120 Krh/40

120 Krh/40
TypeHeavy mortar
Place of originFinland
Service history
In service1940–present
Used byFinnish army
Swedish army
Estonian army
German army
Latvian army
Lithuanian army
Portuguese army
WarsContinuation War
Production history
DesignerTampella
ManufacturerTampella
No. built596 by Tampella[1]
Specifications
Mass260 kg (570 lb)
Barrel length189 cm (74 in)
Caliber120 mm (4.7 in)
Rate of fireup to 20 rounds/minute[1]
Muzzle velocity116–290 m/s (380–950 ft/s)[1]
Maximum firing range7,200 metres (7,900 yd)

120 Krh/40 is a 120 mm mortar developed by the Finnish company Tampella (now Patria Vammas).

Use in Sweden

An m/41 mortar at a Regimentsl Day at the South Scanian Regiment.
Loading the mortar into a cart.

The 120 Krh/40 first entered service in 1940 after being ordered the previous year by Finland. It was exported to Sweden between 1941 and 1944 and later produced under license there. A total of 219 were exported by Tampella.[1] The Swedish military calls them 12 cm granatkastare m/41 and they have continued to serve as the standard heavy mortar of the Swedish Army. In 1956, their base-plates were replaced by Swedish-manufactured Hotchkiss-Brandt M-56 baseplates.[2] As of 2016, 165 m/41D are still in service in the Estonian Land Forces[3] and 22 are held by the Lithuanian Armed Forces.[4]

They got a major increase in lethality when the STRIX top attack anti armour round was introduced in the 1990s; it is a smart weapon that homes in on the IR signature of armoured vehicles.

See also

  • Soltam M-65 – an Israeli copy of Krh/40 using a new base plate
  • Soltam K6 – further development of M-65

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Finnish Army 1918 - 1945: 120 Mm Mortars".
  2. ^ "m/41D 120 mm mortar (Sweden), Mortars". Jane's Infantry Weapons. 5 August 2011. Archived from the original on 11 September 2012. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
  3. ^ International Institute for Strategic Studies (February 2016). The Military Balance 2016. Vol. 116. Routlegde. p. 91. ISBN 9781857438352.
  4. ^ "UN Register: Military holdings - Lithuania 2016". www.un-register.org. Archived from the original on 26 January 2018. Retrieved 28 June 2018.

Media related to 120 Krh 40 at Wikimedia Commons