The long mines can also be laid through a simple plough attached to the rear of a FV432

FV432

The FV432 is the armoured personnel carrier variant of the British Army's FV430 series of armoured fighting vehicles. Since its introduction in the 1960s it has been the most common variant, being used for transporting infantry on the battlefield...

 armoured personnel carrier. Laying circular mines in similar fashion requires a far larger plough and more powerful towing vehicle. The bar-mine laying FV432s were also usually fitted with launchers for the L10 Ranger Anti-Personnel Mine

L10 Ranger Anti-Personnel Mine

The L10 Ranger Anti-Personnel mine was a U.K. anti-personnel blast mine. It was used from the 1970s until recently.It was designed to be used in conjunction with the L9 Bar Mine anti-tank mine. A FV432 would be fitted with a plough through which Bar mines would be laid...

, to make subsequent clearing of the minefield by hand by enemy sappers more difficult; however, the L10 has been withdrawn from service, in line with several conventions regulating mines which have been agreed to by the United Kingdom.

The mine is made of plastic, and cannot be detected by metal detector

Metal detector

A metal detector is a device which responds to metal that may not be readily apparent.The simplest form of a metal detector consists of an oscillator producing an alternating current that passes through a coil producing an alternating magnetic field...

s. A metal plate is attached to mines which are intended to be subsequently recovered by friendly forces, usually for training purposes. A full width attack mine (FWAM) fuze

Fuze

Fuze Beverage, commercially referred to as just Fuze , is a manufacturer of teas and non-carbonated fruit drinks enriched with vitamins. Currently the brand consists of five vitamin-infused lines: Slenderize, Refresh, Tea, Defensify, and Vitalize...

 and an anti-disturbance fuze

Anti-handling device

An anti-handling device is an attachment to or integral part of a landmine or other munition e.g. some fuze types found in air-dropped bombs such as the M83, cluster bombs and sea mines. It is specifically designed to prevent tampering. When the protected device is disturbed it detonates, killing...

 are available for Barmine; these are secured on the ends of the mine, adjacent to the pressure plate. If either is used, the mine must be laid by hand.

A training version of the mine is "bio-degradable", and consists of sand or peat in a cardboard casing.

Service

The mine entered British service in 1969. A number of sub-variants of the mine exist, designated L9A1 through L9A8. It is currently scheduled to be replaced in British service in 2010.

The L9 Bar Mine saw service "in anger" with small detachments of special forces

Special forces

Special forces, or special operations forces are terms used to describe elite military tactical teams trained to perform high-risk dangerous missions that conventional units cannot perform...

 of the British Army during the Gulf War

Gulf War

The Persian Gulf War , commonly referred to as simply the Gulf War, was a war waged by a U.N.-authorized coalition force from 34 nations led by the United States, against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.The war is also known under other names, such as the First Gulf...

 of 1991. A number were captured from Kuwaiti Army stocks by the Iraqi Army in 1990, and subsequently used by them in the same conflict. It was reported that they disabled a number of M60 Patton

M60 Patton

The 105 mm Gun Full Tracked Combat Tank, M60, also known unofficially as the M60 Patton, is a first-generation main battle tank introduced in December 1960. It was widely used by the U.S. and its Cold War allies, especially those in NATO, and remains in service throughout the world today...

 tanks and other armoured vehicles belonging to the United States Marine Corps

United States Marine Corps

The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...

, even those fitted with mine-clearing ploughs. Unless the plough struck the mine squarely in the centre, the mine would often be rotated into a position in which it would blow up the track and front roller of the tank.

The British Army has since been using bar mines simply as demolition charges, for instance to blow holes in tough compound walls in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Among other users have been Denmark, where it was introduced as the "Pansermine M/75", with the mine plough towed by the M-113 APC. In 1989 an electromagnetic FWAM fuse replaced the original fuse as "Pansermine M/88". Both mines have since been taken out of use.

Specifications

• Weight: 11 kilograms (24.3 lb)
• Explosive content: 8.4 kilograms (18.5 lb) of RDX
  RDX
  RDX, an initialism for Research Department Explosive, is an explosive nitroamine widely used in military and industrial applications. It was developed as an explosive which was more powerful than TNT, and it saw wide use in WWII. RDX is also known as cyclonite, hexogen , and T4...
  
  /TNT
• Length: 1.2 metres (47.2 in)
• Height: 0.082 metres (3.2 in)
• Width: 0.108 metres (4.3 in)
• Operating pressure: 140 kilograms (308.6 lb)