|
The largest mortar in use today, it is believed to be obsolete in the Russian Army, but is still employed by China, India, Iraq, Bulgaria, Hungary, Rumania, and Algeria.
It is smooth-bored and breech-loading.
The wheeled carriage supports the cradle and barrel much as in a conventional field gun. There is no bipod as in most other mortars. The barrel is mounted at its centre of gravity in trunnions which allow the barrel to be depressed to the horizontal for loading.
The fin-stabilised bomb is loaded through a breech closed by a vertically sliding block. As can be seen from Figure 38, loading is a four-man job.
No details are available for the nuclear projectile. It is believed to be equivalent to that for the United States 8-inch howitzer.
Return to top
previous |
index |
next
History index |
Home |
Wally Ruffell
| 