Complete Technical Data Package.

#Standard Improvised Munitions

The Provisional IRA Mark 6 mortar system was first introduced in South Armagh in September 1974 and was used up until the 1994 ceasefire. During its debut attack, all thirty bombs successfully exploded, 27 landing within the Army base being targeted. Later trials on mortars recovered from a clandestine workshop revealed that the PIRA had at last developed a safe, reliable and accurate improvised mortar system. 

Mortar tubes and base plate units encountered in later years have been finished to such a high standard that they might quite easily be mistaken for military models. They are however home-made and whilst heavy, they are man-portable and easy to assemble.

Operation is uncomplicated and necessitates only the bomb being dropped down the launch tube onto a fixed firing pin at the base which in turn strikes a .22 rimfire blank cartridge present at the base of the tail. The .22 cartridge ignites a homemade gunpowder or sodium chlorate/sugar propellant charge contained within the tail pipe of the bomb, launching it out of the barrel. The perforated tail pipe is packed with paper wadding on top of the propellant charge (filled to the inch mark) and externally wrapped in electrical tape to ensure reliable combustion of the propellant inside.

Whilst in flight a propeller (made from a bolt with its head removed and a cut & bent washer welded in place) screws itself down fully into the adapter so that when the bomb hits a target the inertia pellet (holding another .22 rimfire blank) is forced forward onto the striker (being the end of the propeller bolt ground to a chisel point). The flash produced initiates a plain detonator which sets off the main filling. This has been either a homemade Ammonium nitrate /Aluminium powder mix (around 8oz) or SEMTEX-H (around 11oz) when used in prestige operations.  When the mortar bombs are stored, a short nut and bolt are fitted in the nose as a safety precaution which must be replaced with the arming propeller before use.

Another version of the bomb incorporates a photographic flash bulb in place of the rimfire cartridge in the tail section and is designed to be fired electronically and (through means of a TPU) remotely. In this configuration, a twin-core wire runs from the flash bulb, through a hole drilled into the base of the launch tube to a Timing & Power Unit or command-firing switch, increasing user safety and allowing the operator plenty of time to escape detection.

Range in urban environments has usually been in the region of 150 meters though trials conducted have shown the system to be capable of up to 1000 meters.

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