03.02.2010, 10:31
Aerial mines did not typically float. They were used as offensive weapons, and an offensive minefield that is clearly visible to your enemy would be pointless other than as a temporary inconvenience. Most rested on the bottom to be detonated by acoustic, pressure or magnetic influence of a ship passing overhead. Such bottom mines needed to be deployed in shallow water, which is where delivery by aircraft was particularly advantageous.
Drifting mines were not commonly used in WWII, but contact mines that came unmoored could become de facto drifting mines, as is probably seen in the picture above. These types of mines were laid by ships, not aircraft.
Perhaps more relevant to Il-2: air-dropped mines were at times used in air-to-ground warfare as demolition weapons. For example, Germany dropped a number of their LM-A and LM-B airborne parachute mines on urban areas in England.
Drifting mines were not commonly used in WWII, but contact mines that came unmoored could become de facto drifting mines, as is probably seen in the picture above. These types of mines were laid by ships, not aircraft.
Perhaps more relevant to Il-2: air-dropped mines were at times used in air-to-ground warfare as demolition weapons. For example, Germany dropped a number of their LM-A and LM-B airborne parachute mines on urban areas in England.