Land WARFARE
Towed 120mm heavy mortars have been adopted by the US Marines to provide a helicopter transportable indirect fire capability for the vertical assault element. The EFSS uses a TDA 120mm rifled mortar with a Growler light prime mover © USMC
another mortar projectile that produces smoke and does so instantaneously while defeating both visual and thermal imaging. It burns fiercely and can cause burn casualties, but due to its instantaneous effect it is ideal for marking targets.
during the Second World War, the 82mm has been replaced by the 120mm in most Russian Army units. The exception was the use of the 2B9 Vasilek, an automatic 82mm gun-mortar on a wheeled carriage fielded in 1970 and used during the Soviet Union’s intervention in Afghanistan between 1979 and 1989. It is still in use by Russian airborne forces. Unlike conventional mortars, it fires in either a single shot or automatic mode using four-round clips to a range of 4270m (14009ft) with high explosive, smoke, illumination and anti-armour rounds. The Chinese People’s Liberation Army uses the Type 67, a modernization of the Soviet PM41 mortar first fielded in 1941. This mortar was widely used in the Vietnam War. The US has applied technology to improve its 81mm mortars with the latest being the M252. At 42.3kg (93 lbs) it is found at the battalion level in army light infantry and is used by the US Marine Corps. The 81mm mortar was also used in the M125 a BAE Systems M113 Armoured Personnel Carrier modified to carry and fire the mortar through a roof hatch. It is also used in the Marine Corps’ General Dynamics Land Systems’ (GDLS) LAV-M Mortar and carried for dismounted support with the GDLS M1129 Stryker mortar carrier. The M252 has a range of 5608m (18398ft) firing the full range of 81mm ammunition. The Mo-81mm LLR (Léger Long Renforcé/Reinforced, Light, Long) from Thales is used by the French and Irish armies and is offered with a 1.1m (3.7ft) short barrel (Léger Cour) and (Léger long) and with a 1.5m (4.9ft) barrel. It has a standard range of 3100m (10170ft) but special extended range ammunition extends this to 5600m
(18372.7ft). Elsewhere in France, Nexter is in the business of supplying mortar ammunition via its Mecar subsidiary which produces a range of mortar rounds, such as the 155mm MPM (Metric Precision Munition) which has a maximum range of 40km (24 miles), while the company has also developed a version of its VBCI (Véhicule Blindé de Combat d’Infanterie/Armoured Infantry Combat Vehicle) in use by the French Army as a 120mm mortar carrier, although no sales of this version of the vehicle have yet been performed. All 81mm mortar rounds are fin-stabilized with the most prevalent being the high explosive round. The introductions of multi-option fuses for high explosive allow the gun crew to easily select the detonation of the projectile just prior to firing. Such fuses like the M734 can be set to detonate on impact, delayed (allowing it to penetrate a roof or bunker) or proximity (exploding above the ground which spreads the explosive shrapnel in a wide area from above the target). Illumination projectiles carry flare that burns at 525,000 candle power suspended from a parachute. The time fuse is set by the crew so that the case separates over the target igniting the illuminate which then burns for 50-60 seconds. The illuminate composition can be configured to provide either visible or infrared light. Smoke projectiles are filled with a composition of red phosphorus pellets that are ignited to burn providing a dense obscuring smoke. White phosphorus is
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Heavy Mortars The 120mm mortar has for over the last 20 years begun to prevail as the calibre of choice in heavy mortars. In some units the heavy mortar is used as an artillery weapon. This is the case with the US Marines’ Expeditionary Fire Support System (EFSS) from GDOTS which equips battalions in the Marine Artillery with this 120mm rifled mortar, derived from TDA Armament’s Mo 120 RT. The EFSS is used to support the vertical assault element as it is designed specifically to be carried inside Sikorsky CH-53E Super Stallion heavylift helicopters and Bell-Boeing CV/ MV-22B Osprey tilt-rotors. The EFSS M327 mortar is towed by a specially-designed lightweight prime mover and can be set up in four minutes and fire up to four rounds-perminute out to eight kilometres (4.9 miles). The US Army has also moved to the 120mm mortar via its smoothbore M120 Elbit’s SPEAR reduces the recoil forces of mortar firing sufficiently to allow the weapon to be mounted and accurately fired from a light tactical vehicle. The system has already been employed by US Special Forces on pick-up trucks in Afghanistan © Elbit