MARINE CORPS WEAPONS & VEHICLES

Sea Power, Jan 2006

M224 60MM MORTAR

The M224 60mm mortar can be fired from a pit emplacement or in handheld mode. The mortar is a muzzle-loaded, smoothbore, high-angle-of-fire weapon that can be drop-fired or trigger-fired. The complete mortar in the conventional mode weighs 46.6 pounds; in the handheld mode it weighs 18 pounds. It can be fired at the rapid rate of 30 rounds for four minutes and continue firing at the sustained rate of 20 rounds per minute indefinitely. It has a maximum range of nearly 3,800 yards. The mortar squad consists of three Marines who carry one complete mortar system.

M252 81MM MORTAR

The M252 81mm medium mortar weighs 121 pounds. It can be fired at the rapid rate of 30 rounds per minute for two minutes and continue firing at the sustained rate of 15 rounds per minute indefinitely. It has a maximum range of more than 6,000 yards. The mortar squad consists of five Marines who carry one complete system.

EXPEDITIONARY FIRE SUPPORT SYSTEM (EFSS)

The EFSS, a mobile 120mm mortar, will be the final system of the land-based fire-support triad that includes the M777 and HIMARS. It is designated to accompany the MAGTF in any expeditionary mode of operations and will be internally transportable in either an MV-22 Osprey or a CH-53E. The EFSS is the primary indirect fire-support system for the vertical assault element of the ship-to-objective maneuver force. The Marine Corps plans to procure 66 EFSSs and field them to the operating forces beginning in fiscal 2006.

COMBAT VEHICLES AND VEHICLE-MOUNTED WEAPONS

M220 TOW

The M220 TOW is a crew-portable, vehicle-mounted or helicoptercarried heavy antitank weapon system. The name is derived from its description as a Tube-launched, Optically tracked, Wire-guided missile. It can be fired from a tripod, Light Armored Vehicle, Humvee or an AH-1W Super Cobra attack helicopter. TOW can be employed in all weather conditions, day and night, with the UAS-12 night sight attached. The TOW has a maximum range of more than 4,000 yards, and its high-explosive antitank round weighs approximately 50 pounds. The TOW 2 systems fielded after 1984 offer digital-guidance electronics, improved tracking and sighting, a larger warhead and an improved rocket motor. The TOW 2A has a tandem-warhead configuration to provide increased lethality against targets with reactive armor. The TOW 2B is a fly-over, shoot-down missile that attacks armored targets from above, firing two explosively formed penetrators through the top armor plates. The current TOW launcher can fire any of the TOW missiles. The Marine Corps has funded an extended-range/counteractive protection system for the TOW2B; 776 missiles are to be delivered in 2006. Supplemental funding has allowed the Corps to procure 1,320 TOW2A bunker-buster missiles for urban combat.

ASSAULT AMPHIBIOUS VEHICLE (AAV)

The Marine Corps currently employs the AAV7 family of vehicles (FOV) as the principal armored personnel carrier to transport the assault elements of the MAGFT from ship-to-shore and to inland objectives. In 1997, the Marine Corps decided to upgrade to the AAV FOV via the Reliability, Availability, Maintainability/Rebuild-to-Standard (RAM/RS) program. The approved program was for 680 AAV RAM/RS upgrades, and included 599 personnel variants, 46 command variants and 35 recovery variants. It was completed in March 2004.