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The
first serious development in mobile mortar systems came from the Soviet
Union, in the immediate post WW2 era. During the war years, the Russinas
showed little interest in mobile mortars, in fact, on dedicated SP
artillery, the main focus being on ad-hoc anti-armour solutions against
the overhelming German panzers. But painful battlefield experience
placed self propelled artillery high |
Russian 2S4
Tulpan type 240
self propelled mortar |
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on the Russian national priority and the results were some
interesting solutions, which remain significant technological highlights
even today. The traditional smooth-bore barrels mounted on
recoil-absorbing baseplates and relatively uncomplicated supports have
limited the size, which a mobile platform could support, without
collapsing. The German Wehrmacht actually
fielded the first mobile mortar, mounting an 8cm infantry mortar on a
its SdKfz 250-7 which saw action in Russia in WW2.
First to enter service in the early Sixties, was the huge
SM-240 (2S4 Tyulpan) mechanised mortar system, mounting a
breech-loaded 240mm heavy mortar, firing a power assisted loaded 130kg
shell at 1-2 rpm to 12.5km range. The weapon
was fired to the rear, the base plate lowered hydraulically from by
special device. Another breech loaded mortar,
was the Russian 2B9 82mm Vasilyek Automatic Mortar system, which
represented a clear break-through in post-war mortar technology. The
Vasilyek was recoil operated, munitions fed by four-round clips into the
breech, achieving cyclic rate of fire 40-60 rpm in two seconds mounted
on a tracked MT-LBu light armoured vehicle. Several derivatives were
modified by foreign armies, one of the most interesting, an Iraqi
version mounting four rear firing 120mm mortar tubes on a common
rear-lowered base.
Modern Russian SP Mortars
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