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160 mm mortar M1943
160mm Mortar M1943 003
Type Mortar
Place of origin Soviet Union
Service history
In service 1943-Present
Wars World War II
Korean War
Six-Day War
Vietnam War
Yom Kippur War
Lebanese Civil War
1978 South Lebanon conflict
South Lebanon conflict (1985–2000)
Specifications
Mass combat: 1,170 kg (2,580 lb)
Barrel length 3.03 m (9 ft 11 in)

Shell 40.8 kg (90 lb) bomb
Caliber 160 mm (6.29 in)
Elevation +45° to +80°
Traverse 25°
Rate of fire 3 rounds/minute
Muzzle velocity 245 m/s (804 ft/s)
Effective firing range 5,150 m (5,630 yd)

The Soviet 160 mm Mortar M1943 is a smoothbore breech loading heavy mortar which fired a 160 mm bomb. The M1943 (also called the MT-13) was one of the heaviest mortar used by Soviet troops in World War II. Around 535 of these weapons were fielded with Soviet forces during the war. It was replaced in Soviet service after World War II by the M-160 mortar of the same caliber.

Description[]

Originally a simple scaling-up of the 120 mm M1938 mortar, it soon became apparent that drop-loading a 40 kg bomb into a 3 meter high tube would be too difficult for any man to do. It was redesigned into a breech loading weapon, and contains a substantial recoil system to soak up the massive shock of firing a 160 mm bomb and prevent the baseplate from burying itself too deeply.

The barrel sits in a cradle which is attached to a baseplate and tripod. To load the weapon, the barrel is hinged forward which exposes the rear end of the tube. The bomb is then loaded, retained in place by a catch, and the barrel is swung back into the cradle, which in effect closes the breech.

Because of the weight of the mortar, it is equipped with wheels and is designed to be towed by a motor-driven vehicle.

Service[]

Users[]

Former users[]

  • Flag of Afghanistan (1974–1978) Republic of Afghanistan Flag of Afghanistan (1987–1992) Democratic Republic of Afghanistan /
  • Flag of Afghanistan (1992) Islamic State of Afghanistan / Flag of Afghanistan (2004–2013) Islamic Republic of Afghanistan [7]
  • Flag of Albania (1946-1992) People's Socialist Republic of Albania - totay ⦁ Flag of Albania Albania[8]
  • Flag of Bulgaria (1971-1990) People's Republic of Bulgaria - totay ⦁Flag of Bulgaria Bulgaria[9]
  • Flag of the People's Republic of Kampuchea People's Republic of Kampuchea / Template:Country data State of Cambodia
  • Flag of Cambodia Cambodia[10]
  • Flag of United Arab Republic United Arab Republic / Template:Flaglist
  • Flag of the People's Republic of China People's Republic of China[9]
  • Flag of Cuba Cuba[11]
  • Flag of Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia[9]
  • Flag of the Czech Republic Czech Republic[9]
  • Flag of Finland Finland[12]
  • Flag of India India[13][14]
  • Flag of Iraq (1963-1991) Ba'athist Iraq - totay ⦁ Flag of Iraq Iraq[15]
  • Template:Country data Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya - totay ⦁ Flag of Libya Libya[16]
  • Flag of Poland Polish People's Republic - totay ⦁ Flag of Poland Poland[9]
  • Flag of Romania (1965-1989) Socialist Republic of Romania - totay ⦁ Flag of Romania Romania[9]
  • Flag of Slovakia Slovakia[9]
  • Flag of the Soviet Union Soviet Union[9]
  • Flag of Syria Syria[17]
  • Flag of Yemen Yemen[18]

References[]

  1. The Military Balance 2016, p. 320.
  2. The Military Balance 2016, p. 324.
  3. International Institute for Strategic Studies (2021). The Military Balance. p. 470. ISBN 9781032012278. 
  4. US Department of Defense. "160mm M-43 Mortar". North Korea Country Handbook 1997, Appendix A: Equipment Recognition. p. A-92. https://fas.org/nuke/guide/dprk/nkor.pdf. Retrieved 2019-06-01. 
  5. The Military Balance 2016, p. 265.
  6. The Military Balance 2016, p. 297.
  7. Gander, Terry J. (22 November 2000). "National inventories, Afghanistan". Jane's Infantry Weapons 2001-2002. p. 444. https://archive.org/details/Janes_Infantry_Weapons/page/n444. 
  8. "The Centre for SouthEast European Studies". Archived from the original on 2007-04-10. https://web.archive.org/web/20070410064544/http://www.csees.net/?page=country_section&country_id=1&sec=8. Retrieved 2007-06-14. 
  9. 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 9.6 9.7 Gander, Terry J. (4 June 2001). "160 mm M1943 and M-160 mortars". Jane's Infantry Weapons 2002-2003. pp. 3678–3679. https://archive.org/details/Janes_Infantry_Weapons/page/n3678. 
  10. Gander, Terry J. (22 November 2000). "National inventories, Cambodia". Jane's Infantry Weapons 2001-2002. p. 1134. https://archive.org/details/Janes_Infantry_Weapons/page/n1134. 
  11. Gander, Terry J. (22 November 2000). "National inventories, Cuba". Jane's Infantry Weapons 2001-2002. p. 1508. https://archive.org/details/Janes_Infantry_Weapons/page/n1508. 
  12. Gander, Terry J. (22 November 2000). "National inventories, Finland". Jane's Infantry Weapons 2001-2002. p. 1716. https://archive.org/details/Janes_Infantry_Weapons/page/n1716. 
  13. Gander, Terry J. (22 November 2000). "National inventories, India". Jane's Infantry Weapons 2001-2002. p. 2462. https://archive.org/details/Janes_Infantry_Weapons/page/n2462. 
  14. "Army says goodbye to artillery guns that served for six decades" (in en). https://www.theweek.in/news/india/2021/03/16/army-says-goodbye-to-artillery-guns-that-serve-for-six-decades.html. 
  15. Gander, Terry J. (22 November 2000). "National inventories, Iraq". Jane's Infantry Weapons 2001-2002. p. 2569. https://archive.org/details/Janes_Infantry_Weapons/page/n2569. 
  16. Gander, Terry J. (22 November 2000). "National inventories, Libya". Jane's Infantry Weapons 2001-2002. p. 3090. https://archive.org/details/Janes_Infantry_Weapons/page/n3090. 
  17. Gander, Terry J. (22 November 2000). "National inventories, Syria". Jane's Infantry Weapons 2001-2002. p. 4546. https://archive.org/details/Janes_Infantry_Weapons/page/n4545. 
  18. Gander, Terry J. (22 November 2000). "National inventories, Yemen". Jane's Infantry Weapons 2001-2002. p. 5802. https://archive.org/details/Janes_Infantry_Weapons/page/n5802. 
  • Hogg, Ian (2000). Twentieth-Century Artillery. Friedman/Fairfax Publishers. ISBN 1-58663-299-X
  • Hogg, Ian (editor) (1984). Jane's Infantry Weapons. Janes Publishing Limited. ISBN 0-7106-0796-2.
  • Zaloga, Stephen and Ness, Leland. Red Army Handbook 1939-1945. Sutton Publishing. ISBN 0-7509-1740-7.
  • International Institute for Strategic Studies (February 2016). The Military Balance 2016. 116. Routlegde. ISBN 9781857438352. 

External links[]

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