Israeli arms company Elbit Systems is testing the world’s first “pocket artillery” heavy mortar system for elite infantry and spec ops forces.
Mounted on Humvees and jeeps, Spear mates light vehicle tactical agility with rapid-firing, autonomously operated 120mm mortars for lethal, low-signature maneuvering missions.
It’s a compact version of the firm’s Cardom — known here as Keshet — 120mm self-propelled mortar system operated by the US Army on Stryker vehicles and on M113 carriers deployed by Israeli infantry battalions and in organic support of Israeli armored battalions.
Boaz Cohen, vice president for land systems at Elbit Land and C4I, Haifa, Israel, said a specialized recoil mechanism developed for Spear makes it possible to mount the 120mm firing system on light vehicles without sacrificing lethality and accuracy of the self-propelled Cardom.
According to Cohen, the soft recoil system reduces barrel firing loads of the downsized Spear to under 10 tons, a third of Cardom’s 30-ton recoil force and 12 times less than standard 120mm rounds.
Elbit executives say recoil and other performance parameters have been validated in dozens of live fire tests conducted in recent months.
A full-up Spear system will be displayed for the first time May 19-21 at the International Firepower Conference and Exhibition in Zichron Ya’akov, Israel, an annual event co-sponsored by the Israel Artillery Corps Association and Israel Defense.
“Spear has the lowest recoil in the world. … It’s the only system that brings 12mm lethality, accuracy and rapidity of fire to 4×4 light vehicles,” Cohen said.
In a May 11 interview, he likened Spear to “pocket artillery” optimized for high-lethality ground maneuvers that cannot be done in quantity by artillery or armored carrier-mounted systems.
Like Cardom, Spear is designed to fire 16 rounds per minute and strike within 30 meters of targets at a seven-kilometer range. Spear is designed to be “in and out of action within 60 seconds,” according to Elbit marketing data.
“Once connected to other sensors and payloads on the C4I network, the first mortar can be fired within 30 seconds of target identification,” Cohen said.
For special missions demanding stealthy insertion into forward areas, Spear can be deployed by utility helicopters and sea-based landing craft.
