Artillery Folks - Benghazi Mortar Fire?

[Ben]

I hadn't heard this story regarding the accuracy of the mortar rounds before. Can any of our artillery folks comment?

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/03/08/evidence-casts-doubt-on-ex-cia-leaders-claims-on-benghazi-mortar-attack/

[dogmush]

I'm not an 11C, but I worked with them a bit back in the day.

That article's description sounds like a pretty good, but not great, team with an observer calling fire.  The rate of fire does indicate preped rounds and the knowledge and ability to hang rounds quickly once the target is dialed in.  Since we don't know the actual range, and the article is unclear on the actual size of the target, and no mention of which weapons system might have been used it's hard to say exactly how good they would have had to be, but they definitely had some training, some practice, and had worked with an observer before.  Prolly not pissed off farmers that found a tube in the desert and did this on a whim.

[Scout26]

I'm not an 11C either, but we used to practice Call for Fire (Mortars and Artillery) all the time.

Yes, you could put a small (82mm) mortar, like this one http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/82-PM-37, in truck, weld the baseplate to the bed. Or tow it behind at truck  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2B9_Vasilek.  Hell, we mounted 4.2 Inch Mortars in M113s.  And we have Strykers that carry 120mm Mortars.   Yes, it can be easily done.  

I'm going to guess it was a Soviet era mortar, since that's what would have been fairly plentiful in Libya at that time.

If you have a GPS system to plot where the tube is, the firing tables for the rounds or someone that can so some advanced math (Trig), an observer, and a half-way trained crew; it's not that hard to put rounds on target.  You are talking about hitting a decent sized building not dropping one in a pickle barrel.

How fast can they hang and fire?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=io3NHBKQSQ4

Here's some Illinois Nasty Guardsman, taking their sweet time about it, and they four rounds off in under a minute.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBkcQ9b7Ot0


So yes, AQ would have had to pre-plan at least a day in advance to plot the firing.  Then you need a good crew.  Our Mortar crews are good at "Hip-shoots", but that's because we practice all the time.  

[Azrael256]

Can we please stop saying "pre-plan?"

[French G.]

Can we please stop saying "pre-plan?"

You haven't been in the military I presume? No way we're planning crap without first meeting to plan who is responsible for executing the planning, planning the execution, publishing the plan, monitoring the plan, planning the monitoring, etc. A particularly foresightful command will additionally plan who to blame.


ETA: I forgot the eternal Benghazi answer. ATPWDIM?

[Sergeant Bob]

What kind of idiot brings mortars to a protest against a video?

[Waitone]

Interesting but irrelevant.  Someone needs to ask why the defenders flipped on a laser designator aimed at the mortars that eventually killed them.  A laser designator is not a cool flashlight.  It is used only with the expectation that an overhead asset will use laser seeking munitions.  Yet we are told there were no armed overhead assets on scene.  Someone is a liar.