advanced mortar munitions

Advanced Mortar Bombs are under advanced development stage for the US Army. XM984 Extended Range Mortar Cartridge (ERMC) is currently under development by Talley Defense systems for the US Army 120MM M120/M121 mortar system. A conventinal M934 bomb fired from this system will reach a maximum range of 7,200 Metres. The XM984 is expected to almost double that range to reach 12,000 Metres. The range extension being produced by a nose-mounted rocket motor that cuts in at a predetermined point during the bombs trajectory. The rocket will fire 12 seconds after the launch, and burn for a period of four seconds. After a predesinated delay, 54 M80 grenades will be released from the bomb effecting a target area 233% larger than a HE bomb.

mortar munition's links



The intergration of cluster like munitions in mortars will be a great capability to have, let me do a scenerio. Okay troops are under heavy fire from both enemy vehicles and troops, than they call for fire support. A mortar unit near the troops receives the call they load up their mortar's with these special munitions, than they shoot, not only do the enemy vehicles get destroyed but also enemy troops get blown up by the grenades released by the motar.

[edit on 1-12-2004 by blue cell]

That's a big...bomb...

Article from the February 1996 Popular Mechanics Magazine;
Mortar Attack With Precision "Piccatinny Arsenal, NJ- Given the Pentagon's fondness for "smart" weapons, it's not surprising that brains are coming to even the lowly mortar. The Army is lobbing $10 million at Lockheed Martin to develope the 120mm Precision Guided Mortar Munition, or PGMM. It would be used against tanks cloaked in reactive armor, concrete bunkers and any target requiring pinpoint attack. Conventional mortars which shoot from a tube and travel in an elliptical trajectory, can land far from their targets. But the PGMM will sport four stabilizing tail fins and four foldout wings that will create a controlled glide path to the target. In a "fire and forget" mode, a nose-mounted infrared seeker will keep the target locked in. The requirement is to nail targets that are at least 5 miles away. PGMM borrows heavily from Germany's Diehl GmbH Bussard mortar. Indded, the Europeans are well ahead of us in smart-mortar development and were initially the only candidates in the PGMM competition."

Just had to add that bit of info, I'm going over my small trove of PM and found that article just last night. High tech mortar launched rounds have to be pretty darn tough, ever seen one of those being launched! As for the articles terminology of "reactive armor", I feel the reference was for something other than what is called "reactive armor" of today or yesterday as it is.

Originally posted by ADVISOR
Article from the February 1996 Popular Mechanics Magazine;
Mortar Attack With Precision "Piccatinny Arsenal, NJ- Given the Pentagon's fondness for "smart" weapons, it's not surprising that brains are coming to even the lowly mortar.

Lowly mortar? I served as a mortarman and I can tell you that the mortar is a lofty weapon. Clearly this copy was written by someone who has never been anywhere near a mortar.

Extended ranges up to 15 km + highly destructive guided munitions, this would mean light and fast APC with mounted mortars have a greater first attack range than many tanks main guns....

Also I would feel that since the munition can be guided midflight, the initial firing angle becomes less important and one could do with a cheaper turretless design and put more armour in the roof instead.

The mortar rounds comes up to par with the performance of short range missiles but are a lot cheaper also I think the precision mortar would be a good candidate for ultralight very fast attack tank, maybe a lfast hoovercraft with 2 or more mounted mortars, taking on multiple targets..relying on speed and first strike rather than armour.


[edit on 7-12-2004 by Countermeasures]

[edit on 7-12-2004 by Countermeasures]

here is some links I found about the PGMM


links




atk.com/homepage/2004-12-02-PGMM.htm






[edit on 7-12-2004 by blue cell]