User:The All-knowing Sith'ari/M32 Legionary anti-tank mine

The M32 Legionary is a an anti-vehicle mine used in use with the United Nations Space Command Defence Force. A minimum metal blast mine, it is extremely difficult to detect with metal detectors and is highly effective against both vehicles and infantry.

Design
The Legionary mine consists of a circular green plastic case (inert training versions are blue). Two circular bands around the circumference act to cushion shock when the mine is deployed from the air. The casing is sealed, meaning that the M32 can be deployed in up to two metres of water.

A minimum metal mine, the Legionary contains no metallic parts. As a result, it is impossible to detect with metal detectors. The mine is designed to be blast-resistant: The fuze is insensitive to the shock wave from an nearby explosion. This feature makes it difficult or impossible to clear such mines using explosive minefield breaching techniques. As a result, the process of clearing minefields is slower and more complex. This is achieved by having the fuze react differently based on the length of the impulse. Air is forced through a small hole into an air bladder, which inflates and rotates a locking collar and releases the striker into the detonator. Sudden impulse from impact or explosion does not have the time to inflate the bladder and rotate the locking collar, whereas steady pressure from a foot or vehicle wheel does.

The main charge of the mine is pressure-detonated. This is relatively small for an anti-tank mine, so it tends to disable rather than destroy vehicles, usually by blowing off a wheel or track. The mine is highly effective against infantry, however, and upon detonation, the explosion's shock wave sends a huge compressive force upwards, ejecting the mine casing and any soil covering the mine along with it. When the blast wave hits the surface, it quickly transfers the force into the subject's footwear and foot. This results in a massive compression force being applied to the victim's foot. In most cases, the victim's leg is blown off by the blast wave. The mine features an integral electronic anti-handling device (which makes use of waterproof conductive polymers to prevent detection by metal detectors) and programmable self-destruct fuze.

Deployment
The mine can be deployed by infantry, artillery, or specialised mine-launching systems on armoured vehicles. The mine's charge is carried in a void which also contains tan inert liquid. The void allows the fluid to settle under gravity in the correct position beneath the mine, so that the mine always detonates in an upward direction irrespective of the initial orientation of the mine.

The Legionary is usually emplaced alongside mines like the M28 Antlion, to make demining difficult for the enemy: While the Antlion can be easily detected, the Legionary is almost impossible to detect and will cause severe casualties in engineering crews.

Because of its light weight and ease of deployment, it is often carried by infantry.

Variants

 * M32B Training Mine - Inert training model with blue casing as opposed to the green of live mines.

Operators

 * United Nations Space Command