Since the early 1980s, Western countries began to consider mortars as a potential means to combat Soviet armored vehicles. The development in Western countries of mortar and artillery guided ammunition capable of hitting main battle tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, armored personnel carriers and other armored vehicles from above, where they had the weakest booking, should have significantly increased the anti-tank defense of NATO armies. These developments were absolutely justified, taking into account the size and capabilities of the armed forces of the opposing enemy.
By 1990, the ground forces of the USSR had accumulated a huge number of armored combat vehicles (AFVs). Only tanks as of January 1, 1990, there were 63,900 pieces, including about 4 thousand of the most modern main battle tanks T-80 and up to 10 thousand T-72 (including 41,580 tanks in the zone of the CFE Treaty that was being prepared for conclusion), as well as 76,520 infantry fighting vehicles and armored personnel carriers. This steel avalanche, especially against the backdrop of the large-scale exercises Zapad-81 and Shield-82, kept the entire NATO bloc in suspense. It is worth noting that the armored vehicles of the Allied countries from the Warsaw Pact are not taken into account here.
The words “but from the taiga to the British seas” from the famous song, perhaps, were never as close to the truth as in the 1980s. A steel avalanche or a steam roller of Soviet troops in Europe could, according to experts, roll out the defense of opponents from the NATO bloc in three days (excluding the use of nuclear weapons). The throw of Soviet tank units to the waters of the English Channel and to Lisbon itself was quite real. At the same time, the North German Plain and the Fulda Corridor were considered the main tank-hazardous areas and places of the most likely strike with the massive use of tank and mechanized formations.
Tanks T-72A on the parade in honor of the completion of the exercises "West-81"
The latter led Soviet troops directly to Frankfurt am Main, the most important financial center of Germany, as well as a large American air base located near the city, which was planned to be used to transfer reinforcements directly from the United States. It was also much easier to force the Rhine in its upper reaches, and this opened the way for Soviet tanks to the English Channel and made it possible to cut off the southern regions of the FRG from the rest of the country, isolating the American units located there. From the borders of the GDR to Frankfurt am Main there was no more than 100 kilometers. At the same time, the northern route was twice as long, and was also crossed by large navigable rivers and canals. Realizing perfectly well that it may not be possible to hold positions in the Fulda corridor, the NATO generals even envisioned the installation of 141 nuclear bombs within the Fulda corridor with a capacity of 0.1 to 10 kt.
At the same time, the main task of the defenders was to knock out tanks and other armored vehicles of the advancing enemy. The very prospect of seeing Soviet tanks on the other side of the English Channel did not like the British military either. That is why, at the very beginning of the 1980s, work was initiated in Great Britain to create various guided munitions to combat enemy armored vehicles, including the rather unusual 81-mm Merlin anti-tank guided mine for the standard British 81-mm L-16 mortar.
The mortars themselves by that time had already firmly staked out for themselves the place of one of the important types of field artillery, being a means of fire support for infantry units directly on the battlefield. The logical way of their development was adaptation to combat enemy armored vehicles by creating special ammunition - guided mines. In this case, effective destruction of armored targets was achieved due to the steep hinged flight path of the mine, equipped with a powerful cumulative part, and hitting the weakly protected roof of combat vehicles.
81-mm mine Merlin, photo: strangernn.livejournal.com
It is also important to note that the creation of foreign anti-tank guided mines and projectiles was largely facilitated by the success in the design of thermal (IR) and radar (RL) homing heads (GOS). The designers were able to endow the new systems with the ability to "recognize" and well "see" the target on the battlefield, ensuring a reliable hit in the selected objects. As part of the creation of mortar ammunition in the West, guided anti-tank mines for 81-mm and 120-mm mortars were created and adopted, operating on the principle of "shoot and forget." An exclusively British development was the 81-mm mine "Merlin", which was equipped with a radar seeker.
The 81 mm mine, named after a famous wizard from British legends, was controlled at the final leg of the flight path. Its development was carried out by specialists from British Aerospace, work has been carried out since 1981 and was carried out at the own expense of the British company. To use the new ammunition, the standard 81-mm mortars of the British army were suitable, while the mine provided the defeat of armored targets at a distance of up to four kilometers. The "eyes and ears" of the new smart ammunition was a radar homing head. After flying out of the mortar barrel, the tail fins were deployed, as well as four aerodynamic rudders, which were located in front of the mine hull. On the descending portion of the flight path, having a millimeter-wave mini-radar began a circular scan of the earth's surface. Initially, the GOS searched for moving targets in an area of 300 by 300 meters, if they were not detected, the target scanning mode was turned on according to the second scenario: a search for stationary targets in an area of 100 by 100 meters. After the detection of the object for the attack, the mine was aimed at the target until the moment of impact. To improve the firing accuracy of the mortar crew, portable computers could be used to simplify the calculation and preparation of data for firing.
The scheme of using the Merlin mine, photo: strangernn.livejournal.com
It was planned to use the "Merlin" guided mines with the standard 81-mm British mortar L-16, which was adopted in 1962 and is still used by the British army, the countries of the British Commonwealth, the US army and many other states around the world. for example, in Japan it is manufactured under license. The mortar is a joint development of designers from Great Britain and Canada. He took part in all the wars in which British soldiers participated in the second half of the 20th century, including the Falklands War and the Gulf War.
The L-16 mortar was built according to the classical scheme of the "imaginary triangle", it consists of a barrel, a two-legged carriage with a sight, and a round base plate. The breech of the smooth-walled monoblock barrel was specially thickened, which contributes to the duration of firing, on the outer surface up to half of its length, ribbing was made, which serves to better cool the barrel during intense firing with reinforced charges. In the breech there is a firing mechanism with a replaceable striker. The design of the biped-carriage has an original design: the legs are located at different heights ("K-shaped" biped), the left leg is fixed motionless, and the right leg is fixed with a hinge. This design solution made it possible to install the lifting mechanism screw on only one leg, thus saving extra grams. Also, the widespread use of high-strength steels and aluminum alloys works to facilitate the structure, the base plate is stamped. The mortar is relatively light (35.3 kg), for comparison, the Russian 82-mm mortar 2B14-1 "Tray" is noticeably heavier - about 42 kg.
81 mm mortar L-16
In the British Army, 81-mm L-16 mortars are in service with mortar platoons of fire support companies of infantry and motorized infantry battalions. Each battalion has 6-8 such mortars per staff, parachute battalions - 8, battalions of marines - 6. The calculation of the mortar consists of three people. The mass of the mortar is 35.3 kg. Having disassembled into three parts: a barrel (12, 3 kg), a two-leg with a sight (11, 8 kg) and a base plate (11, 3 kg), the calculation can carry a mortar over short distances in back packs. In general, the weapon is quite mobile; practically any vehicle, as well as armored personnel carriers, can be used to transport it.
The Merlin guided mine for the 81 mm L-16 mortar was developed in the UK from 1981 to 1989. The tests carried out confirmed the high efficiency of the new weapon, therefore, in 1993, this ammunition was officially adopted. For the Merlin guided mine, the following characteristics were declared (data from Mikhail Rastopshin's article "Artillery high-precision ammunition", Tekhnika i Armamentov magazine, No. 8, 1999): firing range from 1.5 km (minimum) to 4 km (maximum); the length of the mine is 900 mm, the mass of the mine is 6.5 kg; warhead type - cumulative; explosive mass - 0.5-1 kg; armor penetration - up to 500 mm; maximum target detection range - 1 km.
Mina "Merlin" was not the only one of its kind. The British company British Aerospace together with other Western European firms: Thomson Brandt Armement (France), Manufacture Federale d'Armes d'Altdor (Switzerland), BPD (Italy) also created an improved 120-mm guided mine "Griffin", which could be used for defeat of modern and promising enemy tanks. Its all-weather radar seeker was created on the basis of the seeker head of the 81-mm Merlin mine. Mine Griffin was an active-reactive 120 mm ammunition. At the initial stage, it flew along a ballistic trajectory. At the highest point, the separation of the warhead took place, after which the braking parachute was opened, 6 stabilizers were installed in the working position, and the warhead guidance system to the target was also turned on. The presence of special powder engines made it possible to correct course, roll and pitch. At an altitude of about 900 meters, the GOS mines began to scan the earth's surface in an area of 500 by 500 meters in search of moving armored objects, if such were not found, the mine began to search for stationary targets located in an area of 150 by 150 meters.
Calculation of the British 81-mm mortar L-16
Created in Great Britain, the 81-mm guided mine Merlin proved its effectiveness in trials, the jointly developed 120-mm mine "Griffin" was even more advanced, it was equipped with a cumulative tandem warhead and provided penetration of up to 700 mm of armor. In fact, such mines turned any mortar into a real anti-tank gun or an ATGM replacement. Their main problem was that by the time the development was completed and adopted, the threat of a major war in Europe had come to naught. The Soviet Union ceased to exist, and with it tens of thousands of tanks, which were deployed in Eastern Europe, disappeared. At the same time, the initial enthusiasm of the British military faded, which was also extinguished by the serious cuts in defense budgets, which became characteristic of the overwhelming majority of European states.
