Titanium alloy built with satellite-guided projectiles

This is the Chinese army's new titanium alloy ultra-light 60mm mortar. It is no exaggeration to say that it is a portable "artifact" for airborne troops.

This "new thing" immediately attracted everyone's attention. It turns out that a 60mm mortar can be used like this!

The 60mm mortar is no stranger to military fans. This direct-fire weapon participated in World War I and World War II. It can be said to have a history of more than a hundred years as an "antique".

With its unique ballistic trajectory, it can easily complete the feat of "hitting an ox across a mountain" and deliver a fatal blow to the enemy. Even in informationized and intelligent warfare, this old weapon still seems to have no sign of being eliminated.

In fact, during the Russia-Ukraine war, the infantry deployed by both sides in forward positions used a large number of different types of 60mm mortars to carry out "turn-based bombardment."

This proves that even in today's battlefield environment, the 60mm mortar is still an indispensable member of the infantry company.

So, what's so special about China's latest titanium alloy ultra-light 60mm mortar?

First of all, this new gun is really "light"!

China's new mortar is made of titanium alloy, which greatly reduces its weight.

According to official sources, the total weight of this ultra-light 60mm mortar is only 10.15 kilograms, which is nearly 30% lighter than the 14.5 kilograms of the PP-89 light mortar currently in service in our army.

This lightweight design is the first in the world and will greatly enhance the mobility and rapid response capabilities of the troops.

What's even more surprising is that this lightweight design is reflected in many aspects.

The first is the tripod. The tripod of this new mortar is made of aerospace-grade aluminum alloy, which is very lightweight, but not inferior in stability and load-bearing capacity. Secondly, the chassis system simplifies the structure and reduces the overall weight. The first is the optical and control system, which adopts a miniaturized module design and is also lightweight; finally, the most critical gun barrel also uses high-strength titanium alloy, which greatly reduces its own mass while ensuring compressive strength.

From the overall design to every detail, the lightweight concept of this new mortar has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and it can be called a lightweight "technical artwork."

What's even more amazing is that this ultra-light new gun can be carried into battle by 2-3 soldiers. This formation is called a "mortar shooting team."

One soldier carries the gun barrel, another person is responsible for the tripod, and the third person carries modules such as the optical sighting system. They can be quickly combined to complete deployment within two minutes and enter combat status.

This super mobility and rapid response capability are of extremely important significance for high-mobility combat.

For example, this provides the possibility for paratroopers who have fallen from a high altitude to quickly obtain fire support after landing; for the Raptor commandos that quickly break into the enemy's position from the helicopter, this "portable mortar" can also open up the situation and quickly suppress the enemy's firepower. .

It is foreseeable that the airborne troops and air commandos equipped with this "artifact" will have greatly improved combat flexibility and can complete more complex and maneuverable tasks. They will be like "amphibious warriors" integrating land, sea and air, gaining unprecedented capabilities. battlefield mobility.

In addition, the biggest feature of this new 60mm mortar is its "individual combat mode". A unique handle and trigger structure are added to the rear of the gun, so that individual soldiers can easily use it to fire.

The significance of this design is of great significance. It breaks the limitation that traditional mortars must be operated by three or more people, making it possible for individual soldiers to use them independently, which greatly improves combat flexibility.

Moreover, man-portable operation greatly expands the use scenarios of this type of weapon, allowing it to follow infantry maneuvers and provide instant fire support for infantry offense and defense, which is something traditional mortars cannot do.

In the contemporary battlefield situation where combat distances are constantly intertwined, this "portable mortar" provides individual soldiers with ultra-long-distance firepower support, allowing individual soldiers to gain the ability to strike "beyond visual range".

In the future, infantrymen carrying this "artifact" will be completely different from previous generations. They will realize a true "one-man army", maneuver on the battlefield, quickly occupy a favorable position, and then immediately use the "portable mortar" Attack the hidden enemy and open a breakthrough for us...

From this point of view, this is not only a new mortar, but also a breakthrough in a new infantry combat mode!

Such flexibility and mobility are simply too important for special forces to complete diverse tasks. Whether it is dealing with lurking enemies or conducting anti-terrorism assaults, this new gun can play a huge role.

In addition to being lightweight, this new 60mm mortar also has a qualitative leap in shooting accuracy, mainly due to its integrated digital fire control system.

This system integrates a variety of cutting-edge technologies to achieve automated target search, tracking and shooting.

The core is lidar and thermal imaging systems, which are combined with high-performance optical systems to achieve all-weather and all-weather target search and identification. Once the target enters the field of view, the system will automatically lock and track.

At the same time, the digital system also has a built-in mimicry algorithm, which can quickly determine the target type and assess the threat level; combined with the geographical information database, it can assist in automatically determining the shooting range and fuze parameters without manual intervention.

At the same time, the digital ballistic computer will combine laser ranging data and environmental parameters such as wind speed and direction, temperature, and air pressure input by meteorological sensors to quickly calculate the ballistic solution and lock the target with an accuracy of approximately 1 milliradian.

In order to further improve the probability of hitting the first shot, the optical sight equipped with this new mortar also has built-in ranging and calculation functions. Based on the principle of sonic boom binocular ranging, it can automatically obtain distance data and combine it with the ballistic computer to directly Displaying the aiming point greatly simplifies the process of aiming and shooting.

The integration of such a system brings the accuracy of this new 60mm mortar to a new level.

There is no need for complicated measurements and calculations. The fully automatic fire control system makes it as simple as operating a video game, and the accuracy is more than ten times higher than manual operation.

What's even more amazing is the "networkability" brought about by the fully digital system.

This system can connect to drones or anti-artillery radars in real time through digital radio and share target information. This means that the weapon itself can search for and attack the enemy without being exposed, practicing the information-based combat concept of "discovery and destruction".

At the same time, the digital system and the command post can also interact in real time, receive high-level target assignments, and quickly feedback the battlefield situation to the commander.

This forms a "company-level precision strike network" with the strongest performance and fastest response, which can realize the command post's intention and accurately shoot key targets.

It can be said that this new 60mm mortar is a minimized and modular "firepower node". It allows company-level infantry to have the full ability to carry out precision strikes, which was completely unimaginable in the past.

In addition, the biggest innovation of this new 60mm mortar is that it achieves a true "network strike", mainly due to the digital network system it is equipped with.

The system establishes real-time connections with various sensing platforms through new broadband digital radios, forming a huge battlefield information network.

These include drones, satellites, and radar systems, which quickly transmit battlefield target information; they also include infrared countermeasures systems, which are used to effectively identify enemy electronic countermeasures. In this way, a multi-source heterogeneous sensor network forms an wireless The "electronic eye" of the blind spot on the battlefield.

At the same time, the new 60mm mortar itself is also an information node.

The digital fire control system it carries can quickly process multi-source information, establish a real-time battlefield map, and provide support for the commander's intelligent decision-making.

When the enemy situation changes and new targets appear, it can lock on to the target immediately, carry out precise strikes, and at the same time feed back the target and its effects to the network, thus forming a highly scalable, mobile and flexible "network firepower" system".

This meshing is not only reflected in platform connection, but also in the innovation of combat modes. The new 60mm mortar can realize the "active joint" combat idea and practice the concept of intelligent precision strike.

For example, for enemy artillery positions, it can actively access a drone or reconnaissance radio station to request target information; select the best shooting position based on the terrain database; directly carry out intensive strikes after ballistic calculation, and at the same time cooperate with friendly electronic warfare systems to carry out attacks on enemy radars. Interference; after the attack, connect the drone again to verify the effect...

The entire process is automatically and efficiently closed-loop, and each node on the network collaborates independently, making it easier to optimize the overall process, thus greatly improving combat efficiency, which was completely impossible to achieve in the past.

It can be said that this new 60mm mortar has pioneered the networking, precision and intelligence of the grassroots combat system. It not only brings changes in firepower, but also subverts the combat concept.

This "network combat unit" idea that can be applied on a large scale will surely become a model for future wars.

To sum up, this latest titanium alloy ultra-light and high-precision 60mm mortar developed by China can be regarded as a model of the new generation of this type of weapon.

Whether in terms of quality, flexibility or precision, it dominates the world's advanced level and marks China's leading position in this field.

Compared with the M224A1 60mm mortar currently in service in the US military, this new equipment of our army is undoubtedly superior.

It provides grassroots troops with a lightweight and efficient "artifact" to enhance firepower, and is likely to set off a wave of innovation in company-level combat models.

In the future, this new mortar is likely to gradually replace the PP-89 as the main force in the army, truly realizing the magnificent transformation from "small steel cannon" to "artifact".