Designed to disable tracked and wheeled enemy vehicles. The enemy vehicles are damaged by piercing the side armor with a shock core (SCC) emerging from the casing of the cumulative funnel during the explosion of the mine. When the SCC penetrates the tank, the crew and equipment of the tank are damaged by drops of molten armor, high pressure arising inside and high temperature of the core. This causes a fire inside the tank, and the BC detonation is possible. The tank damage distance is up to 50 meters, the mine is installed on the side of the probable route of the tank at a distance of 5-50 meters from the axis of the route. Using the sight, the mine is aimed at the impact point.
A mine installed in an unguided version is put into combat position 1-30 minutes after removing the safety-execution mechanism check. A mine installed on the ground in a guided version is put into combat position no more than 30 minutes after removing the safety-execution mechanism check and turning on the mechanism using the MZU control unit. When approaching the target, the seismic sensor issues a command to put the mine into combat position, which activates the IR sensor.
As soon as the target appears in the field of view of the IR sensor, which registers the IR radiation of the vehicle (tank), the latter issues a command to the safety-executing mechanism (SEM) to detonate the mine. During the explosion of the mine's poison charge, a UY is formed from the copper lining of the cumulative recess, which at a distance of 5 to 50 meters pierces armor up to 100 mm thick, forming a hole in the armor with a diameter of 80 mm. If the target is not in the field of view of the IR sensor, then after 3 minutes the mine again switches to the target standby mode. TM-83 mines manufactured before 1984 are also equipped with an IR electric flashlight and a reflecting mirror.
It does not have non-extraction elements, but MC-3 or MC-4 surprise mines can be used. In the preventive mode, the mine is extractable and defuseable. If the mine is installed in an unguided version, it is considered non-defuseable. Due to the high sensitivity of the seismic sensor, there is a possibility of the IR sensor being triggered by the thermal radiation of the human body when a person approaches the mine (closer than 10 m from any side).
The mine is not equipped with a self-destruct device.
The mine can be placed on the ground or attached to objects only manually. The cork box or its lid serves as the base for the mine. The mine can be placed in an unguided (autonomous) version and in a guided version. The controllability of the mine is that with the help of a 100-meter wire line and a control panel (the MZU mine control panel is used), it can be put into a safe (safety) mode or into a target standby mode. The installed mine is covered with a cover to protect against adverse weather conditions and for better camouflage, while the IR sensor and cumulative notch remain open. It is usually used in barriers in settlements, mountain roads, defiles and other places where detours are impossible or difficult. However, the characteristics of such places for possible installation of such mines allow sappers to detect and neutralize the mine in a timely manner. However, if the entire terrain allows the installation of a mine, then its detection becomes problematic, because the mine itself and its sensors are located far away (from 5 to 50 meters). It takes up to 15-20 minutes to install a mine, calculated from two man
Destruction only in the controlled version; Destruction of such a mine is possible only by shooting it with a large-caliber machine gun. Also in the uncontrolled version, the mine can be installed with a MVE-72 or MVE-NS detonator. In this case, the seismic, IR sensor and ZVM are not used, but the MVE-72 or MVE-NS detonator target break sensor is used. The detonator's spike mechanism is screwed onto the MD-5M fuse instead of the ZVM. In this version, the TM-83 mine is installed similarly to the TM-73 mine
The color is usually dark green or olive green. The marking is applied in black letters on the body and contains: − TM-83 - mine code; − 80-5-85 - manufacturer's code - batch number - year of manufacture (the numbers may be different); − TG-40 - equipment code.