User:The All-knowing Sith'ari/M30 Lotus anti-tank mine

The M30 Lotus is a an anti-vehicle mine used in use with the United Nations Space Command Defence Force. The mine makes use of an explosively formed penetrator to penetrate armour effectively at standoff distances.

Design
The Lotus mine is a circular green plastic disc 25 centimetres in diameter. It has been described as "flowerlike" in appearance. Spikes along the rim stabilise it when buried. The M30 is compact and weighs only one kilogram, so it is easily man-portable. The Lotus is intended for use against APCs, parked aircraft, wheeled or tracked vehicles, stationary targets (such as electrical transformers), small fuel-storage tanks, and ammunition storage facilities.

Internally, the mine consists of a cup of ComL explosive, topped with a shallow dish of tantalum. Upon detonation, the blast moulds the tantalum dish through the Misznay-Schardin effect into a rod shape which is fired into the target, causing massive armour penetration.

The mine can be activated by a variety of methods, including command detonation, IFF interrogation, or pressure detonation. The mine is fitted with motion sensors, electromagnetic sensors, and passive infrared systems to detect enemy targets. The sealed nature of the mine means that it can be easily deployed underwater.

The Lotus has four possible modes of detonation: Bottom attack, side attack, timed demolition, and command detonation. In bottom attack mode, the mine is concealed along trails and roads where target vehicles operate and can be camouflaged with dry leaves, grass, and so forth without affecting EFP performance. Mud, gravel, water, and other debris that fill the EFP cup have minimal impact on EFP formation and effectiveness. The sensor system is designed to trigger detonation if it senses a vehicle passing overhead and it does not respond to IFF interrogation. Alternatively, the mine can be set to detonate if In side attack mode, the Lotus detects trucks and light armoured vehicles via infrared of magnetic anomaly detection. The sensor suite is also sensitive enough to be triggered by people, so can also be used as a pursuit deterrent munition or anti-personnel mine. In timed demolition mode, the mine's timer will trigger detonation at the end of a selected time, which can be set to 15, 30, 45, or 60 minutes. In this mode, the sensor suite is inoperable, and the mine will detonate after the selected time has expired. Command detonation mode provides manual warhead initiation using standard military blasting caps and a priming adapter. The command-detonation capability bypasses the mine's fuse and safing and arming assembly.

The Lotus has an anti-tamper feature that is only active in the bottom- and side-attack modes. The mine will detonate when an attempt is made to change the selector switch's position after arming.

The mine can be set to self destruct after a time limit ranging from four hours to seven days. Failing that, it will deactivate after the battery reaches a certain level. If it fails to detonate, the battery will discharge over approximately 28 days, rendering the mine inactive.

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 an 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 Lotus is usually emplaced alongside mines like the M32 Legionary to make demining difficult for the enemy: While the Lotus can be easily detected by metal detectors, the Legionary is almost impossible to detect and will cause severe casualties in engineering crews.

Variants

 * M30B Training Mine - Inert training model with blue casing as opposed to the green of live mines.

Operators

 * United Nations Space Command