Ebook: The High-Precision Tulip: Development and Combat Employment of the Soviet Laser-Guided Mortar Round

(Грау Лестер В., Литвиненко Виктор. Высокоточный «Тюльпан»: разработка и боевое применение советской минометной мины с лазерным наведением).Journal article. Fort Leavenworth, KS: Foreign military studies office (army). 2006. – 5 р.Mortars of all sizes have always been part of Russian and Soviet artillery. In 1960, the Soviets mounted the M-240 mortar on a tracked, self-propelled chassis. A hydraulic system raised and lowered the tube from the carrying position to the firing position. As was customary, the self-propelled artillery system was christened with an alpha-numeric designator (the 2S4) and the name of a flower (the tulip). The tulip has a variety of rounds. The 130-kilogram (287 pound) fragmentation-blast round fires out to a range of 9650 meters. The 228-kilogram (503 pound) rocket-assisted projectile fires out to a range of 18,000 meters. In addition, it has special munitions (concrete-piercing, chemical and nuclear). Due to its nuclear capability, the 2S4 was assigned to the nuclear-capable High-Powered Artillery Brigades. The High-Powered Artillery Brigades were used against high-priority targets that were operationally-significant. Along with the Krasnopol laser-guided projectile that the Soviets designed for their 152mm family of guns and howitzers, the Soviets developed a laser-guided projectile for their 240mm mortar. The laser-guided heavy mortar round was clearly designed for other than guerrilla war, but in the mountainous terrain of Afghanistan, it destroyed targets that guns, howitzers and multiple rocket launchers could not reach. Improved precision-guided munitions (PGM) are being developed and these new PGM systems will be deployed globally and will dramatically effect the tactical deployment and formations of forces on the future battlefield.