Mortars in the Indian Army Infantry Battalion.
Mortars are one piece of equipment that are widely overlooked by a lot of defence enthusiasts, sure it's nothing more than a piece of metal tube into which you insert a shell and if your calculations and calibrations are correct it should fall onto the area where it was aimed.
But for an Infantry company or Platoon this is sometimes the only indirect fire support available to engage targets like infantry, a well dug in sniper, light skinned vehicles, bunkers and pillboxes. They are instrumental in turning the tide of a battle and when utilised accurately can wreck havoc upon the enemy unfortunate enough to be targeted.
Infantry mortars are relatively simple weapons consisting of a barrel, a baseplate and a bipod (lighter mortars discard these as well). An infantry mortar is generally muzzle loaded and has a smoothbore instead of a rifled bore although there are exceptions. The infantry mortar used today are based heavily on the Mortars designed by the Frenchmen Edgar Brandt before World War 2.
An Indian Army Infantry Battalion has two types of mortars at it's disposal for different ranges and firepowe.
The 51mm E1 is a mortar which seems to be based on the British L9A1, it replaced the 2" Infantry Mortar in service. It is a platoon level mortar designed to be carried and operated by one man, it is designed to be operable without the bi-pod by using the foot to put pressure on the baseplate and using both the arms to set the angle, reduction of the bipod makes it lighter.
The Infantry Rifle companies have 2-3 of these at their disposal. It weighs in at around 4.9 kgs, has a range of 200-850 metres and a muzzle velocity of 107m/s. Common mortar shells used are the HE, Smoke and Illumination shells manufactured by OFB. These mortars will probably be replaced by a newer 60mm mortar for which the RFP has been placed by the Army. Apart from the Army, the BSF, CRPF, CISF and other paramilitary forces also utilise this mortar.
The 81mm E1 is a Mortar based on the French Thomson Brandt LLR mortar, it replaced the 3" Mk. II mortar in service. It is a battalion level mortar and the mortars and crew are part of the Mortar Platoon of the Support Company. There are around 8-10 81mm mortars in an infantry battalion, they can be distributed to individual rifle companies and this decision is left to discretion of the Battalion CO.
The 81mm mortar is generally the only organic heavy fire support an infantry battalion has. A crew of 4 is required to operate the mortar efficiently. The mortar has variable charge system to increase the range of the shell by placing different charges. Targets from 550-5000 metres can be engaged.
The Mortar weighs 45.3 kgs with the encased sight and can be broken down into 3 mains parts, the barrel, the baseplate and the mount so that it can be transported much more easily by the infantry. The mortar has a muzzle velocity of 295 m/s and has HE, Smoke and Illumination rounds available which are manufactured by OFB. The Mortar is also carried on an open top BMP-2S Sarath IFV variant, this variant is called the Carrier Mortar Tracked and is used by Mechanized Infantry Corps to provide fire support to the dismounted infantry. BSF is the second largest user of the this Mortar after the Army.
In Photos.
Left - 51mm E1 Mortar of the Indian Army being displayed to Russian Troops during INDRA 11.
Right - 81mm E1 Mortar of the BSF
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