Designed to disable tracked and wheeled enemy vehicles. The damage to enemy vehicles is caused by destroying their chassis, piercing the bottom with a cumulative jet when the mine charge is detonated when the vehicle is over the mine. The mine is quite weak in terms of explosive and weight data. The best result is obtained when the mine explodes under the bottom of the tank. The mine creates a hole in the bottom 20-25 cm long and slightly less than 1 cm wide. In this case, the crew receives a severe concussion or dies from the high pressure that develops in the fighting compartment of the tank when the cumulative jet penetrates there. The tank systems may be disabled, and a fire may also occur. When a mine is detonated under the tank's track, one, rarely two, tracks are destroyed. Running into a BTR-80 wheel mine causes damage only to the wheel rubber. The BTR itself fully retains its mobility.
The PTM-3 contains a BT-06 magnetic fuse with a power supply battery. In whatever direction the mine lands, the shaped charge will be oriented upwards, since on each side there is a copper elongated concave recess with a TG-40 charge weighing 1,800 g.
The mine is automatically put into combat position 60-100 seconds after being ejected from the cassette. When the PTM-3 mine is ejected from the cassette, a sequence of pyrotechnic charges is ignited, which puts the fuse into combat position in approximately 60 seconds.
The additional detonator reacts to the movement of the mine, its tilt in any direction from the initial position. Intentional or accidental movement of the mine in the combat position is perceived by the detonator as a change in the magnetic field and it is triggered, as when hitting the target. The additional detonator is also part of the mine design and is an element of non-extraction and non-deactivation
Should self-destruct within 16-24 hours of installation. Self-destruct does not always work.
The mine is placed on the ground by remote mine laying systems (PKM-1, VSM-1, UMZ, UMZ-K) using KPTM-3 remote mine cassettes. The KPTM-3 cassette contains one PTM-3 mine and a propelling powder charge. PTM-3 mines are also equipped with 9M59 “Tumannost” rockets of the 9K57 “Uragan” MLRS (9 mines in the rocket) and 9M55K4 rockets of the 9K58 “Smerch” MLRS (25 mines in the rocket). The 9M59 rocket (Fig. 2.4.3) has a flight range of 10,000-35,000 m. The 9M55K4 rocket (Fig. 2.4.4) has a flight range of 20,000-70,000 m.
In the combat position, the mine cannot be neutralized, because in addition to the main magnetic detonator, the mine is equipped with an additional one, which is triggered when its position changes. Due to the magnetic principle of triggering, any attempt to move the assembled mine can lead to detonation. As with any sensitive fuse, precautions should be taken in the event of a minimal presence of metal. PTM-3 mines should not be approached during their self-destruction period. To destroy PTM-3 mines found in KPTM-3 cassettes, significant charges should be used, since the use of an inappropriate charge mass can lead to the transfer of PTM-3 mines to the combat position if they are thrown out of the cassette during destruction by blasting.
The mine can be painted green, gray-green, yellow-gray or brown-gray. The marking is applied with black paint on the side face near the detonator and contains: − PTM-3 - mine code; − D676-2-89 - manufacturer's code - batch number - year of manufacture (the numbers may be different); − TGA-40 - equipment code. On the end part of the detonator, the marking is standard in black letters: − VT-06 - mine code; − D676-2-89 - manufacturer's code - batch number - year of manufacture (the numbers may be different).