JJB minelaying system
| JJB minelaying system | |
|---|---|
| File:JJB minelayer.png JJB-1 and JJB-2 minelayers | |
| Type | Minelayer |
| Place of origin |  Menghe |
| Service history | |
| In service | 2006-present |
| Used by | Menghe |
| Production history | |
| Designer | Research Institute 74 |
| Designed | 1996-1999 |
| Manufacturer | Gogyŏngbuk 2nd Vehicle Plant |
| Produced | 2006-present |
| Variants | JJB-1, JJB-2, GHJ-24JB |
| Specifications (JJB-2) | |
| Weight | 14.3 metric tonnes |
| Length | 7.02 m |
| Width | 3.03 m |
| Height | 2.64 m including mine arrays |
| Crew | 2 (driver, operator) |
| Armor | welded steel plate |
Main armament | 6 x JB-20 mine launching array |
Secondary armament | GCh-77 GPMG |
| Engine | DSK-7122 6-cylinder diesel 210 kW (282 hp) |
| Power/weight | 19.7 hp/tonne |
| Suspension | torsion bar |
| Ground clearance | 35 cm |
Operational range | 700 km |
| Speed | 70 km/h (road) 11 km/h (water) |
The JJB minelaying system is a family of vehicle-mounted land mine projection systems designed in Menghe. The base system consists of six 20-tube mine launching arrays, with each array carrying 140 mines in total; as the vehicle drives through the planned minefield, the tube launchers propel mines onto the battlefield at a pre-set density. The system can be mounted on utility trucks (JJB-1), APCs (JJB-2), and helicopters (GHJ-24JB).
Development
The Ministry of National Defense first issued a development contract for a remote minelaying system in the mid-to-late 1990s, hoping to borrow from contemporary systems developed in New Tyran and the Organized States of Columbia. The first prototypes were tested in 1999, but the program was soon placed on hold due to the Army's evaluation that a projectile minelayer would not be necessary in limited expeditionary warfare.
In 2005, after the Ummayan Civil War placed Menghe and Maverica on the brink of open conflict, the Menghean Army promptly ordered the prototype minelayer into production. The system used was the JJB-1, mounted on the venerable Chŏnsŏ-288 5-ton utility truck. Several dozen orders of these vehicles were placed before 2009, when production switched to the JJB-2.
The latter system uses the BSCh-6 low-profile utility chassis, giving it greater mobility in muddy terrain. It also retains the base chassis's amphibious capability. Both of these features allow it to keep up with mechanized forces operating off-road along the Maverican border. The base chassis is also armored against small-arms fire and artillery shrapnel, making the system safer to operate on the front lines.
Design
On both land-launch platforms, the mine projection arrays are mounted at a fixed 45-degree angle directly perpendicular to the vehicle's path of travel. They cannot change in traverse or elevation. Each tube is 106 millimeters in diameter, and contains seven mines: one JIG-K anti-personnel bounding mine on top, and six JChW 98-sik anti-tank mines below it. At the very bottom is a small explosive charge, which propels the mines out of the tube, throwing them between 25 and 60 meters from the vehicle's path of travel. Both mine types are self-righting and self-arming, and require no further action from the operator once they have been deployed.
The airborne GHJ-24JB differs somewhat in the arrangement of the tubes, which are fixed at a directly horizontal angle on each side of the helicopter. They are mounted on the GHJ-24's external hardpoints by means of a special minelaying rig, with a control unit wired to the cockpit; any GHJ-24 can be equipped with the system after the control wiring is connected. The mounting arrays and mine canisters are identical between all types.
Employment
To deploy a minefield, the vehicle drives along a pre-marked path ahead of the planned defensive line. After it passes the starting marker, the operator activates the minelaying process, which fires minelaying tubes at pre-set intervals linked to the vehicle's odometer. This can be done at speeds of 10 to 100 kilometers per hour on the JJB-1, and speeds of 10 to 70 kilometers per hour on the JJB-2. At a plausible offroad speed of 45 km/h, the vehicle can lay a 1000-meter minefield in 1 minute 20 seconds.
A "standard" minefield is 1000 meters long, with a density of 0.84 mines per meter of frontage; the vehicle can also double back, as illustrated in the diagram at right, and lay a double-length minefield 500 meters across. For more precise control, the operator can pre-set the desired length of the minefield; the launchers automatically fire at longer or shorter intervals to cover the new area. The depth of each minefield strip, or the distance of mines from the launch vehicle, cannot be adjusted.
The GHJ-24JB operates in a similar manner, but can cover ground faster, with the launcher optimized to support speeds of 50 to 200 kilometers per hour. "Ideal" mine deployment requires a minimum altitude of 5 meters, though altitudes below 100 meters are still possible. Because the airborne rate-of-travel measure is less precise, and because the depth of the minefield varies with altitude and angle, this system has less control over the exact arrangement of its minefield, and must be used at a wider safe distance from friendly forces. Owing to its speed, however, it can rapidly deploy minefields ahead of unexpected enemy thrusts or lay them behind enemy lines, operating in a similar role to artillery- and rocket-deployed minefields.
On all systems, the mines are equipped with a variable self-destruct fuse, which detonates them 6 hours, 48 hours, or 2 weeks after deployment. The launcher-operator can adjust the timing of this fuse to suit a formation's needs; shorter fuses allow friendly counterattacks to pass over a mined area after the enemy attack has been repelled.