Posted on 07/09/2004 6:01:20 AM PDT by John Jorsett
In Iraq, the anti-government forces favor the use of mortars or 122mm rockets to hit large targets, like coalition bases. But Iraqis quickly discovered that the Americans and British had counterbattery radars that could spot, and plot, mortar shells in the air, and instantly identify where they were coming from. The information was transferred to a nearby artillery unit, and within a minute or two, 155mm artillery shells were landing where the mortar was set up. After losing a few mortar crews, it was realized that if the mortars were fired from a residential neighborhood, the American shells would not arrive, since the Americans always tried to avoid civilian casualties. But then the mortar crews found that, while shells did not fall on them, they were often being stalked by a helicopter gunship, and surrounded by heavily armed hummers.
Last month, some enterprising Baath Party fighters decided to start mortaring the Baghdad airport. Bad idea. Especially the way the attacks were carried out. The mortar crew would speed down a nearby highway, stop their vehicle, jump put and set up the mortar, get off a half dozen or more shells, then load up and drive away. This routine soon turned tragic for the mortar crews, as the counter-artillery radar and nearby 155mm guns, interrupted their operations with high explosive shells. The mortar shells, fired in haste, hurt no one, and only caused minor property damage. But for several of the mortar crews, the 155mm artillery fire was fatal. But it was worse than that, as American reaction teams always go to the scene of these shellings to see what kind of damage was done. If any civilian property, or civilians, were hurt, compensation was paid. But if a mortar crew was caught and killed, evidence was collected, and this often led to the capture of more hostiles. Despite the high casualty rate among mortar crews, new ones keep appearing. Apparently, many Iraqis can’t do the math, and continue to assume that being on a mortar crew is safer than attacking American troops more directly in an ambush. It isn’t.
A cannon cocker friend is preparing to go to Iraq in October. I have proposed a series of automatically loaded, aimed, and fired mortars linked to the artillery tracking radar. The response time could go down from 2 minutes to 10 seconds. We could have the first counter mortar round heading down range before the first one of theirs hit the ground.
Too bad, I don't know anyone who could make this a reality.
Probably still need to have an officer check the map first, just to make sure they’re not setting us up. That’s likely where the 1- 2 minutes comes in.
Contrary to Hollywood, mortar shells spend longer than that in the air. Howetzers firing low angle arrive earlier than do mortar rounds.
Yea, I understand, but wouldn't it be fun to watch them blow up while they were still trying to load the second mortar?
The Marine Corps was looking at some automated 120MM mortars (magazine fed, auto aiming), that could be setup to be computer control from a anti-artillery radar unit. Can't find the link. It was some pretty high speed, low drag stuff.
I used to know the "range formula" used by artillerymen, but have forgotten it. Large mortars have a range of several hundred yards (at least, but I am unsure of the max effective range), but with their very high firing angle, I could see a hang time in the 15 to 20 second range.
BTW, have you read where the new high powered laser has been successfully tested and shown to be able to destroy several artillery shells IN FLIGHT, SIMULTANEOUSLY? Now THAT is really cool! It oulght to be able to take out a relatively slow moving mortar round easily.
Yes, that is truely awe-inspiring!
There are lasers (chemically pumped) carried in stretch 747s. They fly patterns around the US. I presume these are anti-missle.
I really wish I were still in the armed forces, or at least in that great satanic military-industrial complex.
Dang! Great minds think alike! Don't suppose they have a civilian version for sale, do you? It would be great for, ah, er, fishing!
How cool would it be to build and test stuff like that?
My memory frustrated me so badly that I went to look them up:
1. The 60mm Commando Mortar, with a firing range of 75-1000m
2. M252 81mm Medium Extended Range Mortar, range: 5700 meters
3. 120 mm M120/M121 mortar range:7,200 metres. With new XM984 Extended Range Mortar Cartridge, range is 12,000m.
I remember the 81mm round lingered in the air for about fourty seconds when fired with just three powder bags.
Wow! So the 120mm they are shooting could come from as far away as 4.5 miles. I can see why they think they are "safe".
Better yet, use it to hit the mortar crew.
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