Evolved Mortars... How Far Have They Come?

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] Our military introduced the M2A1 mortar from the U.S. military in the 1950s to increase the firepower of infantry regiments. Although the war ended, former President Park Chung-hee considered domestic production essential and initiated the "Beongae Project." At the Daehan Heavy Industries factory in Guro-dong, Guro-gu, Seoul, they began reverse-engineering the M2A1 mortar without any blueprints and finally produced a prototype. On June 25, just three months after the secret project started in March 1973, prototypes of domestically produced weapons such as the 106mm recoilless rifle, 4.2-inch mortar, and 105mm howitzer were born. This was a miraculous development given the lack of precision machining technology and design drawings. All prototypes successfully completed test firing and were immediately deployed to Baengnyeongdo.

Subsequently, our military obtained the blueprints for the M101 howitzer used by the U.S. military and independently developed a new 105mm howitzer. This is the KH-178 towed howitzer. 'K' stands for 'Korea,' 'H' for 'Howitzer,' '1' for the first model, and '78' for the year development began.

Last year, the military decided to deploy the 120mm self-propelled mortar, which has improved range, firepower, and accuracy compared to existing mortars. The 120mm self-propelled mortar developed by Hanwha Defense is a weapon system that mounts an automated mortar on the K200A1 armored vehicle. It is intended to replace the outdated 4.2-inch mortars used by the mechanized units of the Army.

The 120mm self-propelled mortar offers greater accuracy, range, and rapid, precise fire support compared to existing mortars. Its range is up to 2.3 times that of the 4.2-inch mortar, and its firepower increases by 1.9 times. Additionally, the mortar itself can rotate 360 degrees without the vehicle turning, allowing it to respond to target changes. Furthermore, it can be operated with about 75% of the personnel required for existing mortars, reducing the number from 32 to 24 per company, enabling adaptation to future military structural reforms and personnel reductions.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.