Syrian Army Using World’s Biggest Mortar Against Own People

Defense Tech ^ | 2/28/2012 | Defense Tech

[U-238]

So the Syrian government, has been unable to break the back of a populist uprising using snipers, RPGs, tanks and aircraft has turned to lobbing massive 240 mm mortars into the city of Homs, killing dozens. This sounds like an old fashioned leave no one alive siege. In case there were any doubts, this shows that the Syrian dictatorship of Bashar al Assad is at war with his own people.

Syrian troops are firing Soviet-made M240 breech loading mortars into the city. These fire the largest mortar rounds in the world, according to the Christian Science Monitor. To put things in perspective, the 240 mm mortar rounds are roughly five-feet long. The Soviets used them in Afghanistan and the Russian army used the weapons to bombard the city of Grozny during its wars in Chechnya. So while they were designed to hit enemy bunkers from long ranges, they’ve also been used to bludgeon civilian population centers.

The mortars can either be towed or carried aboard the purpose made tracked vehicle called the Tulip. Nice huh?

[chris37]

Muslims are the “best” people on earth.

I’m so glad we have one as president.

Pray for America.

[U-238]

By bucket_t at 2012-02-28

[Michael.SF.]

As big as this one?

[George Varnum]

Obozo will probably be ordering a boat load of these from his Komrade Putin in order to blast American dissidents, “haters”, Tea Party radicals, bitter clingers and recalcitrant Kafir out of our bunkers when the time comes.

Is it time yet?

[Vendome]

240MM??? that’s huge!!!!

[U-238]

It saw action during the conflicts in Afghanistan and Chechnya.In both conflicts, the Smel’chak projectile consistently destroyed targets quickly, precisely, and with only a few rounds. The extreme firepower per round compensates for the Tyulpan’s slow rate of fire

[cunning_fish]

BTW, Tulip has a presicion laser-guided ‘Daredevil’ mine. It also may fire nuke mines.

It is a pretty nice technology to me, with a presicion and firepower of an airstrike lacking all the related costs.

[jimnm]

286 lb HE, ~6mi range.

[U-238]

June 1985, the Russians used the 2S4 battery against a Mujahideen stronghold that artillery could not engage.They first used a conventional HE spotting round. They then adjusted the the firing data with the laser guided “Smel’chak” round.It hit the target exactly. The 2S4 battery destroyed the Mujahideen stronghold with just twelve rounds.

[crazyhorse691]

Are those the stats for the one featured in post #4?

[U-238]

It has a range of 5 miles but with extended munitions it can be expanded up to 12 miles

[cunning_fish]

Yep, sure. As I told it is a good cost-effective alternative to a close air support in case if your troops are holding most of the ground and there is an air superiority established.

It is also a 100% effective airstrike replacement in post-nuclear environment without airpower left.

[U-238]

I agree with you.

[robowombat]

The Syrian regime has been surprisingly retrained in using the full spectrum of its forces. The equipment inventory they have would enable them to conduct mass air strikes and systematic artillery bombardment followed up by armor task force operations using the pretty good SF forces they have to route out survivors followed by combat engineers blowing up and firing whatever was left. Such a display of relentless pulverizing muscle would be pretty daunting to any resistance armed only like light infantry.

[U-238]

I agree. Remember, the Syrian Army has been busy in fighting other wars since 1973 such as in Lebanese Civil War (against Lebanese militias, the PLO and Israel)and in the 1982 Lebanon war. So they have a well seasoned army.

[U-238]

This does not include the the Hama massacre of 1982, which has been described as “the single deadliest act by any Arab government against its own people in the modern Middle East”; as well as others such as the Tadmor Prison massacre, the Siege of Aleppo, Tel al-Zaatar massacre and the October 13 massacre.

[U-238]

http://www.irantracker.org/foreign-relations/iran-syria-relations-and-arab-spring