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Dragon Fire (mortar)

 
Dragon Fire (mortar)

 
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The Dragon Fire 120 mm heavy mortar
Mortar (weapon)

A mortar is a Muzzleloader indirect fire weapon that fires shell at low velocities, short ranges, and high-arcing Ballistics trajectories. It typically has a barrel length less than 15 times its caliber....
 is a program under development (as of 2006) for the US Marine Corps. It is a fully automated mortar capable of using rifled or smoothbore
Smoothbore

A smoothbore weapon is one which has a gun barrel without rifling. Smoothbores range from handheld firearms to powerful tank guns and large artillery mortar s....
 120 mm ammunition. Like all mortars it is a high-angle-of-fire weapon
Weapon

A weapon is a tool used to apply or threaten to apply force for the purpose of hunting, attack or defense in combat, subduing enemy personnel, or to destroy enemy weapons, equipment and defensive structures....
 used for indirect fire
Indirect fire

In the context of warfare, direct fire means aiming through a sight directly at the target. This sight may be open fore and back sight or optical....
 support. Dragon Fire is also expected to be effective in a counter-battery role.

Dragon Fire program began in 1997 as a concept demonstrator, intended to experiment with automating medium-caliber, medium range artillery
Artillery

Artillery is a military Combat Arms which employs any apparatus, machine, an assortment of tools or instruments, a system or systems used as weapons for the discharge of large projectiles in combat as a major contribution of fire power within the overall military capability of an armed force....
.






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The Dragon Fire 120 mm heavy mortar
Mortar (weapon)

A mortar is a Muzzleloader indirect fire weapon that fires shell at low velocities, short ranges, and high-arcing Ballistics trajectories. It typically has a barrel length less than 15 times its caliber....
 is a program under development (as of 2006) for the US Marine Corps. It is a fully automated mortar capable of using rifled or smoothbore
Smoothbore

A smoothbore weapon is one which has a gun barrel without rifling. Smoothbores range from handheld firearms to powerful tank guns and large artillery mortar s....
 120 mm ammunition. Like all mortars it is a high-angle-of-fire weapon
Weapon

A weapon is a tool used to apply or threaten to apply force for the purpose of hunting, attack or defense in combat, subduing enemy personnel, or to destroy enemy weapons, equipment and defensive structures....
 used for indirect fire
Indirect fire

In the context of warfare, direct fire means aiming through a sight directly at the target. This sight may be open fore and back sight or optical....
 support. Dragon Fire is also expected to be effective in a counter-battery role.

History

The Dragon Fire program began in 1997 as a concept demonstrator, intended to experiment with automating medium-caliber, medium range artillery
Artillery

Artillery is a military Combat Arms which employs any apparatus, machine, an assortment of tools or instruments, a system or systems used as weapons for the discharge of large projectiles in combat as a major contribution of fire power within the overall military capability of an armed force....
. The Dragon Fire combines digital fire control, power-operated traverse, elevation, and loading, and an advanced aiming system with a 120mm rifled mortar system to give much faster and more precise direct support. Program lead is the Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory with design by Army Armament Research, Development, and Engineering Command (ARDEC), and fabrication by Rock Island Arsenal IL
Rock Island Arsenal

The Rock Island Arsenal comprises 946 acres , located on Arsenal Island, originally known as Rock Island, on the Mississippi River between the cities of Davenport, Iowa and Rock Island, Illinois....
, and General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems (GD-OTS). The first prototype was constructed partly from components of a French 120 mm rifled mortar and was completed in 1998. The system was successfully tested and then used in operational experiments from 1998 to 2002, including firings from a modified Light Armored Vehicle.

Dragon Fire II intended to reduce the overall weight of the concept demonstrator and to improve its performance, particularly response time and precision and to facilitate counter-battery fire. The first Dragon Fire II concept demonstrator was completed in September 2005 at Rock Island Arsenal and successfully test fired at Yuma Proving Ground in November 2005.

Operation

The Dragon Fire mortar system can be deployed mounted in an LAV, towed by a HMMWV, or air deployed by CH-53 Sea Stallion
CH-53 Sea Stallion

The CH-53 Sea Stallion is the most common name for the Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation S-65 family of heavy-lift transport helicopters. Originally developed for use by the United States Marine Corps, it is also in service with Germany, Iran, Israel, Mexico, and as the MH-53 Pave Low with the United States Air Force....
 helicopter or V-22 Osprey
V-22 Osprey

The V-22 Osprey is a multi-mission, military tiltrotor aircraft with both a vertical takeoff and landing and short takeoff and landing capability....
. Mounting in an LAV does not require a separate mount; its towing carriage can be converted to an LAV mount in five minutes. After deployment the crew can control the weapon system from a remote station. In operation it is designed to be fully automatic: loading, computing firing solutions, aiming and firing automatically. From an unloaded condition, the weapon is capable of loading, completing a firing solution, aiming, and firing the first round within 14 seconds of receiving an order. The weapon is also capable of being operated manually in the event of failure of an automatic system.

The advanced fire control system is fully compatible with the US Army system, to reduce the risk of friendly fire.

Types of Rounds

The Dragon Fire system is designed to be able to use all NATO
NATO

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization , also called the Atlantic Alliance, is a military alliance established by the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty on 4 April 1949....
 types of rifled and smoothbore 120 mm mortar ammunition.

See also

  • AMOS
    Amos

    Amos may refer to:...
  • M1129 Mortar Carrier
    M1129 Mortar Carrier

    The M1129 Mortar Carrier, is a 8?8 wheeled armoured Mortar carrier based on the Stryker combat vehicle, and produced by the United States defence company General Dynamics....
    , equipped with M121 120 mm mortar.
  • M1064 Mortar carrier
    M113 Armored Personnel Carrier variants

    A huge number of M113 Armored Personnel Carrier variants have been created, ranging from infantry carriers to nuclear missile carriers. The M113 Armored Personnel Carrier has become one of the most prolific armored vehicles of the second half of the 20th century, and continues to serve with armies around the world in many roles....
    , equipped with M121 120 mm mortar.
  • M120 120 mm mortar
    M120 120 mm mortar

    The M120 120 mm mortar is the latest development of the Soltam M-65 120 mm mortar and has replaced the M30 107 mm Mortar 107 mm mortar in United States Army infantry and armor units....
  • Mortar (weapon)
    Mortar (weapon)

    A mortar is a Muzzleloader indirect fire weapon that fires shell at low velocities, short ranges, and high-arcing Ballistics trajectories. It typically has a barrel length less than 15 times its caliber....
  • Artillery
    Artillery

    Artillery is a military Combat Arms which employs any apparatus, machine, an assortment of tools or instruments, a system or systems used as weapons for the discharge of large projectiles in combat as a major contribution of fire power within the overall military capability of an armed force....
  • Military technology and equipment
    Military technology and equipment

    This article lists military technology items, devices and methods. The Categorization of weapons of war is one of the research issues of military science....
  • List of modern weapons
    List of modern weapons

    List of all weapons currently in development, production, or significant service in the world....
  • List of artillery
    List of artillery

    A list of artillery catalogues types of weapons found in Artillery battery of national armed forces' artillery Military organization.Some weapons used by the infantry units, known as infantry support weapons, are often misidentified as artillery weapons because of their use and performance characteristics, sometimes known colloquially as th...
  • List of crew served weapons of the US Armed Forces