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Mortar Doctrine
15 years ago
General
First off, thanks to all of you who helped me out with the photo references of the two vehicles! Your assistance should help out with the accuracy of the illustrations in the coming issue, and you may have guessed that there's going to be vehicles in it!
A more immediate concern I have is about the organized use of mortars. I've done a little reading on the subject and I have a small idea of how there are various methods to direct mortar fire and various ammunition types to deploy. The question I have is for anyone who's been trained on a mortar- sort of a 'scenario'.
In this scenario, the target is in an urban area. The mortar crews, operating three 88mm mortar tubes, are protected but have no direct line of sight of the target. However, they have the aid of a spotter crew in a building adjacent to the target to direct fire. The mortars are to be used in an offensive manner, bombarding the target prior to an assault. The target area is a walled compound with a brick and mortar building at its center. The target has also been under scrutiny since before the attack, meaning that there has been time to plan for this bombardment. The primary mission is the assassination of an individual believed to be guarded by an unknown number of personnel. It is daytime.
My questions are as follows:
1) Under the circumstances, would the spotters direct fire along a grid, the distance from their position, or the distance from a single point in the target area?
2) What kind of orders would be issued to the mortar crews and what would they sound like?
3) Would a fire mission like this, designed to precede an infantry assault, be issued on a timetable or would it be wiser to stop the bombardment once friendly units report that they are entering the area?
A more immediate concern I have is about the organized use of mortars. I've done a little reading on the subject and I have a small idea of how there are various methods to direct mortar fire and various ammunition types to deploy. The question I have is for anyone who's been trained on a mortar- sort of a 'scenario'.
In this scenario, the target is in an urban area. The mortar crews, operating three 88mm mortar tubes, are protected but have no direct line of sight of the target. However, they have the aid of a spotter crew in a building adjacent to the target to direct fire. The mortars are to be used in an offensive manner, bombarding the target prior to an assault. The target area is a walled compound with a brick and mortar building at its center. The target has also been under scrutiny since before the attack, meaning that there has been time to plan for this bombardment. The primary mission is the assassination of an individual believed to be guarded by an unknown number of personnel. It is daytime.
My questions are as follows:
1) Under the circumstances, would the spotters direct fire along a grid, the distance from their position, or the distance from a single point in the target area?
2) What kind of orders would be issued to the mortar crews and what would they sound like?
3) Would a fire mission like this, designed to precede an infantry assault, be issued on a timetable or would it be wiser to stop the bombardment once friendly units report that they are entering the area?
Dedication. :D
you ever played cold winter for ps2?
it a first person shooter
but you creat your own bombs, use various items for cover, and its incredibly gory
its like fred svage really
you play as an ex S.A.S. agent, and go from chang prison, to egypt, to a chemical plant, to an arms fair, to someplace i think is made up called winterlong
there a few gameplay vids on youtube, if your intrested.
2. "Target area located, three clicks, north by north east. Adjust trajectory three degrees north for wind and fire." After the first bombardment the spotters would give adjustments to the fire trajectory based on where the shots landed or would declare the target hit, and order a repeat fire.
3. This sort of assault would typically be used to break up enemy defenses and force them 'to ground' making them go inside or duck for cover against the incoming fire. They would keep this sort of bombardment going right up until an assaulting infantry group was inside the area of fire and then call it off. The actual safe distance for incoming infantry vs. falling mortar fire is typically decided by the spotter team, and the rules outlined by the military organization running it. You need to balance the chance for friendly fire vs. keeping the enemy pinned long enough to give the infantry an advantage.
When the US uses a King Howitzer, they have a grid... but that thing also has an effective range of 26-50 miles, or more. A small mobile force of soldiers using a portable or truck mounted 88? I'd say they'd use miles, maps, and degrees.
What would happen to the fire mission if the spotters went out of contact/
The spotter, upon contacting the FDC, would first identify themselves, request fire for effect at grid coordinates, and time on target before the raid. Since other specifics could have been predetermined, they can likely be omitted.
You may want to check out FM 23-91 Chapter 5 for more information on calling artillery, and FM 3-25.36 Chapter 4-4 for more information on grids.
Whenever I observed a trained attack force use mortars, the crew would open the bombardment with smoke rounds, followed by the traditional bombardment of HE/I rounds, depending on the targets. The lethal rounds would aid in the dispersion of the smoke, and render any direct-fire defensive weapons far less useful (those rooftop snipers and machine-gunners would be blind). Having an established "count" of shells is also expected, so that friendly troops on the ground know exactly when the last shell has gone off.
Hope that helps!