SUBSIM Radio Room Forums - View Single Post

piersyf · 04-19-08, 08:49 PM

Fair comment. Depends on usage, model and training. Don't forget mortars have been rejected for service because they were too accurate. I am aware that the old British 2" mortar in the hands of a good operator could drop a round onto a point target (like a MG) with only one or 2 shots, but at ranges of around 300yds. The Taliban are nothing like that. Plenty brave enough, but not really the education base for the majority of them to do proper training. The smarter ones are usually employed in other areas like planning, comms, intelligence and making things. I still stand by my comments though, it would have been a risk assessment by the unit commander as to the levels of protection needed, and the man on the spot deemed the risks to be low. If the Taliban had demonstrated a capacity to shoot a tight group at 15rpm and actually hit something I dare say the protection levels would have been higher.

As to being more accurate than artillery, I watched from an OP as my regiment did a demo shoot for some visiting infantry. Their faces turned white as the FOO called in corrections of 10m (the guns were 6km away) and walked a converged grouping (guns firing at a set point rather than as a pattern) over a weapons pit and caved it in. Haven't yet seen a mortar team do that.

04-19-08, 08:49 PM	#6
piersyf Mate Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: australia Posts: 52 Downloads: 1 Uploads: 0	mortars Fair comment. Depends on usage, model and training. Don't forget mortars have been rejected for service because they were too accurate. I am aware that the old British 2" mortar in the hands of a good operator could drop a round onto a point target (like a MG) with only one or 2 shots, but at ranges of around 300yds. The Taliban are nothing like that. Plenty brave enough, but not really the education base for the majority of them to do proper training. The smarter ones are usually employed in other areas like planning, comms, intelligence and making things. I still stand by my comments though, it would have been a risk assessment by the unit commander as to the levels of protection needed, and the man on the spot deemed the risks to be low. If the Taliban had demonstrated a capacity to shoot a tight group at 15rpm and actually hit something I dare say the protection levels would have been higher. As to being more accurate than artillery, I watched from an OP as my regiment did a demo shoot for some visiting infantry. Their faces turned white as the FOO called in corrections of 10m (the guns were 6km away) and walked a converged grouping (guns firing at a set point rather than as a pattern) over a weapons pit and caved it in. Haven't yet seen a mortar team do that.