Anti-handling device

An anti-handling device is an attachment to or an integral part of a landmine or other munition such as some fuze types found in general-purpose air-dropped bombs, cluster bombs and sea mines. It is designed to prevent tampering or disabling, or to target bomb disposal personnel. When the protected device is disturbed, it detonates, killing or injuring anyone within the blast area. There is a strong functional overlap of booby traps and anti-handling devices.

Anti-handling devices prevent the capture and reuse of the munition by enemy forces. They also hinder bomb disposal or demining operations, both directly and by deterrence, thereby creating a much more effective hazard or barrier.

Anti-handling devices greatly increase the danger of munitions to civilian populations in the areas in which they are used because their mechanisms are so easily triggered. An anti-tank mine with an anti-handling device fitted is almost guaranteed to detonate if it is lifted/overturned, because it is specifically designed to do so. Munitions fitted with anti-handling devices increase the difficulty and cost of post-conflict clearing operations, due to the inherent dangers of attempting to render them safe.

Not all munitions will have an anti-handling device. Perhaps one in ten antitank mines in a large defensive minefield will have boobytrap firing devices screwed into their secondary fuze wells. Even so, deminers and explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) personnel are forced to assume that all items they encounter may have been boobytrapped, and must therefore take extra precautions. This has the effect of significantly slowing down the clearance process.

Anti-handling mechanisms have been used in fuzes since at least 1940, for example, in Luftwaffe's ZUS-40 anti-removal fuze which was used during the London Blitz and elsewhere.

ZUS-40s were designed to fit underneath most Luftwaffe bomb fuzes. When a delayed-action bomb containing a ZUS-40 was dropped on a target, the impact when it hit the ground freed a ball-bearing inside the ZUS-40, thereby arming a spring-loaded firing pin. As long as the main bomb fuze remained inside its fuze well, the cocked firing pin in the ZUS-40 was prevented from springing forward. ZUS-40s were often fitted underneath a type 17 clockwork long delay fuze, which gave between 2 and 72 hours delayed detonation. Rendering safe a type 17 fuze was normally a simple and straightforward process i.e. unscrew the fuze locking ring, remove the fuze from its pocket in the side of the bomb and unscrew the gaine. Fitting a ZUS-40 underneath a type 17 fuze made the render-safe process much more complicated and dangerous. Removing the main time-delay fuze more than 15 millimetres from its fuze pocket (without neutralising the anti-handling device underneath) automatically released the cocked firing pin inside the ZUS-40, which sprang forward to strike a large percussion cap, thereby causing detonation of the bomb and the death of anyone nearby. Because the ZUS-40 was designed to be concealed underneath a conventional bomb fuze, it was very difficult to know whether a particular bomb was fitted with an anti-handling device or not. In any case, many electrically fired German bomb fuzes already had a pendulum-based "trembler" switch which triggered detonation if the bomb was subjected to rough handling.

Some German anti-handling fuzes were even more dangerous to EOD personnel, such as the type 50 and 50BY fuzes. These were normally fitted to 250/500 kg bombs and contained two mercury tilt switches which detected vertical or horizontal movement. The fuzes fully armed themselves approximately 30 seconds after hitting the ground. Subsequently, if the bomb was moved in any way, the mercury switch triggered detonation. To complicate matters still further, German bombs could have two separate fuze pockets fitted, with different fuze types screwed into each one. As a result, one bomb could incorporate two separate anti-handling devices working independently of each other e.g. a type 17 clockwork fuze with a ZUS-40 hidden underneath it screwed into one fuze pocket, and a type 50BY in the other. Even comparatively small air-dropped munitions could incorporate an anti-handling feature e.g. the type 70 fuze fitted to Butterfly bombs. Fuzes with an integral anti-handling feature were not only found in air-dropped bombs. For example, the T.Mi.Z.43 fuze (dating from 1943) fitted to Teller mines automatically triggered detonation if (in an attempt to render the mine safe) the pressure plate was unscrewed. Although the designs of these anti-handling fuzes varied, all were specifically designed to kill bomb disposal personnel who had the task of rendering them safe.

Allied forces developed their own designs of anti-handling devices during World War II. For example, the American M123A1, M124A1, M125 and M131 series of chemical long delay tail-fuzes which were used in air-dropped bombs, starting around late 1942 and remaining in service until the 1960s. Frequently fitted to M30 (100 lb), M57 (250 lb) M64 (500 lb), M65 (1000 lb) and M66 (2000 lb) general-purpose bombs, these fuzes were primarily designed to operate as chemical long-delay fuzes, with the following delay times: 1, 2, 6, 12, 24, 36, 72, and 144 hours. The time delay mechanism was simple but effective: after being dropped from the aircraft a small propeller at the rear of the bomb revolved, gradually screwing a metal rod into the fuze, crushing an ampoule inside it, which contained a solution of alcohol and acetone solvent. When this happened the fuze was fully armed and the timer countdown had started. The alcohol-acetone solution soaked into an absorbent pad next to a celluloid disk which held back a spring-loaded firing pin from a percussion cap connected to an adjacent detonator. Acetone slowly dissolved the celluloid disk, gradually weakening it until the cocked firing pin was released and the bomb detonated. The time delay of the fuze varied according to the acetone concentration and the thickness of the celluloid disk. Removing a chemical long delay fuze from a bomb after it had been dropped would have been a straightforward process had it not been for the fact that there was an integral anti-withdrawal mechanism designed to kill anyone who tried to render the bomb safe. Fuzes such as the M123 (and its derivatives) contained two small ball-bearings at the lower end which slid out of recesses when the fuze was screwed into the bomb by aircraft armorers. The ball-bearings jammed into the screw-threads inside the fuze well, preventing the fuze from being removed. Because the lower end of the fuze was locked in place deep inside the bomb (where access was difficult) this posed major problems for enemy EOD personnel. Attempting to unscrew a fully armed chemical long-delay fuze caused it to split into two separate fuze assemblies. This action automatically triggered detonation by releasing the cocked firing pin in the lower fuze assembly, with lethal results for anyone nearby. In addition to their undoubted value in harassing the enemy, another tactical use of these chemical long delay fuzes was during the first wave of a bombing attack, when most (and occasionally all) of the ordnance dropped on the target would have chemical long delay fuzes fitted, with various time delays. The second wave of bombers arriving a few minutes later would not face problems in identifying targets due to them being obscured by smoke and dust from previous explosions, and therefore could accurately drop bombs with instantaneous fuzes fitted. Meanwhile, the bombs dropped by the first attack wave had already hit their targets and the count-down to detonation was in progress.