The mortar consists of a smooth-bored barrel with a breech and a breech-block frame, a frame with shock absorbers, mount with training and equilibrating mechanisms, a two-wheel traveling carriage with the suspension, a boom for changing from the firing to the traveling configuration, a baseplate and a towing bar with a lunette. The sights are carried separately and are mounted on the mortar only when firing. The shock absorbers are used to protect the sights from firing vibrations and also provide the link between the ordnance and the mount. It is also used when the mounting returns to the loading position after firing. The boom provides stability when firing and also has two winches to convert the mortar from the firing to the traveling configuration.
It is mounted on a wheeled carriage that supports the cradle and barrel much as in a conventional field gun. Unlike most other mortars, there is no bipod. The barrel is mounted at its centre of gravity in trunnions, which allow the barrel to be depressed to the horizontal for loading.
The M-240 has a minimum range of 800 m and a maximum range of 9,700 m. Traverse is limited to 18°, while elevation ranges from +45 to +65°. The sights, elevation and traverse gears are on the left side of the barrel. The mortar is normally towed, at a maximum speed of 40 km/h, muzzle first by an AT-P, AT-L or AT-S tractor, which also carries the 11-man crew. Additional vehicles carry the ammunition and emplacing equipment. On arrival at the firing position, which has to be on firm ground, the mortar is uncoupled from the tractor and the towing lunette is removed. The large circular welded baseplate is lowered to the ground and packed with earth to provide a stable firing platform.
The smoothbore barrel is 5.34 m (22.25 calibers) long and for loading is swung into the horizontal position. At the lower end of the barrel is the breech-block and projectile guide. Bringing the M-240 into action takes at least 25 minutes, slightly less to move it after firing. The weight in action is approximately 4,150 kg. The HE bomb weighs 130 kg, of which 34 kg is payload. The bomb, which is almost 1.5 m long, is brought to the mortar on a two-wheeled trolley and a team of five is used for loading. Large tongs/gripping pincers are used to lift the bomb from the trolley onto the projectile guide, with two men on each handle and the fifth steadying the fins. The bomb is then pushed into the barrel and the breech is closed. The barrel is then raised to the firing position. The rate of fire is about 1 round per minute.[2][3]
A 2S4 Tyulpan
As part of the 2S4 Tyulpan, the mortar is also used in a self-propelled configuration.
Specialized munitions
In addition to the standard F-864 high-explosive round used by the M240, a number of specialized munitions exist for the 240 mm mortar using 3M15 rocket motors to extend the range to 20 kilometers. The variants include:
The Soviet Union also developed laser-guided "Daredevil" rounds that were effective for precision strikes against fortifications.[5]
Operational history
Yom Kippur War
The Syrian Army deployed 240 mm mortars to the frontline in the Yom Kippur War. On the opening day of the war, they struck the Israeli outposts at Tel Fares and Hermon, succeeding in disrupting Israeli intelligence-gathering and communications.[6] The Egyptian Army also used 240 mm mortars in its assault on the fortifications of the Suez canal, favoring the heavy shells for destroying Israeli fortifications.[7]
The 240 mm mortars were greatly feared because their enormous warheads were effective even against targets under cover. The Syrian mortars continued to fire on Hermon after the official end of hostilities, and were nicknamed "Goliaths" by Israelis both because of their size, and also after the codename of a concrete underground bunker one of the batteries was firing from. One source implies that a covert Israeli raid was launched to destroy this position.[8]
Afghanistan
The first use in combat by the Soviet Union of 240 mm mortars was in 1985 during the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan. A battery from the 1074th artillery battalion of the 108th Motor Rifle Division used 240 mm mortars towed by MT-LB tractors against the Muhajeddin forces of Ahmed Shah Massoud in the Charikorskoy and Panjshir valley, including the first use of specialized laser-guided "Daredevil" rounds. After encountering DShK machine gun fire from one of Massoud's fortress, the 240 mm battery engaged the target and destroyed it in 12–15 minutes with five to six rounds, the mortar's high angle of fire proving effective in circumventing the fortress walls where 122 mm bombardments had failed. Troops reported that the mortar was highly accurate and usually a single hit sufficed to destroy a target; furthermore, the heavy shells were little affected by weather conditions. However, the mortar was vulnerable to jamming if the barrel was dirty or damaged.[9][5]
The Syrian Army employed towed M240 240 mm mortars in the Syrian Civil War starting in 2012 against the city of Homs, making it the largest mortar weapon employed in contemporary warfare. (Some reports cited the use of 2S4 Tyulpan instead, but their presence has not been confirmed, unlike that of the M240).[11] The use of such heavy weapons in heavy-populated civilian areas was first confirmed from the tail fin of an exploded 240 mm shell in Homs in 2012, raising an outcry from human rights organizations such as Human Rights Watch.[12][13] Later, videos documented both 240 mm mortars firing, and the shells landing on buildings in Syria.
Reports of M240 mortar use became scarce after 2012, possibly because of depletion of munitions stock, but in 2015 and 2016 the exploded casings of two-dozen rocket-assisted 3O8 240 mm shells were identified in the suburbs of Damascus, as well as in East Ghouta and Dhouma, accompanied by un-exploded O10 frag cluster munitions, which had never before been confirmed used in combat, causing some to speculate their employment may reflect renewed Russian support.[4]
Operators
Map with M240 operators in blue with former operators in red
^. Archived from the original on 22 September 2020. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
^. Archived from the original on 7 August 2011. Retrieved 11 October 2011.
^"Weapons Systems of the Former USSR & Russia: Fire Support". from the original on 27 February 2012. Retrieved 11 October 2011.
^ abLaymin, Yuri (14 December 2015). "Soviet 3O8 240 mm rocket-assisted cargo projectiles in Syria". Hoplite. ARES armament research services. from the original on 19 February 2016. Retrieved 31 March 2016.
^ abScherbakov, Constantin. "On the combat use of mortar M-240 in Afghanistan". Courage. otvaga2004.ru. from the original on 4 April 2016. Retrieved 31 March 2016.
^Asher, Dani (2014). Inside Israel's Northern Command: The Yom Kippur War on the Syrian Border (2016 US ed.). Lexington, Kentucky: University of Kentucky Press. ISBN978-0-8131-6766-4. Retrieved 31 March 2016.
^Dunstan, Simon (2008). Israeli Fortifications of the October War 1973. Osprey Publishing. p. 51. ISBN978-1-84603-361-2. Retrieved 31 March 2016.
^Harksberg, Alon. "Artillery Effect". Usenet Archive. from the original on 10 June 2016. Retrieved 31 March 2016.
^Belogurd, V.V. "The Use of Artillery in Afghanistan". Courage. www.otvaga2004.ru. Retrieved 31 March 2016.[permanent dead link]
^Rabin. . Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Archived from the original on 20 April 2016. Retrieved 31 March 2016.
^Jenzen-Jones, N.R. (22 June 2012). "240mm Heavy Mortars in Syria – a closer examination". The Rogue Adventurer. from the original on 14 March 2016. Retrieved 31 March 2016.
^"'Friends of Syria': Push to End Indiscriminate Shelling". Human Rights Watch. 24 February 2012. from the original on 31 July 2017. Retrieved 1 June 2019.
^"Written Testimony of Maria McFarland to the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission on the Human Rights Crisis in Syria". Human Rights Watch. 28 March 2012. from the original on 11 August 2016. Retrieved 31 March 2016.
^"Ukranian Army Uses the M-240 "Museum" Mortar to Destroy russian Occupiers in the South (Photo)". en.defence-ua.com. Retrieved 7 January 2023.
^Adrian Stroea; Gheorghe Băjenaru (2010). Artileria româna în date si imagini(PDF) (in Romanian). Editura Centrului Tehnic-Editorial al Armatei. pp. 135–136. ISBN978-606-524-080-3. (PDF) from the original on 20 March 2012. Retrieved 9 December 2018.
External links
Media related to 240 mm mortar M-240 at Wikimedia Commons
January 21, 2023
mortar, m240, soviet, millimeter, breech, loading, smoothbore, heavy, mortar, that, fires, kilogram, projectile, typetowed, mortarplace, originsoviet, unionservice, historywarsyom, kippur, warlebanese, civil, warsoviet, afghan, warfirst, chechen, warsecond, ch. The Soviet 240 mm mortar M240 is a 240 millimeter 9 4 in breech loading smoothbore heavy mortar that fires a 130 kilogram 290 lb projectile 240 mm mortar M240TypeTowed mortarPlace of originSoviet UnionService historyWarsYom Kippur WarLebanese Civil WarSoviet Afghan WarFirst Chechen WarSecond Chechen WarSyrian Civil WarRussian invasion of UkraineSpecificationsMassstatic 3 610 kg combat 4 150 kgBarrel length534 cm 17 ft 6 ins Crew11Shell HE 130 kg 286 lbs Caliber240 mm 9 4 in Elevation 45 to 65 Traverse17 Rate of fire1 round minuteEffective firing range800 mMaximum firing range9 700 m gt 20 km with rocket assisted 1 Contents 1 Description 1 1 Specialized munitions 2 Operational history 2 1 Yom Kippur War 2 2 Afghanistan 2 3 Lebanese Civil War 2 4 Syrian Civil War 3 Operators 3 1 Current operators 3 2 Former operators 4 References 5 External linksDescription EditThe mortar consists of a smooth bored barrel with a breech and a breech block frame a frame with shock absorbers mount with training and equilibrating mechanisms a two wheel traveling carriage with the suspension a boom for changing from the firing to the traveling configuration a baseplate and a towing bar with a lunette The sights are carried separately and are mounted on the mortar only when firing The shock absorbers are used to protect the sights from firing vibrations and also provide the link between the ordnance and the mount It is also used when the mounting returns to the loading position after firing The boom provides stability when firing and also has two winches to convert the mortar from the firing to the traveling configuration It is mounted on a wheeled carriage that supports the cradle and barrel much as in a conventional field gun Unlike most other mortars there is no bipod The barrel is mounted at its centre of gravity in trunnions which allow the barrel to be depressed to the horizontal for loading The M 240 has a minimum range of 800 m and a maximum range of 9 700 m Traverse is limited to 18 while elevation ranges from 45 to 65 The sights elevation and traverse gears are on the left side of the barrel The mortar is normally towed at a maximum speed of 40 km h muzzle first by an AT P AT L or AT S tractor which also carries the 11 man crew Additional vehicles carry the ammunition and emplacing equipment On arrival at the firing position which has to be on firm ground the mortar is uncoupled from the tractor and the towing lunette is removed The large circular welded baseplate is lowered to the ground and packed with earth to provide a stable firing platform The smoothbore barrel is 5 34 m 22 25 calibers long and for loading is swung into the horizontal position At the lower end of the barrel is the breech block and projectile guide Bringing the M 240 into action takes at least 25 minutes slightly less to move it after firing The weight in action is approximately 4 150 kg The HE bomb weighs 130 kg of which 34 kg is payload The bomb which is almost 1 5 m long is brought to the mortar on a two wheeled trolley and a team of five is used for loading Large tongs gripping pincers are used to lift the bomb from the trolley onto the projectile guide with two men on each handle and the fifth steadying the fins The bomb is then pushed into the barrel and the breech is closed The barrel is then raised to the firing position The rate of fire is about 1 round per minute 2 3 A 2S4 Tyulpan As part of the 2S4 Tyulpan the mortar is also used in a self propelled configuration Specialized munitions Edit In addition to the standard F 864 high explosive round used by the M240 a number of specialized munitions exist for the 240 mm mortar using 3M15 rocket motors to extend the range to 20 kilometers The variants include 3F2 Gagara high explosives 3O8 Nerpa cargo can carry various payloads including 14x O10 HE FRAG parachute submunitions and A 01SCh cluster munitions 3B11 nuclear Sayda incendiary 4 The Soviet Union also developed laser guided Daredevil rounds that were effective for precision strikes against fortifications 5 Operational history EditYom Kippur War Edit The Syrian Army deployed 240 mm mortars to the frontline in the Yom Kippur War On the opening day of the war they struck the Israeli outposts at Tel Fares and Hermon succeeding in disrupting Israeli intelligence gathering and communications 6 The Egyptian Army also used 240 mm mortars in its assault on the fortifications of the Suez canal favoring the heavy shells for destroying Israeli fortifications 7 The 240 mm mortars were greatly feared because their enormous warheads were effective even against targets under cover The Syrian mortars continued to fire on Hermon after the official end of hostilities and were nicknamed Goliaths by Israelis both because of their size and also after the codename of a concrete underground bunker one of the batteries was firing from One source implies that a covert Israeli raid was launched to destroy this position 8 Afghanistan Edit The first use in combat by the Soviet Union of 240 mm mortars was in 1985 during the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan A battery from the 1074th artillery battalion of the 108th Motor Rifle Division used 240 mm mortars towed by MT LB tractors against the Muhajeddin forces of Ahmed Shah Massoud in the Charikorskoy and Panjshir valley including the first use of specialized laser guided Daredevil rounds After encountering DShK machine gun fire from one of Massoud s fortress the 240 mm battery engaged the target and destroyed it in 12 15 minutes with five to six rounds the mortar s high angle of fire proving effective in circumventing the fortress walls where 122 mm bombardments had failed Troops reported that the mortar was highly accurate and usually a single hit sufficed to destroy a target furthermore the heavy shells were little affected by weather conditions However the mortar was vulnerable to jamming if the barrel was dirty or damaged 9 5 Lebanese Civil War Edit During the Lebanese Civil War Syrian Army M240 240 mm mortars and S 23 180 mm guns shelled East Beirut in 1989 as part of an offensive to dislodge Christian Lebanese Army faction leader General Michel Aoun inflicting over 900 casualties 10 Syrian Civil War Edit The Syrian Army employed towed M240 240 mm mortars in the Syrian Civil War starting in 2012 against the city of Homs making it the largest mortar weapon employed in contemporary warfare Some reports cited the use of 2S4 Tyulpan instead but their presence has not been confirmed unlike that of the M240 11 The use of such heavy weapons in heavy populated civilian areas was first confirmed from the tail fin of an exploded 240 mm shell in Homs in 2012 raising an outcry from human rights organizations such as Human Rights Watch 12 13 Later videos documented both 240 mm mortars firing and the shells landing on buildings in Syria Reports of M240 mortar use became scarce after 2012 possibly because of depletion of munitions stock but in 2015 and 2016 the exploded casings of two dozen rocket assisted 3O8 240 mm shells were identified in the suburbs of Damascus as well as in East Ghouta and Dhouma accompanied by un exploded O10 frag cluster munitions which had never before been confirmed used in combat causing some to speculate their employment may reflect renewed Russian support 4 Operators Edit Map with M240 operators in blue with former operators in red Current operators Edit Russia Egypt 24 Syria 10 Bulgaria Ukraine 14 Former operators Edit Czechoslovakia only four 2S4 vehicles used since 1985 to 1991 15 Romania used in small numbers from 1953 to 1995 16 Soviet Union passed on to Russia Lebanese Forces received three mortars from Iraq in 1988 People s Liberation Army Lebanon received a small number of mortars from either Libya or Syria in the 1980s References Edit The largest caliber mortar system in the world is shelling cities in Syria and Ukraine 1 2 Offiziere ch Archived from the original on 22 September 2020 Retrieved 11 September 2020 Russian 240 mm mortar by WL Ruffell Archived from the original on 7 August 2011 Retrieved 11 October 2011 Weapons Systems of the Former USSR amp Russia Fire Support Archived from the original on 27 February 2012 Retrieved 11 October 2011 a b Laymin Yuri 14 December 2015 Soviet 3O8 240 mm rocket assisted cargo projectiles in Syria Hoplite ARES armament research services Archived from the original on 19 February 2016 Retrieved 31 March 2016 a b Scherbakov Constantin On the combat use of mortar M 240 in Afghanistan Courage otvaga2004 ru Archived from the original on 4 April 2016 Retrieved 31 March 2016 Asher Dani 2014 Inside Israel s Northern Command The Yom Kippur War on the Syrian Border 2016 US ed Lexington Kentucky University of Kentucky Press ISBN 978 0 8131 6766 4 Retrieved 31 March 2016 Dunstan Simon 2008 Israeli Fortifications of the October War 1973 Osprey Publishing p 51 ISBN 978 1 84603 361 2 Retrieved 31 March 2016 Harksberg Alon Artillery Effect Usenet Archive Archived from the original on 10 June 2016 Retrieved 31 March 2016 Belogurd V V The Use of Artillery in Afghanistan Courage www otvaga2004 ru Retrieved 31 March 2016 permanent dead link Rabin 114 Statement in the Knesset by Defense Minister Rabin on the Situation in Lebanon 29 November 1989 Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs Archived from the original on 20 April 2016 Retrieved 31 March 2016 Jenzen Jones N R 22 June 2012 240mm Heavy Mortars in Syria a closer examination The Rogue Adventurer Archived from the original on 14 March 2016 Retrieved 31 March 2016 Friends of Syria Push to End Indiscriminate Shelling Human Rights Watch 24 February 2012 Archived from the original on 31 July 2017 Retrieved 1 June 2019 Written Testimony of Maria McFarland to the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission on the Human Rights Crisis in Syria Human Rights Watch 28 March 2012 Archived from the original on 11 August 2016 Retrieved 31 March 2016 Ukranian Army Uses the M 240 Museum Mortar to Destroy russian Occupiers in the South Photo en defence ua com Retrieved 7 January 2023 Jane s Armour and Artillery 1997 98 ISBN 0 7106 1542 6 Adrian Stroea Gheorghe Băjenaru 2010 Artileria romana in date si imagini PDF in Romanian Editura Centrului Tehnic Editorial al Armatei pp 135 136 ISBN 978 606 524 080 3 Archived PDF from the original on 20 March 2012 Retrieved 9 December 2018 External links Edit Media related to 240 mm mortar M 240 at Wikimedia Commons Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title 240 mm mortar M240 amp oldid 1132175357, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
