ATP-3-09-42 Fire Support for the Brigade Combat Team Download

Attack Systems Capabilities 1 March 2016 ATP 3-09.42 A-7 enemy attack formations and defenses, obscure the enemy’s vision, or otherwise inhibit the ability to acquire friendly targets. Mortars also can be used to provide FPFs and to deliver obscurants and illumination. A-16. The maneuver commander decides how and when mortars—a key fire support asset—are integrated into the unit’s operation. Because mortars are fire support assets, the FSCOORD, fires cell planners, and targeting officers should give advice and make recommendations to the BCT commander on mortar employment. The amount of control the FSCOORD and the fires cell planners have over the employment of available mortars is a matter for the supported or owning unit commander to decide. A-17. Ammunition-carrying capacity limits periods of mortar firing. The capabilities of mortars and mortar munitions are summarized in ATP 3-09.32 See ATP 3-09.30, ATTP 3-21.90, and FM 3-09 for additional information on mortars and their capabilities. Table A-2 identifies the lethal areas of mortar high explosive rounds. Table A-2. Lethal areas in square meters of mortar high explosive rounds Weapon Target Impact Fuze Proximity Fuze 60-mm mortar HE (M720) (1 round) Standing enemy, open terrain Prone enemy, open terrain Crouching enemy, open terrain 250 100 1 600 200 25 1 60-mm mortar HE (M270) (2 mortars, 1 round each) Standing enemy, open terrain Prone enemy, open terrain Crouching enemy, open terrain 450 200 5 1000 2 350 30 1 81-mm mortar HE (M374) (1 round) Standing enemy, open terrain Prone enemy, open terrain Crouching enemy, open terrain 700 300 5 900 600 1 30 81-mm mortar HE (M374) (3 mortars, 1 round each) Standing enemy, open terrain Prone enemy, open terrain Crouching enemy, open terrain 1800 1000 10 2400 1500 1 85 1 Against personnel in open positions, use the lowest angle of fall possible. It gives twice the coverage of the steepest angle of fall. 2 The M49A1 HE round standard B ammunition for the M224 mortar is only 25 percent as effective as the newer M720 round. mm – millimeter MORTAR DANGER CLOSE AND RISK-ESTIMATE DISTANCES A-18. The danger close distance for unguided mortar munitions is 600 meters (see ATP 3-09.32). Unclassified risk estimate distances for unguided munitions are in published in ATP 3-09.32. Actual classified risk estimate distances are determined by using the classified JMEM JWS.