The designer of the M18A1 mine nicknamed it after a historic Scottish broadsword capable of sweeping away all who lay before it: the Claymore. Unlike most mines, the Claymore was installed above ground on two metal scissor legs and detonated remotely through a connected wire. It sprayed metal balls in a 60-degree arc as far as 300 feet. From its arrival in Vietnam in 1966, the Claymore was used by Americans—and Australians like the one at right—to set up ambushes in the Vietnamese foliage. ( Australian War Memorial)