Infantry Weapons

Surface-laid landmine

Also known as
  • surface laid landmine
  • surface-laid mine
  • surface laid mine
  • surface-laid land mine
  • surface laid land mine

Surface-laid landmines are explosive mines emplaced on top of, flush with, or close to the ground surface rather than fully buried. The category cuts across factory models: GAO documented U.S. scatterable surface-laid mine use in the 1990 Gulf War, Human Rights Watch documented surface-emplaced TM-62M mines near Debaltseve in Ukraine, and RUSI described Hamas road mines in Gaza as often surface-laid and easier to remove than buried devices.

Surface-laid landmine, Surface-laid mine, Infantry Weapons
Image source: Wikimedia Anti-personnel Mine Photo

Role in Conflicts

Profile / Specs

Specifications

Placement
On, flush with, or near the ground or another surface area rather than deeply buried
Initiation
Triggered by pressure, proximity, contact, or command detonation depending on the variant
Role
Area denial, route disruption, obstacle reinforcement, and force protection
Delivery and emplacement
Hand emplacement, hasty roadside laying, or scatterable self-destructing mine systems can all produce surface-laid minefields
Detectability
Visible or shallow surface placement can make mines easier to detect and remove than deeply buried devices, but the danger remains model- and context-dependent
What Surface-Laid Means

Surface-laid mines are not a separate factory model. They are a placement pattern: the mine is visible, partly camouflaged, or otherwise close enough to the surface that emplacement and clearance differ from fully buried minefields.

TraitSource-backed detailReader takeaway
PlacementThe Mine Ban Convention describes mines placed under, on, or near the ground or another surface area.Surface-laid emplacement is a subset of the broader mine definition.
Delivery methodsGAO describes U.S. Gulf War use of scatterable, self-destructing, surface-laid mines; Human Rights Watch describes TM-62M mines placed flush with or on the surface near Debaltseve.The same surface-laid result can come from remote scattering or hasty hand emplacement.
DetectabilityRUSI said Hamas road mines in Gaza were often surface-laid, easy to detect, and simple to remove.Exposure can reduce concealment, but it does not make the device harmless.
Evidence limitsMine Action Review treated Gaza mine-use reports as unconfirmed and said demining organizations had not reported discovering AP mines.The strongest Gaza surface-laid claim rests on RUSI's tactical reporting, while later mine-action reporting is more cautious.
Broader classLandmine, Explosive ground mine, Infantry WeaponsLandmineThis page narrows the broader landmine class to a documented emplacement pattern.

Sources: UN Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention; Information on U.S. Use of Land Mines in the Persian Gulf War; Landmines in Ukraine Technical Briefing Note; RUSI Tactical Lessons from IDF Operations in Gaza, 2023; Mine Action Review Palestine 2025.

Timeline

Surface-laid landmine Key Events

  1. U.S. surface-laid scatterable mine use in the Gulf War

    GAO reported that U.S. forces used about 118,000 self-destructing, scatterable, surface-laid mines during the 1990 Gulf War.

    Sources: Information on U.S. Use of Land Mines in the Persian Gulf War

  2. Human Rights Watch documents surface-laid TM-62M mines

    Human Rights Watch documented TM-62M anti-vehicle mines placed flush with or on the surface near Debaltseve during the 2014 Russia-Ukraine War.

    Sources: Landmines in Ukraine Technical Briefing Note

  3. RUSI describes road-laid mines in Gaza

    RUSI reported Hamas laying mines along roads in Gaza and said some of the mines were surface-laid, making them easier to detect and remove than buried mines.

    Sources: RUSI Tactical Lessons from IDF Operations in Gaza, 2023

  4. Mine Action Review caveats Gaza mine reports

    Mine Action Review summarized open-source reports of Hamas AP and AV mine use in Gaza while noting that the reports remained unconfirmed and that demining organizations had not reported discovering AP mines.

    Sources: Mine Action Review Palestine 2025

Media

Surface-laid landmine Images

Surface-laid landmine, Surface-laid mine, Infantry Weapons - view 1
Source: Wikimedia M18 Claymore Photo
Surface-laid landmine, Surface-laid mine, Infantry Weapons - view 2
Source: Wikimedia TM-38 Landmine Illustration
Related Weapon Systems
CBU-89 Gator mine, Air-delivered scatterable mine cluster munition, MunitionsMunitionsCBU-89 Gator mineAir-delivered scatterable mine cluster munitionThe CBU-89 Gator mine is a U.S. Air Force air-delivered scatterable mine cluster munition that uses the SUU-64/B Tactical Munitions Dispenser to lay mixed antitank and antipersonnel minefields. GAO and Human Rights Watch sources document its 1990 Gulf War employment, while reference sources describe a 1,000-pound-class weapon carrying 72 BLU-91/B antitank mines, 22 BLU-92/B antipersonnel mines, and an optional FZU-39 proximity sensor.
MON-50, Directional fragmentation antipersonnel mine, Infantry WeaponsInfantry WeaponsMON-50Directional fragmentation antipersonnel mineThe MON-50 is a Soviet directional fragmentation antipersonnel mine broadly comparable in role to the M18 Claymore, with a plastic body, folding legs, and a forward fragmentation pattern. It can be command-detonated or configured with tripwire and other fuzing, making it a compact infantry obstacle and ambush munition. Direct monitoring sources document MON-50 use by Russian or Russian-aligned forces in eastern Ukraine, the full-scale Russia-Ukraine War, and the 2019-2020 Tripoli fighting in Libya.

Sources

UN Anti-Personnel Mine Ban ConventionPublisher: United Nations | Note: Supports the general mine definition and the fact that mines may be placed under, on, or near the ground or other surface area. | Accessed: 2026-07-01Information on U.S. Use of Land Mines in the Persian Gulf WarPublisher: U.S. Government Accountability Office | Note: 1990 Gulf War: directly supports U.S. use of about 118,000 self-destructing, scatterable, surface-laid mines in the Gulf War, mostly from Army ground systems. | Accessed: 2026-07-01Landmines in Ukraine Technical Briefing NotePublisher: Human Rights Watch | Note: 2014 Russia-Ukraine War: directly supports surface-laid TM-62M mine use around Debaltseve, including mines emplaced flush with or on the surface and a surface-laid TM-62M detonation involving a rebel truck. | Accessed: 2026-07-01RUSI Tactical Lessons from IDF Operations in Gaza, 2023Publisher: Royal United Services Institute | Note: 2023 Israel-Hamas War: directly supports Hamas mine use along roads into Gaza City and the surface-laid distinction, including RUSI's finding that these mines were often easy to detect and remove. | Accessed: 2026-07-01Mine Action Review Palestine 2025Publisher: Mine Action Review | Note: 2023 Israel-Hamas War: supports caveated Gaza mine-use context, including open-source reports of Hamas AP and AV mine use and Mine Action Review's warning that reports remained unconfirmed. | Accessed: 2026-07-01Wikimedia Anti-personnel Mine PhotoPublisher: Wikimedia Commons | Note: Image provenance and licensing page for a CC BY-SA 4.0 anti-personnel mine photo in Cambodia. | Accessed: 2026-07-01Wikimedia M18 Claymore PhotoPublisher: Wikimedia Commons | Note: Image provenance and licensing page for a public-domain U.S. Army M18 Claymore photo. | Accessed: 2026-07-01Wikimedia TM-38 Landmine IllustrationPublisher: Wikimedia Commons | Note: Image provenance and licensing page for a public-domain U.S. Government TM-38 landmine illustration. | Accessed: 2026-07-01