Frag Out! Magazine
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embedded in troop compartments of IFVs or APCs. The second group includes muzzle-loaded mortars with automated targeting systems in- stalled in APCs and shooting the rounds through open hatches in the roofs of the troop compartments. The last group includes standard towed mortars set up on rotating platforms - in combat compartments of modified IFV/APC. However, none of the designs above is capable of direct fire. Pram-S was a very peculiar self-propelled mortar solution installed on a BMP of extended length. The weapon was installed within an enlarged combat compartment offering elevation range from 40 to 80 degrees and +/- 15 degrees azimuth change capacity. The crew compartment was fully sealed. Minimum range was defined as 504 m. The mortar could attack targets at maximum range of up to 8 km. Rate of fire was excep- tionally high - up to 18 rpm. It was possible to be achieved thanks to an autoloader system that was using a belt-feed ammunition magazine containing 18 vertically oriented rounds. Furthermore, the vehicle carried 59 extra rounds on two shelves in the rear part of the hull. The gunner had a simple NZ-81 sight and PP-81 panoramic sight at his disposal. The commander used his own observation post with TKN-3B. 12 of PRAM-S mortars were manufactured, and after the dissolution of Czechoslovakia the quantity has been evenly split between Czech Republic and Slobaki. ShM vz. 85 was a successful design offering a very high firepower, de- spite the obsolete nature of the base platform, the BMP-1 vehicle. French 2R2M, Turkish Alkar, Swiss RUAG Cobra, Israeli Elbit Spear or South Korean Hyundai WIA can be listed as examples of the fourth group of 120 mm self-propelled mortars, also referred to as "universal". The idea is to create a light mortar with automated elevation/azimuth change system and semi-automatic muzzle-loading system. The loader places the round on the supporting element that holds the round and lifts it up to the barrel, but the rest of the process is done automatically. Further- more, systems as such are also usually coupled with a simple ballistic Self-propelled Mortars Self-propelled systems used during the WWII, such as the Australian 81 mm Carrier, 3-inch Mortar, US 81 mm M2 Mortar Motor Carriage or German Sd Kfz250/7 (Schwerer Granatwerfer) have not become com- mon. This type of vehicles has remained in the shadows until the 1980s. Currently they may be divided into two subgroups. The first one includes turret-based mortars that also make it possible to use the mortar to lay down direct fire. This group includes Soviet/Russian designs, such as: 120mm 2S9 Nona, 2S23 Nona-SVK, 2S31 Vena, 2S34 Khosta and 2S42 Lotos. The group also includes the Polish RAK, Swedish AMOS, NEMO and Mjølner, and the legacy AMS designed by BAE Systems. All of those would be covered by a separate articles. Nonetheless, one needs to note that RAK is the only mortar that fea- tures a fully automatic loader that can be operated regardless of eleva- tion and turret position. It also offers a constant realistic rate of fire of 8 rounds per minute. Furthermore, RAK also features the most advanced fire control system coupled with relevant sensors. The vehicle has also been fitted with a soft-kill active protection system. The competitors can either be loaded manually only or with support of a pneumatic am- munition carrier (Russia). Their fire control systems are not advanced, even though the ammunition is very good. The mortars in question, in the best-case scenario, utilize pseudo automated loading systems that require the loader to place the round in the rut by hand. Mjölner is ri- diculous budget-wise. In case of this design, a state of art fire control system is coupled with a fully manual mortar system. What is even more interesting, RAK offers rate of fire that is higher than in case of any of the remaining designs, apart from double-barrelled AMOS/Mjölner. In case of the Scandinavian designs the rate of fire is ultimately lower than the same performance figure characterizing the RAK system. The second group includes mortars based on APC platforms (tracked and wheeled ones). With exclusion of the Czechoslovak PRAM-S, the group is dominated by normal mortars installed on rotating bases, www.fragoutmag.com