The Soviet Union ended the war with an extensive fleet of mortar weapons. In the Red Army there were 82-mm battalion and 120-mm regimental mortars, which had proven themselves in the course of hostilities.
The heavy mortar brigades that were part of the artillery breakthrough divisions of the Supreme High Command's reserve were armed with 160-mm mortars.
In the first post-war years, the improvement of this highly effective weapon continued. First of all, this affected 160-mm heavy mortars, designed to break into long-term defenses.
In the summer of 1945, the first modernization of the 160-mm mortar mod. 1943 In a new mortar, called MT-13D, the barrel length was increased by 50 mm, and the firing range was increased to 7400 m.
In 1949, the developed at the Kolomna SKB GA under the leadership of B. I. Shavyrin new heavy 160 mm mortar M-160. The firing range from which reached 8040 m, and the design was simpler.
160-mm mortar model 1949
The 160-mm divisional mortar of the 1949 model (M-160) began to arrive in the troops in 1953. Until 1957, 2353 mortars were produced.
Mortars of this type have been in service for a long time, at the moment several hundred M-160 mortars are in Russia at storage bases.
In 1950, after lengthy tests, the developed by B. I. Shavyrin is an even heavier 240-mm breech-loading mortar that still has no analogues in the world. This "monster" fired an F-864 high-explosive mine weighing 130.7 kg at a range of up to 9650 meters.
Loading a 240 mm mortar mod. 1950 g.
Almost the same artillery unit 2B8 is used in the 240-mm self-propelled mortar - 2S4 "Tulip", which was adopted in 1971. It was created to replace the towed 240-mm mortar M-240 mod. 1950 And surpassed the M-240 in survivability on the battlefield and combat effectiveness by improving maneuverability, maneuverability, reducing the time characteristics for opening fire and leaving a firing position.
Self-propelled 240-mm mortar 2S4 "Tulip" in the stowed position
The self-propelled 240-mm mortar has a high cross-country ability and efficiency of mines at the target, the ability to overcome contaminated areas of the terrain, and high maneuverability.
Self-propelled 240-mm mortar 2S4 "Tulip" in firing position
Firing a mortar does not require special preparation of the position before firing. The loading angle of the 2B8 is about + 63 °. Mines are fed to the rammer guides automatically from a mechanical ammunition rack located in the chassis hull (two ammunition packs accommodate 40 high-explosive or 20 active-reactive mines). In addition, loading can be done from the ground using a crane. Horizontal guidance remained manual. The V-59 diesel installed on the 2C4 allows speeds up to 60 km / h on the highway, and up to 30 km / h on unpaved roads.
In the post-war period, no country in the world has adopted such powerful mortars. The 2S4 self-propelled mortar is the only mortar of this caliber in the world and has no analogues.
In 1955, a 120-mm mortar was adopted, also developed under the leadership of B. I. Shavyrina. The 120-mm regimental mortar of the 1955 model (M-120) was created taking into account the experience of the combat use of the 120-mm regimental mortar mod. 1943
120-mm regimental mortar mod. 1955 g.
With the same mass as the 120-mm regimental mortar mod.1943, the new mortar had a long firing range, and reached 7100 meters. The median lateral deviation when shooting is 12.8 meters, and the median deviation in range is 28.4 meters.
120mm mines
The time to bring the mortar into a firing position was reduced to 1.5 minutes. 120-mm mortar mod. 1955 was in service in parallel with 120-mm mortars of other models.
In the 70s, the Tundzha self-propelled mortar was created on the basis of the MT-LB light armored tractor.
This self-propelled mortar was produced in Bulgaria for the armies of the Warsaw Pact countries. In total, about 400 of these machines were built.
In the late 1960s. 120-mm mortars in the Soviet army were transferred from the regimental level to the battalion level. This significantly increased the fire capabilities of battalions, but at the same time required more mobility from 120-mm mortars. However, since the mid-50s, after N. S. Khrushchev came to power, there was an excessive enthusiasm for rocket weapons in the USSR.
In fact, a ban was imposed on the development of new models of artillery and mortar weapons. All mortars were declared "obsolete", and 82-mm mortars were withdrawn from the units as "insufficiently effective". It took the Soviet military leadership some time to understand the erroneousness of this decision, largely influenced by the experience of the effective use of mortars in numerous local conflicts, from the mid-60s the surviving artillery design bureaus resumed designing new models.
The Central Research Institute "Burevestnik" developed a lightweight 120-mm mortar complex "Sani", which was put into service in 1979 under the index 2S12. The complex includes a 2B11 mortar, a 2L81 detachable wheel drive and a 2F510 transport vehicle based on the GAZ-66-05 vehicle.
Mortar 2B11
The mass of the mortar in the stowed position is 300 kg, in the firing position - 210 kg. The weight of the barrel of the 2B11 mortar is 74 kg, the two-legged carriage is 55 kg, the base plate is 82 kg. Rate of fire: 15 shots / min. Sighting range: from 480 to 7100 m. Sighting range of guided ammunition KM-8 "Gran": 9000 meters.
The mortar sights consist of an MPM-44M optical mortar sight, a K-1 gun collimator and an LUCH-PM2M illumination device. The sight provides 2.55x magnification, its field of view is 9 °. The collimator allows you to shoot in poor visibility conditions. In the dark, the reticle, aiming scale and sight and collimator levels are illuminated by the LUCH-PM2M illumination device, which also has lighting systems for the commander's and equipment's workplaces.
The main option for transporting a mortar is its transportation in the back of a 2F510 transport vehicle. The transport vehicle is developed on the basis of an onboard army truck GAZ-66-05 (4x4) and is designed to transport a mortar, crew, ammunition and a set of spare parts. Loading and unloading the mortar into the car body is performed by manual calculation through the folded back side along two ramps extended from the body.
The upgraded version 2S12A received a new towing vehicle. Now it is the Ural-43206 truck or MT-LB tractor. Transportation of a wheeled mortar can be carried out either by simple towing, or in the back of a truck or on the roof of a tracked vehicle.
For loading, transport vehicles are equipped with a quick-detachable ramp of a trough structure and a winch.
The updated composition of the complex equipment provides a faster transfer of the complex from a traveling state to a combat state, and vice versa, including by the forces of a reduced crew.
In a number of countries, self-propelled mortars were created using 2B11. In Bulgaria, the Tundzha-Sani self-propelled mortar was produced on the basis of the MT-LB.
At the moment, there is a tendency for the actual merger of 120-mm mortars and breech-loading rifled howitzers. New versatile weapons have the ability to fire both rifled shells and feathered mortar mines.
The first such domestic system was the 120-mm divisional-regimental airborne self-propelled artillery gun - 2S9 "Nona-S", created in 1976 at the Perm Machine-Building Plant.
SAO 2S9 "Nona-S" is designed to suppress manpower, artillery and mortar batteries, rocket launchers, armored targets, fire weapons and command posts.
Airborne self-propelled artillery gun - 2S9 "Nona-S"
The main armament of the SAO 2S9 is the 2A51 120-mm rifled howitzer-mortar gun. The gun is fired with both 120-mm high-performance rifled shells and 120-mm mortar mines of various types.
"Nona-S" was adopted by the self-propelled artillery divisions of the parachute regiments in 1980 and passed the "baptism of fire" in Afghanistan, where it has proven itself excellently.
Subsequently, in addition to the Airborne Forces, for other types of troops, several CAOs of this type were developed and adopted. The artillery units of the battalions of the motorized rifle brigades of the Ground Forces and the Marine Corps brigades are armed with a self-propelled artillery gun on the armored personnel carrier BTR-80 - 2S23 "Nona-SVK"
Self-propelled gun 2S23 "Nona-SVK"
On the chassis of the BMP-3 in 1995, a 120-mm SAO - 2S31 "Vienna" was created, with a firing range of up to 14,000 meters. Designed to arm artillery divisions of motorized rifle or tank formations.
During the modernization of the CAO 2S1 Gvozdika, a similar 120-mm mortar gun was installed in the place of the 122-mm 2A31 gun.
Self-propelled gun 2S34 "Host"
The deeply modernized CAO with new weapons received the designation - 2S34 "Host". "Khosta" is designed to suppress manpower, artillery and mortar batteries, rocket launchers, armored targets, fire weapons and command posts at a distance of up to 13 km.
In addition to self-propelled ones, towed 2B16 "Nona-K" and 2B23 "Nona-M1" were developed and put into service.
The 2B16 "Nona-K" is a towed version of the gun mounted on the 2S9 "Nona-S" self-propelled artillery gun, and retains all the qualities and features of the base gun.
Towed 120-mm gun-mortar 2B16 "Nona-K"
Designed for artillery battalions of airborne assault brigades. It was developed taking into account the experience of combat operations of the ground forces of the Soviet army in Afghanistan. In 1986, the gun was put into service.
In 2007, the Russian army adopted the 120-mm 2B23 "Nona-M1" mortar. Its main purpose is to destroy enemy manpower, defeat lightly armored and unarmored vehicles.
Mortar 2B23 "Nona-M1"
Mortar 2B23 should be equipped with mortar batteries of motorized rifle battalions of ground forces. Also, the paratrooper units of the Airborne Forces can arm themselves with the 2B23 mortar, since the 2B23 has the ability to land on special platforms.
The 2B23 mortar can use all types of 120-mm mines, in addition, the range of used ammunition includes the bulk of the shots with ready-made rifling for guns of the Nona family.
The 120-mm mortars produced in the USSR were used in many local conflicts, where they invariably demonstrated their high efficiency.
In 1970, an automatic mortar of 82-mm caliber - 2B9 "Cornflower" was adopted, with a practical rate of fire of 100-120 rounds / min. In theory, it can replace 5-6 82mm hand-loaded mortars.
Mortar 2B9 "Cornflower"
Loading at the mortar 2B9 "Cornflower" cassette, four mines are placed in the cassette. The mortar allows you to conduct two modes of fire - single and automatic, the barrel is smooth. The design of the mortar was made according to the scheme that is used to create a breech-loading artillery gun. This scheme made it possible to fully automate the loading of the mortar. Opening the bolt, feeding to the loading line, sending mines into the chamber, locking the bolt and firing are carried out automatically. The loading mechanism was driven by the use of the energy of powder gases. The recoil energy arising from the shot is used to actuate the automatic loading mechanism with the help of return springs.
For mortar firing, new 82-mm highly effective mines were developed. The maximum firing range is 4250 meters, the minimum is 800 meters, the weight of the O-832DU 3 mine, 1 kg. When a mine explodes, at least 400 fragments are formed, the radius of continuous destruction is at least 6 meters, within the radius of effective destruction. A cumulative mine was developed for firing at armored targets.
With a mass of 632 kg, the 2B9 mortar can be moved by calculation forces without using a vehicle. For long distances, the mortar moves, either in the body or by towing, using the 2F54 transport vehicle (specially created on the basis of the GAZ-66 car), together with which it is designated as the 2K21 system. The mortar is rolled into the 2F54 body using special ramps. However, in the 80s, the MT-LB tracked tractor began to be used to transport the mortar, on which it was located on the site in the rear of the hull.
The modernized version of the mortar, designated 2B9M "Cornflower", differed from its predecessor in the air cooling system of the barrel and the presence of cooling ribs located on its central part. The modernized mortar was put into mass production and adopted by the army in 1983.
The mortar was widely used during the hostilities in Afghanistan and in Chechnya, during the "counter-terrorist operation".
In 1983, the 82-mm mortar 2B14 "Tray" was adopted. The 2B14 mortar was created according to the scheme of an imaginary triangle. The mortar barrel is a smooth-walled pipe with a screw-on breech. Optical sight MPM-44M.
82-mm mortar 2B14 "Tray"
Round stamping base plate with welded grousers underneath. In the stowed position, the mortar is disassembled and transported or transported in three packs. Weight of packs in the stowed position: trunk pack - 16.2 kg, base plate pack - 17 kg, bipedal pack - 13.9 kg. Rate of fire without correcting aiming up to 20 rds / min. The firing range is from 85 to 3,920 meters.
The Podnos modernization project is called 2B24 and is a further development of the 2B14 project. The 2B24 design mainly differs from its predecessor in the length of the barrel. This innovation made it possible to significantly increase the maximum firing range, now it is equal to almost six kilometers. To ensure an acceptable temperature regime of the barrel and to avoid its deformation, there is a fins-radiator on the breech. The 2B24 mortar can fire all available 82 mm caliber mines. In addition, in the course of its development, a high-explosive fragmentation mine of increased power 3-O-26 was created.
Without any changes in the design, the 2B24 mortar can be converted from a portable to a self-propelled one. To do this, using a special mounting kit, the mortar is installed in the troop compartment of the MT-LB armored tractor. This complex was named 2K32 "Deva". It is noteworthy that the 2F510-2 mounting kit allows you to quickly remove the mortar from it and use it in a portable version. The ammunition load of the 2K32 combat vehicle is 84 mines.
At the MILEX-2011 exhibition in Minsk, the 82-mm 2B25 "Gall" portable mortar developed by the Central Research Institute "Burevestnik" was presented. A distinctive feature of 2B25 is the absence of standard signs of a shot when firing and small weight and dimensions. Weighing 13 kg, the mortar is capable of effective fire at a range of 100 to 1200 meters. Rate of fire - up to 15 rds / min.
82-mm mortar 2B25 "Gall"
The "noiselessness" of a mortar shot is achieved through the use of a specially developed 3VO35E fragmentation round. When fired, the shank of the mine locks the powder gases in the mortar barrel, so that noise, flame, smoke and shock wave are not created. The volume of a 2B25 shot is comparable to a shot from an AKM assault rifle using a silencer.
Such characteristics of the mortar provide high mobility and make it possible for covert and sudden use.
At the moment, the mortars in service in Russia are superior or not inferior in their characteristics to foreign models. At the same time, there is a lag in terms of creating highly effective guided mortar rounds.
All ammunition of this type created in our country has a semi-active laser seeker, suggesting target illumination. In conditions of full-scale hostilities, with a high smoke and dustiness of the battlefield, such an opportunity may not exist. At the same time, self-aiming mines with an infrared or radar seeker, as well as corrected with guidance, according to signals received from a satellite navigation system, are actively being created abroad.
