Tools of War: Mortars

I'm going to do something a little different from my usual, model-specific articles. While a mortar-crewman may beg to differ, mortars are generally similar in design and function. The newer ones are lighter, have better targeting sights, and can fire more powerful shells for a given diameter. That said, they all consist of a tube, a bipod, a baseplate, and a sight unit.

Mortars are probably one of the most under-rated weapon systems out there. Tanks, helicopters, fighter planes, aircraft carriers, and missiles...they are "sexy" systems, all with complex, high-tolerance machining, whiz-bang electronic sensor packages and guidance systems, and the need for highly-trained personnel to operate them.

As I've grown older and wiser (wipe those smirks off your faces!), my definition of what constitutes a "sexy" weapons system is more focused on simplicity of design and operation, ruggedness, versatility, deployability, and effectiveness. While I can appreciate a high-end 1911-type pistol, it's a Glock that travels with me everywhere I go.

Mortars are wonderful little things. They have all the moving parts of your average anvil. They're all-weather capable. And they can fire different types of rounds to fit your mission needs. Need to see the enemy at night? Illumination rounds. Need the enemy to NOT see you? Smoke rounds. Need to see the enemy at night and NOT have them see you? IR illume rounds make your NVG's very effective. Need to relocate the enemy to the after-life? Reach for the HE rounds.

The US military uses three primary mortar systems today: the M224 60mm mortar, the M252 81mm mortar, and the M120 120mm mortar. All mortars are a trade-off between firepower and portability. The bigger the mortar, the longer the range and the bigger the boom, but also the heavier it is and the more mobility constraints you have.

An M224 weighs about 45 pounds or so (plus ammo) and the load can be distributed amongst several infantrymen. Sure, they'll be disgruntled while hauling it, but there aren't many gruntled (ha!) infantrymen out there anyway. An M120, on the other hand, weighs about 320 pounds and must be trailered behind a Humvee. Not exactly stealthy, but you get one heck of a bigger boom per round.

As I mentioned earlier, simplicity is a beautiful thing. A mortar is really just a tube with a firing pin at the bottom, a baseplate to keep it from moving, a bipod to angle it, and a sighting unit to target it. What you get in return is the reliability of a stone. Emplace it, aim it, and start dropping rounds. Adjust fire as necessary.

The great thing about the mortar is that, because it is an indirect fire weapon, it effectively ignores terrain and all but the more heavily-entrenched man-made cover. And while you don't get the "let's combust that grid-square" levels of firepower that you find with MLRS or 155mm artillery, you also don't have to play "Mother, may I?" with Higher either. They're integral to your TO&E, and that means that not only are you in a "you call for it, you get it" release environment, it also means that the mortar crews already have your pre-planned fires and TRP's pre-plotted and are ready to adjust off them. And that saves precious time when everything goes to hell and the pucker-factor is high.

Mortars are not just a great combat multiplier in the physical aspect. They are also fantastic in the psychological impact that they have on the enemy. Rounds just start dropping in out of nowhere, and explosions are erupting all around you. The combat mind likes to identify the threat so that it can stop that threat. It can easily see that machine-gunner going cyclic over there and then direct fire to take him out of the fight. But rounds falling from the sky? Good luck finding that RTO, hunkered down behind a large log or berm, yelling "Keep 'em coming, keep 'em coming!" into the handset.

Finally, mortars do not fit the traditional definition of a sexy weapon, so you are spared having to listen to the annoying, bald, whispering ex-SEAL.

By: Steve