The Soltam K6 is a 120 mm (4.75 inch) mortar that was developed by Soltam Systems of Israel. It is the long-range version of the

Soltam K5 The Soltam M-65 is a 120 mm mortar that was developed by Tampella in 1953 via introduction of new baseplate for 120 Krh/40 invented by Hans Otto Donner. In 1960s Soltam Systems of Israel bought a license. The mortar system comes in two versio ...

and has replaced older systems, such as the M30, in several armies including the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

. It is much lighter than the M30, has a greater range, and can sustain a rate of fire of four rounds per minute, while the M30 could sustain only three.

Design overview

The K6 fires fin-stabilized

ammunition Ammunition (informally ammo) is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. Ammunition is both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines) and the component parts of other weapo ...

from a

smoothbore A smoothbore weapon is one that has a barrel without rifling. Smoothbores range from handheld firearms to powerful tank guns and large artillery mortars. History Early firearms had smoothly bored barrels that fired projectiles without s ...

barrel. Unlike its smaller ammunition cousins, the 81 mm and 60 mm mortars, the fin blades of the ammunition fired from the M120 are not canted. Thus, no spin is imparted to the

projectile A projectile is an object that is propelled by the application of an external force and then moves freely under the influence of gravity and air resistance. Although any objects in motion through space are projectiles, they are commonly found i ...

in flight. Although heavy mortars require trucks or tracked mortar carriers to move them, they are still much lighter than

field artillery Field artillery is a category of mobile artillery used to support armies in the field. These weapons are specialized for mobility, tactical proficiency, short range, long range, and extremely long range target engagement. Until the early 20 ...

pieces. They outrange light and medium mortars, and their explosive power is much greater. An improved version is known as the K6A3. High explosive rounds fired by the M120 weigh about and can have a lethality radius of .

History and deployment

The K6 entered service with the

in 1991 as the M120 Mortar System. Its mission is to provide heavy weapon, high-angle organic

indirect fire Indirect fire is aiming and firing a projectile without relying on a direct line of sight between the gun and its target, as in the case of direct fire. Aiming is performed by calculating azimuth and inclination, and may include correcting ai ...

support to the unit commander. The M120 is used by both

mechanized units Armoured warfare or armored warfare (mechanized forces, armoured forces or armored forces) (American English; see spelling differences), is the use of armored fighting vehicles in modern warfare. It is a major component of modern methods of ...

and

light infantry Light infantry refers to certain types of lightly equipped infantry throughout history. They have a more mobile or fluid function than other types of infantry, such as heavy infantry or line infantry. Historically, light infantry often fought ...

in certain situations. Another feature of the M120 is the

M303 Sub-Caliber insert M3, M-3 or M03 may refer to: Computing and electronics * Intel m3, a brand of microprocessors * M.3 (aka NF1/NGSFF), a specification for internally mounted expansion cards * Leica M3, a landmark 35mm rangefinder camera * Modula-3 (M3), a prog ...

, which allows the mortar to fire 81 mm ammunition. The M120 is transported on the M1100 Trailer by the M998

Humvee The High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV; colloquial: Humvee) is a family of light, four-wheel drive, military trucks and utility vehicles produced by AM General. It has largely supplanted the roles previously performed by the ...

. The version that is mounted on the M1064 and M1129 mortar carriers is known as the M121. In 2007, the U.S. Army ordered 588 M326 MSS (Mortar Stowage Systems) from BAE Systems. Here, the assembled mortar is mounted on a truck, Humvee or M1101 trailer and can be mounted and dismounted in less than 20 seconds. In November 2016,

Elbit Systems Elbit Systems Ltd. is an Israel-based international defense electronics company engaged in a wide range of programs throughout the world. The company, which includes Elbit Systems and its subsidiaries, operates in the areas of aerospace, land ...

announced it was awarded an

Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity In U.S. Federal government contracting, IDIQ is an abbreviation of the term indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity. This is a type of contract that provides for an indefinite quantity of supplies or services during a fixed period of time. The lega ...

(ID/IQ) contract for the production of the M121

Specifications

The M120 mortar system consists of the following major components: * M298 cannon assembly () * M190 bipod assembly () * M9 baseplate () * M1100 trailer () * M67 sight unit () The M120 is capable of firing the following munitions: * XM395 precision guided munition * M929 smoke cartridge (

White Phosphorus Elemental phosphorus can exist in several allotropes, the most common of which are white and red solids. Solid violet and black allotropes are also known. Gaseous phosphorus exists as diphosphorus and atomic phosphorus. White phosphorus Whi ...

)120mm Mortar Smoke Cartridge http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/munitions/m929.htm * XM930 illumination round ** XM930E1 illumination round * XM931 practice round * M933 high explosive round * M934

high explosive An explosive (or explosive material) is a reactive substance that contains a great amount of potential energy that can produce an explosion if released suddenly, usually accompanied by the production of light, heat, sound, and pressure. An e ...

round ** M934A1 high explosive round * XM983 illumination round

Operators

*: 12; ''M120'' variant *: ''M120'' variant *: 20 *: 18 *: 450; ''M120'' variant * * ''M120'' variant *: 25; ''M120'' variant *:80 *: 142; ''M120'' variant *: 1,076 ''M120'' and ''M1064A3'' variants

References

External links