Tuesday, September 25, 2018

Hang It, Drop It... Run Away

It looks like a heavy mortar, but I can't decide if it's us or them.  We use the 4.2 inch and other forces use 120mm but they work a lot alike.

In this crew drill, something goes horribly wrong.


That ain't good at all.

7 comments:

Ole Grump said...

Old or improperly stored ammo. Primer popped but propellant charge did not ignite.

Flugelman said...

Was 4.2 FDC back in early 60's. Watched a whole crew unass a gun on a hang fire. NOT the proper procedure IIRC.

Old NFO said...

And a whole bunch of folks had to change their shorts!

Anonymous said...

Ok, for this thick headed German.....how the heck do you rectify this situation? For one thing, you have (what I presume) is a "live" round on the ground? Do you get the bomb squad in?

Steve

Jonathan H said...

I notice that the round only had one 'doughnut' on it when it went in the tube and it was intact when the round came out; I suspect that Ole Grump is right and the main charge didn't fully ignite - even just the launch charge should have cleared the weapon way more than that!

Pawpaw said...

Steve asks: k, for this thick headed German.....how the heck do you rectify this situation? For one thing, you have (what I presume) is a "live" round on the ground? Do you get the bomb squad in?

That's a training exercise, Steve, and there is a safety officer nearby, with a 3-ring binder describing in great detail what needs to be done. An EOD Tech may be called in, but more likely, he'll wait for a specified time, then the young lieutenant will carry it to a disposal pit and toss it in. Sometimes KABOOMs happen, sometimes they don't.

Dave said...

FYI...the U.S. Army completed transition to the 120mm in the late 90s.

That said, all of ours are used by mounted troops (mech infantry, Stryker), although they do have base plates and tripods for dismounted firing.

Light units still use the 81mm.