160 mm Mortar M1943

160 mm mortar M1943
Picture of displayed 160mm Mortar M1943 at Memorial Complex in Nizhny Novgorod
Type	Heavy 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	1,170 kg (2,580 lb)
Barrel length	3.03 m (9.9 ft)
Shell	40.8 kg (90 lb) bomb
Caliber	160 mm (6.3 in)
Elevation	+45° to +80°
Traverse	25°
Rate of fire	3 rounds/minute
Muzzle velocity	245 m/s (800 ft/s)
Effective firing range	5,150 m (16,900 ft)

The Soviet 160 mm Mortar M1943 is a smoothbore breech loading heavy mortar which fired a 160 mm (6.3 in) 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 (4.7 in) M1938 mortar, it soon became apparent that drop-loading a 40.8 kg (90 lb) bomb into a 3.03 m (9.9 ft) long 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 (6.3 in) 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 heavy weight of the mortar, it is equipped with a wheeled carriage and is designed to be towed by a motor-driven vehicle.

Service

Users

•  Algeria: 60 as of 2016^[update][1]
•  Egypt: 30 as of 2016^[update][2]
•  Guinea[3]
•  Hezbollah^[citation needed]
•  North Korea[4][5]
•  Vietnam[6]

Former users

•  Afghanistan [7]
•  Albania[8]
•  Bulgaria[9]
•  Cambodia[10]
•  China[9]
•  Cuba[11]
•  Czechoslovakia[9]
•  Czech Republic[9]
•  Finland[12]
•  India[13][14]
•  Iraq[15]
•  Libya[16]
•  Poland[9]
•  Romania[9]
•  Slovakia[9]
•  Soviet Union[9]
•  Syria[17]
•  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. Taylor & Francis. p. 470. ISBN 9781032012278.
4. US Department of Defense. "160mm M-43 Mortar". North Korea Country Handbook 1997, Appendix A: Equipment Recognition (PDF). p. A-92. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2016-03-04. 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.
8. "The Centre for SouthEast European Studies". Archived from the original on 2007-04-10. Retrieved 2007-06-14.
9. Gander, Terry J. (4 June 2001). "160 mm M1943 and M-160 mortars". Jane's Infantry Weapons 2002-2003. pp. 3678–3679.
10. Gander, Terry J. (22 November 2000). "National inventories, Cambodia". Jane's Infantry Weapons 2001-2002. p. 1134.
11. Gander, Terry J. (22 November 2000). "National inventories, Cuba". Jane's Infantry Weapons 2001-2002. p. 1508.
12. Gander, Terry J. (22 November 2000). "National inventories, Finland". Jane's Infantry Weapons 2001-2002. p. 1716.
13. Gander, Terry J. (22 November 2000). "National inventories, India". Jane's Infantry Weapons 2001-2002. p. 2462.
14. "Army says goodbye to artillery guns that served for six decades". The Week. Retrieved 2021-06-20.
15. Gander, Terry J. (22 November 2000). "National inventories, Iraq". Jane's Infantry Weapons 2001-2002. p. 2569.
16. Gander, Terry J. (22 November 2000). "National inventories, Libya". Jane's Infantry Weapons 2001-2002. p. 3090.
17. Gander, Terry J. (22 November 2000). "National inventories, Syria". Jane's Infantry Weapons 2001-2002. p. 4546.
18. Gander, Terry J. (22 November 2000). "National inventories, Yemen". Jane's Infantry Weapons 2001-2002. p. 5802.

• 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. Vol. 116. Routlegde. ISBN 9781857438352.

External links

• https://web.archive.org/web/20080315123137/http://www.weaponblog.ru/group/vidy/voennaja_texnika/39451.html