Mech Mortar
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Description[edit]
Based on the weapon used by infantry for centuries, the Mech Mortar fires a small shell in a high arc that falls onto the target. Though the Mech Mortar was created by the Terran Hegemony, by 2835 the Succession Wars had relegated it to history.[1] Like Long Range Missile launchers, the Mech Mortar could fire on a target directly[2] or indirectly[3], but LRMs proved to be more reliable, easier to aim, and could fire more projectiles at once.
With the reintroduction of the anti-missile system, engineers revived the Mech Mortar concept. The munitions used by the mortars, though often possessing limited guidance packages, weren't destroyed by AMS systems in tests. Mortar shells also proved very adaptable, accepting several types of payloads including Anti-Personnel, Armor-Piercing, Flare, Smoke, and Semi-Guided. In addition, the sheer number of mortars in use made them very cheap to produce and resupply.[4] These benefits do not overcome the fact that the largest Mech Mortar weighs as much as an LRM-20 and takes up the same amount of space while offering less than half the salvo size and only two-thirds of the ammunition capability.[5]
Availability[edit]
Both the Clans and Inner Sphere armies have produced Mech Mortars in several sizes:
Manufacturers[edit]
- ComStar manufacturing bases – Terra
- See Notes
- Irian BattleMechs Unlimited – Irian
- Irian BattleMechs Unlimited – Shiro III
Notes[edit]
- The Draconis Combine production was originally given as Maltex Corporation on Errai. It was revealed in Technical Readout: 3050 Upgrade that the Combine used Maltex on their paperwork to confuse the MIIO operatives from discovering the Hatamoto-Chi was being produced on Luthien by Luthien Armor Works. It is likely the Combine played the same shell game with the Mech Mortar and that too is built by LAW.
References[edit]
- ↑ Second Succession War, p. 102, "Weapons and Equipment Extinction Table"
- ↑ Tactical Operations, p. 324: The Mech Mortar gets a +3 to hit modifier when fired directly.
- ↑ Tactical Operations, p. 324: Fired indirectly without a spotter, it gets a +2 modifier.
- ↑ See individual weapon for costs.
- ↑ Tactical Operations, pp. 408-409