Original Item: Only One Available. This M48 Parachute Trip Wire Flare is completely inert in compliance to the BATF guidelines on inert firearms and explosives and is NOT AVAILABLE FOR EXPORT. This is a visual training aid and cannot be rendered “live” again. The entire set measures 9 x 7 x 16” including the faux grass at the top. Please remember to ALWAYS handle by the bottom so as not to damage the display.

When it comes to designing a training program for military personnel, instructors are faced with several challenges. First, unlike athletes there is no off-season, most units are either preparing for deployment, deployed, or refitting from deployment. Secondly, training facilities vary from location to location and often focus on a single task. These tasks may include muscular strength, cardiovascular endurance, field craft or marksmanship. Each of the above contribute to the success of an operation, however there is one area of training that is deficient. This deficiency is visual training; visual ability plays a larger role in achieving optimum performance than most military personnel realize. The goal of integrating visual training into an already packed curriculum is not to dilute it but to improve tactical performance.

This mine was utilized as a visual training aid and was an "earth cut away” to reveal how the mine would be situated in the ground. This was to give servicemen a better understanding on how their equipment worked. Once you were able to properly understand just how exactly a piece of equipment worked, you were able to know how to better employ it.

Officially known as the "Flare, Trip, Parachute M48". The Parachute Trip Flare M48, is, in effect, a one-shot mortar fired by a trip wire. It projects an illuminating flare to an altitude of 300 to 500 feet, where a parachute-borne candle ignites when expelled from the shell case. The candle burns for about 20 seconds with a yellow-white light of approximately 110,000 candlepower, and illuminates an area with a radius of 300 yards.

The complete flare consists of a base, on which the flare and parachute unit is contained in a steel tube, 2.4 inches inside diameter. In the base of the tube is the propelling charge of 75 grains of propellant powder. Above the propelling charge is a fuze of approximately three seconds' delay. This fuze ignites the expelling charge in the shell as it attains the proper altitude. The expelling charge then ejects the candle and parachute, igniting the candle by means of a second fuze which is threaded through a felt pad that separates the candle from the expelling charge. The entire flare is fired by a trip wire attached to the firing mechanism which is contained in a 0.25-inch pipe mounted on the base parallel to the steel tube containing the flare unit. The firing mechanism consists of a firing pin, actuated by a spring, a primer, an igniter, and a relay charge. See Fig. 54. The flare is held in safe condition by a double safety: a cotter pin which holds the pull ring in place and a safety screw. The flare may be fired either by a four-to six-pound pull on the trip wires or by 20 to 30 pounds' pressure on a pressure cap. The flare is hidden by burying it so that the top of the shell is three inches below the ground.

This is a wonderful example of a genuine US Military Korean War training aide which was utilized to better equip our fighting men and Explosive Ordnance Disposal teams with much needed knowledge! Comes ready to display in your ordnance collections!