One of the abiding lessons learned from operations in Bosnia, Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere has been the importance of organic firepower at the lowest possible level. Although battlegroup or higher level artillery support and close air support are much heralded as providing quick and effective fire support, they never seem to be quite quick enough for a company commander facing an opposed obstacle crossing or a platoon commander finding his egress from a village blocked.
There is therefore a resurgent interest in the humble mortar: humble, but increasingly effective due to the emergence of advanced, capable, multi-pupose ammunition, such as Saab’s 81mm MAPAM advanced mortar round, developed by Saab Bofors Dynamics Switzerland Limited in Thun. Along with the ammunition, which is generating considerable interest, a parallel initiative has been undertaken to develop a new and innovative mortar simulator.
At I/ITSEC 2014, Saab showcased the new simulator, which overcomes some of the limitations imposed by more traditional solutions. In most if not all existing mortar training solutions, the simulator is a replication of the relevant weapon system, which requires unloading the round after every simulated discharge. In other words, the mortar round is dropped down the barrel – and then needs to be removed before the firing process can be restarted and retaught. Effective for procedural training – but not that effective in instilling the skills required for real life employment of small infantry unit fire support, in which a single round is rarely enough.
The requirement against which the new simulator has been developed – currently on show in its 60mm variant – is for ‘fire for effect’ salvos of between three and five rounds. The rapid nature of seuqwntial firing of a number of rounds is facilitated through the use of a simple but ingenious mechanism. The lower half of the mortar tube is cut away so that the round, once ‘fired’ and reaching the firing pin, can be easily extracted and a fresh round dropped down the tube immediately. Extraction of then ‘fired’ round is achieved automatically, with an electronically activated carrousel accepting the round on a vertical spindle and rotating it to a safe position, while bringing another spindle into position to accept round two – and so on.
Developed by Saab’s Training and Simulation division in the Czech Republic, the mortar simulator currently exists in an indoor training version only, but work is already well under way on an outdoor training version, which will bring increased realism to the ambient environment in which effective training can take place. The 60mm demonstrator will shortly be joined by similar devices in 81mm and 120mm calibre, covering all the common mortar calibres of NATO forces.
There is therefore a resurgent interest in the humble mortar: humble, but increasingly effective due to the emergence of advanced, capable, multi-pupose ammunition, such as Saab’s 81mm MAPAM advanced mortar round, developed by Saab Bofors Dynamics Switzerland Limited in Thun. Along with the ammunition, which is generating considerable interest, a parallel initiative has been undertaken to develop a new and innovative mortar simulator.
At I/ITSEC 2014, Saab showcased the new simulator, which overcomes some of the limitations imposed by more traditional solutions. In most if not all existing mortar training solutions, the simulator is a replication of the relevant weapon system, which requires unloading the round after every simulated discharge. In other words, the mortar round is dropped down the barrel – and then needs to be removed before the firing process can be restarted and retaught. Effective for procedural training – but not that effective in instilling the skills required for real life employment of small infantry unit fire support, in which a single round is rarely enough.
The requirement against which the new simulator has been developed – currently on show in its 60mm variant – is for ‘fire for effect’ salvos of between three and five rounds. The rapid nature of seuqwntial firing of a number of rounds is facilitated through the use of a simple but ingenious mechanism. The lower half of the mortar tube is cut away so that the round, once ‘fired’ and reaching the firing pin, can be easily extracted and a fresh round dropped down the tube immediately. Extraction of then ‘fired’ round is achieved automatically, with an electronically activated carrousel accepting the round on a vertical spindle and rotating it to a safe position, while bringing another spindle into position to accept round two – and so on.
Developed by Saab’s Training and Simulation division in the Czech Republic, the mortar simulator currently exists in an indoor training version only, but work is already well under way on an outdoor training version, which will bring increased realism to the ambient environment in which effective training can take place. The 60mm demonstrator will shortly be joined by similar devices in 81mm and 120mm calibre, covering all the common mortar calibres of NATO forces.
Tim Mahon