VS 50 Antipersonnel Mine

VS-50 is a resilient plastic-cased scatterable Anti-Personnel (AP) blast mine. The mine is constructed from three main assemblies. The top and bottom screw onto a central section housing the fuze mechanism. The black neoprene pressure pad, reinforced with a plastic plate, seals the cavity in the top section of the mine. In the central section, the fuze has a spring-loaded striker retained by a bar on a pivoted shutter. There is also a small inflatable bladder and a red plastic safety pin to prevent the shutter from pivoting. The base section holds the main charge and has a central threaded detonator well. The mine is sand coloured. The red plastic safety pin is missing. There are no markings.

This VS 50 antipersonnel mine was removed from a beach in Kuwait early in 1991 by Royal Australian Navy explosive ordnance personnel. The mined was rendered safe, returned to Australia and presented to Commodore Nigel J Stoker, who served as a staff officer during the First Gulf War, as a memento of the role played by the Royal Australian Navy in the liberation of Kuwait. This mine was extensively used in Iraq in the Iran-Iraq war and later in the First Gulf War.