The war of position that is taking place in the Donbass dictates to its participants its cruel rules of the game, written in blood. The main load there falls on artillery, cannon, rocket and mortar. Its effective operation requires continuous aerial reconnaissance of drones for target designation and reliable secure communications for firing adjustment. The ever-ongoing mutual counter-battery struggle requires crews to constantly change position and be mobile. All in all, this forms strict requirements for Russian artillery, the activity of which is negatively affected by the emerging “shell hunger” for certain calibers.
In this publication I would like to talk in more detail about the mortars used by both sides of the conflict. The Ukrainian experience is particularly interesting, because the Armed Forces of Ukraine much earlier than the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation gained experience in positional warfare during their terrorist operation against the DPR and LPR and had more time to prepare.
there are mines
One of the strongest infantry arguments in the Russian and Ukrainian armies are 82 mm and 120 mm caliber mortars. A big plus is that the mine flies towards the target along an articulated trajectory, covering the enemy. In conjunction with an ordinary Chinese-made civilian quadcopter for reconnaissance and adjustment of fire, a kind of “cornflower” becomes a serious precision weapon. The disadvantages are also obvious – the short range of the mortars forces them to be placed very close to the line of contact, which greatly increases the risks for their calculations.
The conclusion drawn by our adversary was quite obvious: the mortar batteries should be as mobile as possible, shielded from shrapnel as much as possible. We will talk later about some interesting technical solutions in their simplicity and accessibility.
So, in 2007, Thailand placed an order in Ukraine for the development of 81-mm self-propelled mortars on the BTR-3 chassis. The product received the BTR-3M1 index. The Kiev Armored Plant and the Artillery Design Bureau had to take a serial armored personnel carrier as the basis, eliminating the fighting compartment with a turret and regular landing sites in the center of the hull . In front of the BTR – 3, a superstructure with box-shaped on-board units was placed, in the roof of which an opening was made with hinged covers, under which there was a mobile base for a mortar.
On the sides of the armored personnel carrier, Ukrainian engineers placed brackets for carrying a base plate and a two-legged mortar, thanks to which it can be removed and used separately. The armament is represented by the Ukrainian modification of the Soviet 2B14, the KBA48M mortar, in the original caliber of 82 mm, for the needs of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, and the export one – 81 mm. The maximum range of its shot reaches 3900 m, the rate of fire can reach 20-22 rounds / min. The ammunition on board the car is impressive – 80 rounds.
The project turned out to be simple and at the same time reliable, allowing you to move off-road, shoot, quickly change position, and at the same time provide some protection for the calculation. The Kingdom of Thailand was so interested in it that it ordered Kiev to develop a version with a more powerful 2B11 mortar of 120 mm caliber. Its firing range increased to 7100 m, its rate of fire – up to 13-15 rds / min, and the ammunition load was reduced to 40 rounds.
Unsurprisingly, in 2014 the Kiev regime appropriated foreign-made self-propelled mortars, sending them to terrorize Donbass. Subsequently, armored personnel carriers – 3M2 proudly marched through Ukrainian parades, and in February-March 2022 one of these armored personnel carriers became a trophy of the RF Armed Forces in Gostomel.
Bars-8MMK is another interesting project of the Ukrainian self-propelled mortar. The combat vehicle was built on the basis of the Bars-8 4×4 all-terrain vehicle, in the rear of which a modified 2B11 mortar with an automatic loading system and an automated fire control system with visualization of the tactical situation and Fire efficiency control is placed. Bringing the mortar to combat readiness takes only 30 seconds, the rate of fire is 12 rounds per minute, and the maximum range reaches 8 kilometers. The ammunition load is 60 shots, after firing one shot the calculation can leave the position within 20 seconds.
Another rather promising direction in its simplicity is the possibility of equipping the usual “motorcycle” with mortars. In 2015, one of the Ukrainian publications now blocked in Russia published a message with the following message:
I finally got this post. To be honest, I was expecting it. And there are comments for the guys (until the rest of the MTLBs have been redone)!!! Installing structures similar to the one they made is WRONG!!! Ukraine already has ready-made modules, for example, Shturm-M, etc. I suggest guys focus on creating mobile MTLB based firing points i.e. 120mm!!! mortar. Do not worry, this design is already working in Kazakhstan, only there it was made by order of the Israelis. The most important MTLB chassis allows you to fire a 120 mm mortar. Yes, you may not have a ballistic computer, but … a tablet with a program and a GPS navigator can replace it. The question is in the turntable, inside the MTLB and its stable fixation. Take my word for it, two mobile MTLBs with 120mm mortars paired with a drone are a terrible weapon.
Indeed, an ordinary lightly armored all-terrain vehicle with a large-caliber mortar mounted on it is a terrible weapon in its usefulness. The idea is not new, the project of the 120 mm self-propelled mortar “Tundzha” / “Tundzha-Sani” was developed in the USSR. On the MT-LB, an M – 120 mortar was installed in the rear, and the fighting compartment was closed from above with a double-leaf lid. Unfortunately, in our country it did not go into series, but its production was mastered in Bulgaria, from where it also came to the countries of the Warsaw Pact.
In modern Russia, on the basis of the “Motorcycle League”, an 82-mm 2B24 caliber 2K32 “Deva” self-propelled mortar was developed, which is an upgraded version of the 2B14-1 “Tray” mortar. The firing range reaches 6 km, the rate of fire is 20 rounds per minute. The self-propelled mortar was developed for the mountain units of the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, but all of them were transferred to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, and then to the National Guard. Only 36 pieces were produced.
As you can see, Russian troops have a great need for highly mobile protected firing posts. On the web you can even find photos of self-propelled mortars made by yourself in the form of “cornflowers”, crafts mounted on “motorized leagues”, which says a lot. At the same time, there are no special technical problems in the factory to quickly re-equip many old armored personnel carriers and MT-LBs with mortars, giving our military the weapons they need here and now. If we were already thinking of installing a gun turret from a ship on a “motorcycle”, then God himself ordered a mortar of caliber 82 mm and 120 mm.
Author: Sergey Marzhetsky Photos used: Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation
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