Section Infantry Weapons

Contains threads on British Army equipment of the past, present and future.
Voldemort
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Re: Section infantry weapons

Post by Voldemort »

mr.fred wrote:
jimthelad wrote:Yes but only makes sense if we move to the 120 mm mortar for Coy, Bn, and mechanised units and issue this at Plt level as a 2 man fire team attached to the standard 3 x 8 +4 Plt from the heavy support coy. Otherwise we have 2 light mortars (81mm , 60mm) with overlapping roles. Also, if we switch to CG then it is heavier, less versatile, and has a higher logistical footprint.
I'm minded to disagree, to an extent. A 60mm mortar operated as a direct-fire weapon does not overlap with an 81mm weapon used as an indirect observed-fire weapon. Moreover, if a 60 is light and a 120 is heavy, then an 81 is medium, not a light.
What you could do with a 60mm weapon that can be used as an indirect weapon is issue it to units where weight of logistics is critical but weight of fire is less so. Something like a peace-keeping operation over a wide area that still needs some indirect firepower deployed with the infantry to project smoke and illum and the occasional HE bomb.

60mm and the ammunition to go with it might be overly heavy as a platoon weapon (and definitely not a section weapon per the thread title) but the ability to project smoke and illum (and a bit of HE) to rifle range and beyond isn't a bad thing.
Plus a mortar has a much smaller firing signature than a recoilless rifle.
In Finland under 81mm mortars are mini, 81mm is light and 120mm is heavy

All mortars can be used in what is called assisted direct fire. This is a method to fire a mortar from behind a cover to a target without FOs. 60mm is its best in assisted direct fire role. I won't go into details but it's an easy method. Nothing fancy or difficult about it. 66 LAW as anti-TANK weapon might be obsolete but not as anti-ARMOR weapon.

81mm is, as stated above, most effective against INFANTRY per tonne of ammunition of all indirect fire weapons. What you need is to step up your game and set up mortar companies, platoons are so 1964. This enables better autonomy.

No mortar should operate without vehicles. You just can't tranport enough ammo even if the mortar itself can be carried, or then you're not fighting a real enemy but some ragtags. ATV is the bare minimum for even light mortars.

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Re: Section infantry weapons

Post by ~UNiOnJaCk~ »

jimthelad wrote:I am not trying to be confrontational and send this thread into the fantasy arguments that seem to dog other parts of the forum BUT:

The days of man packing mortar tubes and rounds are over. In the 'fight fast, fight dispersed' mentality especially against numerically superior forces then you have to be mobile. By that i mean that even light role units will be wheeled and have to shake out and deploy rapidly before moving. I agree the 120mm is heavier in real terms and has a higher logistical deployment weight but this is mitigated by the fact we are now expected to aggregate and suppress a peer force before dispersing. I would select the 120 for range and suppression effects at a 1 for 1 replacement for the 81 for all Inf Btn. The 81mm might have a role for SF and airborne units but as a former heavy support group officer I know my oppo in the mortar coy would have preferred the 120 as long as he didn't have to manpack it. 16 AA is now looking seriously at how they can leverage the A400M fleet and there is a lobby to retain the upgraded CVRT fleet (24 units I think). The days of carrying everything mercifully are over with the exception of mountain and jungle warfare. In the latter, a mortar is about as much use as a lace condom- you cant see shit to hit until you are within direct fire range.

MrF, you are right about the unit weight, but it is a null argument if you have vehicles, and there are some very good multi-effect fuses and different loads including a top attack anti-armour round from SAAB which would give the light units a serious indirect anti-amour capability. This would break up an armoured formation before contact and allow more effective use of the AT systems used by such formations (trust me I spent several years doing this!!).

Yes LAW66/80 were withdrawn from service but have you been in an armoury recently? Not the rifle racks but in the back? Ours had a nice shiny front office but the deep store and workshop had a lot of withdrawn kit: a few Bren, L1A1, Sterling, MP5, Daimeco C5, LAW66, LAW80, and even a few M79. When we went to the sandbox, everything was on the table and we lobbed a lot of 66 and 80's out. The L1A1 was carried by the sniper spotters as a support weapon and really did the biz.

Lastly, firing a 60mm in direct fireis going to get you killed. Your picture is of the old 2" weapon, a great bit of kit but a UGL is of far more use and gives a higher rate of fire. To fire a mortar in such a situation you would need to lower the barrel, reload, rasie and resight, then fire. The 2 operators in the above photo are defiladed in a ditch with what appears to be cover to eyeline and therefore the barrel is not in direct sight. Don't get me wrong, the 60mm would be a great bit of kit at Plt level and in my opinion better than CG as long as we retain NLAW at 1 per section and the UGL at 1 per fireteam. Add in the GPMG at 1 per section and you would finally have the section firepower footprint you could make an impact with.

I know that this is going to spark some comments but it does come from some operational experience.
Sounds sensible to me.

Might be a stupid suggestion however, but why not retain 81mm at a company level within a format like the one you describe above? Wouldn't the benefits of having slightly heavier, organic indirect fire support (81mm vs 60mm) outweigh potential logistics/tactical mobility related drawbacks?

Also, might the potential near term introduction of emebedded equipment carrier platforms (autonomous or otherwise), as seems to be the direction of travel, also be a factor to consider here? If the idea is for them to alleviate the load off the dismounted infantry, could that not be enough to allow the 81mm a stay of execution in the above scenario?

Voldemort
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Re: Section infantry weapons

Post by Voldemort »

~UNiOnJaCk~ wrote:
jimthelad wrote:I am not trying to be confrontational and send this thread into the fantasy arguments that seem to dog other parts of the forum BUT:

The days of man packing mortar tubes and rounds are over. In the 'fight fast, fight dispersed' mentality especially against numerically superior forces then you have to be mobile. By that i mean that even light role units will be wheeled and have to shake out and deploy rapidly before moving. I agree the 120mm is heavier in real terms and has a higher logistical deployment weight but this is mitigated by the fact we are now expected to aggregate and suppress a peer force before dispersing. I would select the 120 for range and suppression effects at a 1 for 1 replacement for the 81 for all Inf Btn. The 81mm might have a role for SF and airborne units but as a former heavy support group officer I know my oppo in the mortar coy would have preferred the 120 as long as he didn't have to manpack it. 16 AA is now looking seriously at how they can leverage the A400M fleet and there is a lobby to retain the upgraded CVRT fleet (24 units I think). The days of carrying everything mercifully are over with the exception of mountain and jungle warfare. In the latter, a mortar is about as much use as a lace condom- you cant see shit to hit until you are within direct fire range.

MrF, you are right about the unit weight, but it is a null argument if you have vehicles, and there are some very good multi-effect fuses and different loads including a top attack anti-armour round from SAAB which would give the light units a serious indirect anti-amour capability. This would break up an armoured formation before contact and allow more effective use of the AT systems used by such formations (trust me I spent several years doing this!!).

Yes LAW66/80 were withdrawn from service but have you been in an armoury recently? Not the rifle racks but in the back? Ours had a nice shiny front office but the deep store and workshop had a lot of withdrawn kit: a few Bren, L1A1, Sterling, MP5, Daimeco C5, LAW66, LAW80, and even a few M79. When we went to the sandbox, everything was on the table and we lobbed a lot of 66 and 80's out. The L1A1 was carried by the sniper spotters as a support weapon and really did the biz.

Lastly, firing a 60mm in direct fireis going to get you killed. Your picture is of the old 2" weapon, a great bit of kit but a UGL is of far more use and gives a higher rate of fire. To fire a mortar in such a situation you would need to lower the barrel, reload, rasie and resight, then fire. The 2 operators in the above photo are defiladed in a ditch with what appears to be cover to eyeline and therefore the barrel is not in direct sight. Don't get me wrong, the 60mm would be a great bit of kit at Plt level and in my opinion better than CG as long as we retain NLAW at 1 per section and the UGL at 1 per fireteam. Add in the GPMG at 1 per section and you would finally have the section firepower footprint you could make an impact with.

I know that this is going to spark some comments but it does come from some operational experience.
Sounds sensible to me.

Might be a stupid suggestion however, but why not retain 81mm at a company level within a format like the one you describe above? Wouldn't the benefits of having slightly heavier, organic indirect fire support (81mm vs 60mm) outweigh potential logistics/tactical mobility related drawbacks?

Also, might the potential near term introduction of emebedded equipment carrier platforms (autonomous or otherwise), as seems to be the direction of travel, also be a factor to consider here? If the idea is for them to alleviate the load off the dismounted infantry, could that not be enough to allow the 81mm a stay of execution in the above scenario?
You have them already so why get get rid of them? I don't see why you couldn't have 60 at plt, 81 at coy and 120 at bn.

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Re: Section infantry weapons

Post by jimthelad »

Unfortunately the MoD dont follow common sense. They procure and sustain existing systems based on a through life cost basis. I doubt they will allow it and insist on 1 or the other (81/120). Assisted direct fire is a great concept but certainly I found it marginal in contact using the 51mm. The biggest issue was fire control when the unit tended to be strung out and in contact. The Plt Sgt always carried the tube and was a great operator but often he was where he should be in the rear of the attack and it made for difficult shot placement if he didn't have eyes on.

Sadly, the light units (16 AA, 3 Cdo) often still do manpack the tubes and rounds. We all used to carry 81mm rds on the drop and tried to offload them asap. I totally agree that wheeled units and possibly UGV are the way forward.

UJ, keeping both seems a great idea but unfortunately might lead to logistics headache and MoD interference. Maybe for 16AA and the SF units it might make more sense. In addition, it would need the whole fleet to be re-lifed, not just the handful done so far which ultimately might be nearly as expensive as buying new.

V, I'm not so sure about the 81mm/120mm/tonne information now. It originally came form studies done by DARPA/Rand in the early nineties and was being discussed when I was going through Sandhurst. I suspect the new 120mm with smart fuse and prefragmented casing might be as effective. In addition the versatility of rounds on the market far eclipses the 81mm. I tried to find more recent articles on debate but they all cite the original and seem to take it forward.

Voldemort
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Re: Section infantry weapons

Post by Voldemort »

jimthelad wrote:prefragmented casing might be as effective. In addition the versatility of rounds on the market far eclipses the 81mm. I tried to find more recent articles on debate but they all cite the original and seem to take it forward.
But then we're comparing apples and oranges, not apples and apples. Same improvements can be applied to 81mm and have been applied.

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mr.fred
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Re: Section infantry weapons

Post by mr.fred »

jimthelad wrote:The days of man packing mortar tubes and rounds are over. In the 'fight fast, fight dispersed' mentality especially against numerically superior forces then you have to be mobile. By that i mean that even light role units will be wheeled and have to shake out and deploy rapidly before moving.
At no point did I refer to man-packing mortars. Weight on some operations is critical - air mobile is the obvious one, but even vehicle mobile operations can be constrained by weight. If nothing else, a kg carried of one thing is a kilo of something else that you cannot carry.
jimthelad wrote:Lastly, firing a 60mm in direct fireis going to get you killed. Your picture is of the old 2" weapon, a great bit of kit but a UGL is of far more use and gives a higher rate of fire. To fire a mortar in such a situation you would need to lower the barrel, reload, rasie and resight, then fire. The 2 operators in the above photo are defiladed in a ditch with what appears to be cover to eyeline and therefore the barrel is not in direct sight.
This may be a semantic thing, but to me direct firing is where the firer can see the target and make his own corrections. If direct fire is impossibly dangerous for a mortar then it must also be impossibly dangerous for any other direct fire weapon.
jimthelad wrote:Yes LAW66/80 were withdrawn from service but have you been in an armoury recently? Not the rifle racks but in the back? Ours had a nice shiny front office but the deep store and workshop had a lot of withdrawn kit: a few Bren, L1A1, Sterling, MP5, Daimeco C5, LAW66, LAW80, and even a few M79. When we went to the sandbox, everything was on the table and we lobbed a lot of 66 and 80's out. The L1A1 was carried by the sniper spotters as a support weapon and really did the biz.
I can't say I have, but I know people who have been armourers. While it might be possible to have small arms tucked away somewhere, it seems most unlikely with the level of accountants involved. Having LAW66 (or at least something that looks like it) is not beyond the realms of possibility, since I am not sure on the status since Afghanistan and variants are still in production. It would be all but impossible to have a live LAW80. They were "wooden" rounds that had a fixed life, and were disposed of in the early-to-mid 2000's.
You might see a drill round, but not a live one. If you did find a live one today, the appropriate procedure would be to call an ATO, not issue it.
The last operational use of LAW80 would have been the early Op Telics.


Voldemort wrote:In Finland under 81mm mortars are mini, 81mm is light and 120mm is heavy
In Starbucks the sizes are apparently "Short", "Tall", and "Grande" but in plain English you could still describe them as small, medium and large. The point was that a 60mm mortar is not in the same category as an 81mm mortar.

Voldemort
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Re: Section infantry weapons

Post by Voldemort »

mr.fred wrote:In Starbucks the sizes are apparently "Short", "Tall", and "Grande" but in plain English you could still describe them as small, medium and large. The point was that a 60mm mortar is not in the same category as an 81mm mortar.
Yes, it was just "*adjusts glasses* I know following about the topic even though the info is useless"-type of comment. Yes, they are fundamentally different and need different designations.

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Re: Section infantry weapons

Post by jimthelad »

MrF, as i said at the start, I'm not trying to drag the thread down! Certainly the last time I was in green (or sandy to be precise) there were 80's still in the armoury. They would certainly be lifed but I read somewhere some of the later batches were retained after testing (although they are likely to have gone now).

Direct fire with a mortar is a risky business I fear. It takes longer to establish a sighting picture and is impossible to fire from prone as with an UGL. Rushing a round or rounds is just as likely to kill your own troops. Using it in such a way would be less accurate in my experience with the 51mm but I've never fired a 60mm so maybe it is different. This is one of the major drawbacks with the CG as well due to the venturi vents unless they have redesigned the backblast. This is why the firing post of the Milan was a periscopic sight to elevate the tube and back blast above the legs of the firer. I think CG was used prone but I think it came with some serious health warnings (ready to be corrected by any CG users here); it was withdrawn before i joined.

As for man-packing gear, I all too aware about a kg here is one less elsewhere. We still had to carry the rounds as well as MILAN tubes but fortunately we ditched them as soon as we could. Probably best to agree we have differing opinions based on personal experience.

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Re: Section infantry weapons

Post by mr.fred »

jimthelad wrote:Direct fire with a mortar is a risky business I fear. It takes longer to establish a sighting picture and is impossible to fire from prone as with an UGL. Rushing a round or rounds is just as likely to kill your own troops. Using it in such a way would be less accurate in my experience with the 51mm but I've never fired a 60mm so maybe it is different.
I can only imagine that you have a different understanding of "direct fire" than I do. The 60mm mortar Lord Jim linked to upthread can be used in the same fashion as a two inch mortar. The image I posted is a two inch mortar being used in what I understand to be direct fire, with both gunner and loader prone.

Firing a recoilless weapon when prone usually involves having the tube diagonal relative to the body and legs (or the legs and body diagonal relative to the tube).

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Re: Section infantry weapons

Post by whitelancer »

I think what you are referring to is what I would call semi indirect. In this situation at least one of the mortar team can see the target however the mortar itself can be behind cover, in a ditch behind a wall or bank etc. The team member with eyes on then directs the fire much as a MFC would.

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Re: Section infantry weapons

Post by mr.fred »

whitelancer wrote:I think what you are referring to is what I would call semi indirect. In this situation at least one of the mortar team can see the target however the mortar itself can be behind cover, in a ditch behind a wall or bank etc. The team member with eyes on then directs the fire much as a MFC would.
What if the member who can see is the gunner?

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Re: Section infantry weapons

Post by whitelancer »

mr.fred wrote:What if the member who can see is the gunner?
All the team should be able to operate the mortar besides it will normally be the team leader doing the spotting and directing of fire. Its not that they will be far apart. The mortar could be behind a wall or bank with the observer a few feet away looking over or around it.

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Re: Section infantry weapons

Post by clivestonehouse1 »

There is absolutely no way in hell that any armoury would hold live ammo or explosives in stock.
Having worked in an armoury AND a Defence Munitions facility in past years I know this for a fact.
Drill weapons / subcal launchers for sure but certainly not loaded and ready to pop.
Handling and storage of class 1 munitions is strictly controlled and monitored whether that be rounds, pyro or explosive.
The only people that would retain class 1 would be ATO EOD teams who have their own storage facilities.

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Re: Section infantry weapons

Post by jimthelad »

High readiness units always carried 1 fire unit (NATO) in the armoury. At least they did until 2001 when I left. Deep store for us was Beith, not sure what was carried there but they always came up with the goods when asked. Not sure what goes on now but in the bad old days that was the case. I'll defer to your better judgement.

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Re: Section infantry weapons

Post by clivestonehouse1 »

jimthelad wrote:High readiness units always carried 1 fire unit (NATO) in the armoury. At least they did until 2001 when I left. Deep store for us was Beith, not sure what was carried there but they always came up with the goods when asked. Not sure what goes on now but in the bad old days that was the case. I'll defer to your better judgement.
Defence Munition sites like Beith hold whatever is in common use in their catchment area.
Down my end it's mostly naval stuff (TLAM, Spearfish and other ship munitions) but also SAA, pyro etc.
We do get shipments from Beith and other DM sites as necessary.

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Re: Section infantry weapons

Post by Lord Jim »

Well if we actually wanted a replacement for the MAG/GPMG here is another possibility from Poland (I think).
https://www.janes.com/article/90883/msp ... -to-norway

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Re: Section infantry weapons

Post by jimthelad »

Better to go down the Finnish route and rework the GPMG. Don't mess with perfection !

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Re: Section infantry weapons

Post by clivestonehouse1 »

jimthelad wrote:Better to go down the Finnish route and rework the GPMG. Don't mess with perfection !
The GPMG has been the workhorse for many years and has always delivered the goods.
If it ain't broke.......

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Re: Section infantry weapons

Post by jimthelad »

totally agree, but if we could lose the 1.5kg the Finns seem to have done then perfection becomes deified!!!!

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Re: Section infantry weapons

Post by Voldemort »

jimthelad wrote:totally agree, but if we could lose the 1.5kg the Finns seem to have done then perfection becomes deified!!!!
We have done what now? Finland uses PKM.

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Re: Section infantry weapons

Post by Andy-M »

jimthelad wrote:totally agree, but if we could lose the 1.5kg the Finns seem to have done then perfection becomes deified!!!!
Are you sure you don't mean Sweden?

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Re: Section infantry weapons

Post by ArmChairCivvy »

Andy-M wrote:Are you sure you don't mean Sweden?
Their 6.5? Universal caliber - the holy grail - that was done away with, a while back?
Ever-lasting truths: Multi-year budgets/ planning by necessity have to address the painful questions; more often than not the Either-Or prevails over Both-And.
If everyone is thinking the same, then someone is not thinking (attributed to Patton)

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Re: Section infantry weapons

Post by Andy-M »

ArmChairCivvy wrote:
Andy-M wrote:Are you sure you don't mean Sweden?
Their 6.5? Universal caliber - the holy grail - that was done away with, a while back?
thought you meant the Ksp 58 DF, about half way down this link, they shortened the FN MAG.

http://www.gotavapen.se/gota/artiklar/u ... /ksp58.htm

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Re: Section infantry weapons

Post by ArmChairCivvy »

Andy-M wrote:
ArmChairCivvy wrote:
Andy-M wrote:Are you sure you don't mean Sweden?
Their 6.5? Universal caliber - the holy grail - that was done away with, a while back?
thought you meant the Ksp 58 DF, about half way down this link, they shortened the FN MAG.

http://www.gotavapen.se/gota/artiklar/u ... /ksp58.htm
Sorry, I did not know that they had converted some (or all, 3000 that would make) into the 7.62 x 51 from KSP 58 with 6,5x55 mm (originally). At the time also their ARs were using the same ammo
- The Finnish light MG from only a couple of years later was spewing out the short 7.62 at the rate of 1000 rpm - so effectively an escape weapon (carried by recce teams, to break contact)
Ever-lasting truths: Multi-year budgets/ planning by necessity have to address the painful questions; more often than not the Either-Or prevails over Both-And.
If everyone is thinking the same, then someone is not thinking (attributed to Patton)

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Re: Section infantry weapons

Post by jimthelad »

Sorry, getting my Scandinavians mixed up!!!

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