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THE RUAG 120MM MORTAR
Young Officers (YOs) Course with the Artillery School, Combat Support College, DFTC. On this course the students learn: ranging, ballistics, fire controls systems (computers and graphical control instruments), opera- tional procedures, surveillance and target acquisition, fixation and survey, organisation, deployment and operating procedures, tactics and targeting. The weapon system is primarily a 120mm mortar
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but has the added bonus of an insert that allows the calibre to be reduced to take 81mm rounds. The Ruag 120mm can fire high explosive (HE), illumination, and smoke rounds to a maximum range of 8,200m, or up to 9,200m depending on the respective altitudes
BY SGT WAYNE FITZGERALD PHOTOS AIRMAN NEVILLE COUGHLAN & SHAYNA ALLEN
he Ruag 120mm mortar which was reintroduced into the Defence Forces in November 2008, was recently put through its paces by students on a
of the mortar and its target and weather conditions. However, the planning range for operational use is 7,500m. A properly trained and experienced mortar team can get the weapon into action in three minutes. This weapon can be mounted on a carriage com-
plete with six rounds of ammunition and accessories (weighing 722kgs), it can be towed by any vehicle that can also transport its crew of six: a sergeant, a corpo- ral and four gunners (one of whom is a driver). The Air Corps' EC135 and AW139 helicopters can also airlift the mortar and its crew.
An Cosantóir March 2012 www.dfmagazine.ie
