Mortar mortar

7.58 cm German mortar (weight - 147 kg ) with a base plate and anti-recoil devices, which had the ability to direct fire and was also used by the Germans as an anti-tank gun

7.58 cm mortar moved by its calculation

Aazen system bomb , which had the ability to fire direct fire and had a grenade in its ammunition ( shell equipped with shrapnel - 600 bullets with a diameter of 15.24 mm )

25 cm Minenwerfer - German 25- cm mortar mortar

Grenade launcher PIAT

"Bombard Blaker"

Mortar mortar ^[1] ( eng. Gun-mortar ) - an intermediate-type artillery gun between the mortar and the type of artillery system that is currently called the mortar - having a short barrel (with a barrel length of less than 15 calibres), loaded with a muzzle or from the breech of the barrel and mounted on a massive slab (moreover, the recoil momentum is transmitted to the slab not directly from the trunk, but indirectly - through the construction of the carriage). This type of construction became widespread during the First World War - especially in the armed forces of the Central Powers.

Initially, mortars were used to combat closed targets (inaccessible for direct fire or shooting with moderate elevation angles). The recoil from them was either absorbed by a fixed gun mounted on the ground (or on another stationary base - for example, on the floor of a long-term fortification structure), or was extinguished by the rollback of the entire gun on wheels or by special anti-recoil devices. At the beginning of the 20th century, mortars and field bombs appeared, charging from a muzzle and having a base plate that transmits a recoil momentum to the ground or other solid base. Mortars and bombs had their (and significant) advantages, but could not fire direct fire.

7.58 cm German mortar used as anti-tank artillery

The mortar mortar is an intermediate type weapon: it retains the features of both artillery weapon classes indicated in its name. These guns did not meet the requirements of tactical maneuverability too much, but their considerable weight (compared to a classic mortar or a field bomb of the corresponding caliber of ammunition; but still this weight was significantly less than the weight of a traditional mortar of comparable caliber) made them fire a series of shells with a small interval between shots (e.g. fluent fire) - which was the main type of fire for such systems - is noticeably more accurate (due to significantly less dispersion of shells due to less rocking guns when firing). In addition, such mortars could fire direct fire (that is, be used in the role, including anti-tank artillery - which became relevant on the Western Front of the First World War already in the fall of 1916). The use of shrapnel was also quite possible for them, which gave a significant advantage over classic mortars when firing small, unprotected, openly located targets and when repelling infantry attacks. In German, the word "mortar" ( German Minenwerfer ) at the beginning of the First World War meant, in fact, a system of this type. The advantages of the described tool were its comparative cheapness and relative lightness - it cost about 7 times less than the lightest classical mortar (which, moreover, required at least 6 horses in a harness to change the firing position, while, for example, 7.58- see mortar mortar moved to the battlefield with its own calculation). The disadvantages were the small range, the relatively low rate of fire and, also, a certain danger for one’s own calculation, which, incidentally, was characteristic of almost all mortars and bombers of the times of the First World War. The danger for the calculation increased due to the use of high-explosive shells as a filler less deficient, but more prone to detonation than most other explosives, a mixture of ammonium nitrate with various types of hydrocarbon combustible materials, which resulted in too high sensitivity of the shells to detonation (as a result - they sometimes - and not so rarely - exploded right inside the gun barrels; which led not only to the complete destruction of the artillery system, but also, as a rule, to Agen calculation).

An example of a mortar mortar is the 75.8 mm German light mortar used in the First World War .

In most European languages, all artillery pieces with a barrel length of less than 15 calibers are called mortars; they do not have separate terms for mortar and mortar mortar.

During World War II , recoilless guns and portable rocket launchers ( hand (rocket) anti-tank rifles / grenade launchers ) for launching unguided missiles , such as, for example, the Bazooka M1, were used as light (mainly anti - tank ) infantry weapons. Panzerfaust ”(“ Faustpatron ”). Exceptions to this trend were the Italian Mortaio Brixia Modello 35 , a 45mm fast-firing mortar mortar, resembling an Aazen system bomb - but with a pistol magazine for delivering projectile shells, and the British anti-tank grenade launcher PIAT . The latter did not have a special gun carriage , that is, the gunner’s shoulder was a gun carriage (resulting in frequent injuries of varying severity - including bone fractures). The not very successful British “ Blaker bombard ”, which is a rod-type mortar converted to direct fire, weighing 156 kg and launching a 9-kg anti-tank mine at a distance of several hundred meters, can be attributed to this last category.