Mortar Artillery

Mortar Artillery

***The Following is an Excerpt from "Iranian Military Capability 2011"***

60 mm

HM-13 (left) and HM-12 (right) (Modlex)

The smallest mortar in Iranian service, there are three distinct kinds of the 60 mm "Hadid" mortars. Each is man-portable and designed to be operated by an individual.

The first, the HM-12 Fateh, features a spade-type baseplate like that found on the British 51 mm mortar as well as a carrying handle and locking angle markers. It also has a carrying handle and a cap that protects the mortar from the elements. The maximum range of the system is 1,050 meters.

The HM-13 on the other hand is little more then a firing tube with protective webbing and cap. The lack of a baseplate or any aiming mechanism beyond an aiming line on the barrel reduces the effective maximum range to 800 m.

IRIN Marines firing the HM-14 ( Fars News)

The HM-14 features an adjustable bipod and a full-sized base plate as well as a simple optical sight.

All three mortars fire fin-stabilized 1.80 kg HE or smoke rounds. Mortars can accept either the AZ111-A2 impact fuse, or the M120 proximity fuse.

Specifications: HM-14
Caliber: 60 mm
Barrel length: 740.5 mm
Max Range: 2,550 m
Min Range: 150 m
Elevation: 45-85
Traverse: 360
ROF: 30 rd/min
Weight: 17.5 kg




81 mm

IRIN Marines firing the HM-15 (Mehr News)

The 81 mm HM-15 features a 1.7 meter long tube on a bipod with locking angle markers and a large base-plate. An ET-1 elbow telescope is used for sighting. It can also use the HM32 sight for indirect sightings, which includes illumination for low-light and nighttime operation.

It is often mounted on vehicles such as the Safir or the Land Cruiser, or towed behind them, but it can also be carried by dismounted infantry.

The HM-15 has a max range of 4.5 km and fires fin-stabilized 4.05 kg HE, 3.01 smoke and 4.5 kg illumination rounds. Mortars can accept either the AZ111-A2 impact fuse, or the M120 proximity fuse

Specifications: HM-15
Caliber: 81 mm
Barrel Length: 1.55 m
Max Range: 4,900 m
Min Rane: 150 m
Elevation: 45-85
ROF: 20 rd/min
Weight: 50.5 kg


120 mm
The mortar is largely the same as the HM-15 with a large base-plate and a bipod with locking angle markers and an ET-1 telescope. It can also use the HM32 sight for indirect sightings, which includes illumination for low-light operation.

The HM-16 has been adapted for use in the Boragh mortar carrier. Instead of a base-plate, it is locked into an integrated rotating base. In addition to these modes, it is still nominally man-portable.

Towed HM-16 (Mohammad Hussein)

It fires 13 kg HE and smoke rounds out to 6 km and 12 kg illumination rounds out to 5.7 km. It also can fire the 16.7 kg extended range HE shell out to 10 km. Mortars can accept either the AZ111-A2 impact fuse, or the M120 proximity fuse. More recently, an extreme-long range shell was unveiled alongside the Razm with a range of 16 km. It is assumed to be backward compatible with the HM-16.


Specifications: HM-16
Caliber: 120 mm
Barrel length: 1.72 m
Max Range: 6 km (10.06 and 16 km w/ER shell)
Min Range: 250 m
Elevation: 45-85
ROF: 10 rd/min
Weight: 138.5 kg



Razm

Razm (Borna News)

The Razm is the 2nd generation of Iranian 120 mm mortar tube systems. It is composed of a 120 mm mortar tube with an exceptionally large base plate. Because of this, it is unlikely that it would be deployed as a man-portable weapon like the HM-15. It was displayed mounted in both the Toyota Land Cruiser truck and the Kaviran tactical vehicle.

Extreme long range mortar bomb (Borna News)