What do mortars sound like

It quieted down for about two hours and then started up again. We have to find a way to get tag numbers. Greer said the police will respond. Over the last year, the caliber of fireworks has gone up. They are louder.

Greer showed aldermen a Mad Max canister shell. Another firework called Golden Willows fits into the Mad Max, he said and It goes off like a mortar shell.

If the noise continues, the neighbor can sign an affidavit under the noise ordinance and the police can make an arrest. Alderman Joe Tullos said the problem was all over the city. Mayor Young said a fireworks ordinance is being drafted by the board which will limit the times, and places fireworks may be purchased and used. After acknowledging, the mortars would fire.

This tells the FO that the rounds are about to hit and he should prepare himself by taking cover or looking for where the rounds hit. The FO would respond "Splash out. When the round s hit the FO locates the impact and determines how far away from the enemy it is. He will then call back to the mortarmen and say "Left four hundred meters, drop one hundred meters. The FO might also say North two hundred meters, East so many meters, ect.

If the FO has given the mortarmen an azimuth they he can adjust left, right, ect. Otherwise he must use north, south, east or west. When the impact of the mortar round is close enough the FO says "Fire for Effect, over". The mortarman says "Fire for effect, out," and gives the command to his mortar teams who begin firing multiple rounds. Of course the enemy isn't going to sit still while things blow up around him.

The best way to avoid getting blown up is to run very fast into a location where nobody can see you. Forward Observing for a mortar or artillery unit is an art form and the FO must have some idea of what mortars and artillery are capable of. This is why many units have special radio operators who are trained as FO's. One way to insure accuracy is to 'bracket' the target.

Try to hit around the enemy. For instance the first round falls two hundred meters to the left of the enemy you guestimate. So you tell the mortar team to shoot three hundred meters to the right. See where the round hits and then make another adjustment. If it hits where you guessed you tell the mortar team to shift fire left one hundred meters and fire for effect.

This is another case where reading a map is critical for the FO so he can figure out where the enemy is at and the mortarmen so they can figure out where they are at in relation to the enemy. Laser range finders and GPS units are incredibly powerful tools because they allow great precision and help take a lot of guessing out of the equation.

Several things about mortars. Mortar rounds cannot 'blow up' tanks. For all intents and purposes, mortar rounds are nothing more than beefed up hand grenades. Consider the round, how big it is and the reality behind its manufacture. Another thing I would like to mention is the 'whining' noise often heard in movies before the round impacts. The target does not hear that.

Even artillery does not make that sound for the enemy. The only people who hear that are the people who are listening to the round passing by over head. A bullet or artillery shell breaks the sound barrier and in doing so makes a sound.

Mortars do not break this sound barrier no more than a beach ball does. You don't hear a beach ball falling on you and you probably wouldn't hear a piano falling on you unless the wind blowing by it created some noise like a flute. The enemy might hear the mortar firing from two or more kilometers away mortars are very loud but the whistling is something from the movies. In the future, mortars may be magazine fed. While some mortars are breech loaded, some are not. A magazine fed mortar would allow the mortar team to fire a large number of rounds very quickly.

Computers could be used to program the magazine which would set the appropriate charges and settings.

Settings on the mortar may include airburst, burrowing so it explodes several seconds after impact and regular impact. It also might be able to set a sensor signature for the target, like a specific tank. Eventually mortar rounds may have to be 'stealthed' so enemy radar cannot track them. This would make them very expensive. Automated mortar defense networks may be used to detect incoming mortar and artillery rounds, back track their trajectory, pinpoint the location of the enemy mortar s or cannon s and transmit a fire mission to automated mortar or artillery units.

All this could occur within seconds of the attacking mortars firing. The attackers rounds may not have even hit the ground before they are coming under fire.

Because mortars are noisy, sensors built into troopers helmets might be able to network and pinpoint the firing mortar by sound alone. This will probably not be a conscious activity on part of the trooper and it will be computer controlled. Computers would also determine if the mortars or artillery is friendly or enemy.

Already radar units can backtrack mortar rounds and help locate the enemy mortar. Technology will only make it easier. It is my believe that mortars will be like LAW's or other disposable rockets. A futuristic mortar could be a single shot or a magazine fed and automated, 'disposable' weapon. The infantryman places the mortar in a location. Later when he needs fire support he transmits the needed information to the mortar's onboard computer which makes the necessary calculations and fires the rounds.

With the ability to determine his precise location and that of the enemy, things would be greatly simplified for the mortar allowing it to shoot very accurately.

By the time enemy forces returned fire on the mortar position, the mortar would be out of ammo and useless anyway. The infantryman would be safely out of range of whatever was trying to blow up the automated mortar. Current technology allows forces to target and shoot down enemy missiles, using anti-missiles like the Patriot or chain guns like on ships that shoot thousands of rounds a minute at detected threats. The whistling sound that is made by incoming artillery shells is only heard when the round goes over your head.

Modern mortars normally range in calibre from 60 mm 2. The modern mortar is a muzzle-loaded weapon and relatively simple to operate.

It consists of a tube into which the gunners drop a mortar round. When the round reaches the base of the tube it hits a fixed firing pin that fires the round.

The change in the pitch of sound was due to the Doppler effect. When the bomb is dropped from the airplane, the velocity of the bomb goes on increasing due to gravity until it reaches its terminal velocity.

Boeing is ending the production line in while Airbus just delivered its last A fuselage to the assembly line in France in June. High operating costs and efficient twin-engine alternatives marred orders for both planes in the s as the manufacturers promised jets that could fly further for cheaper.

Are mortars dangerous? How do Mortars kill?