At the beginning of the last century, the mortar became an integral part of the armament of the ground forces, and the importance of this weapon has not diminished even today. 2B9 "Vasilyok" is a unique automatic mortar created back in the 70s of the last century; it is still in service with the Russian army. This 82 mm mortar can fire up to 120 mines in one minute, and also fire along a flat trajectory, which is atypical for this type of artillery weapon.

Externally, the 2B9 "Cornflower" is very similar to a conventional gun, but the appearance and structure of its ammunition clearly indicate that we are dealing with a mortar.

The 2B9 "Cornflower" mortar took part in several conflicts and proved to be a very effective weapon. In addition to the USSR, it was produced under license in Hungary. In China, the Cornflower was copied and given the name Type 99 or W99.

There are several modifications of the mortar; they have repeatedly tried to make this weapon self-propelled, installing it on various types military equipment or vehicles.

Today "Cornflower" is in service with the Russian armed forces, as well as the armed forces of Ukraine, Vietnam and the People's Republic of China.

History of creation

The history of the creation of the 2B9 “Cornflower” automatic mortar began in the 40s of the last century, shortly after the end of the war. In 1946, an automatic 82-mm mortar was developed, which used the recoil energy of the barrel to operate the automation. This technical solution could not be called innovative in artillery, but it was first used for mortars. The product received the name KAM and was put into service.

Initially, KAM was planned to be installed in casemates and other long-term fortifications. A few years later, a field version of the automatic 82-mm mortar was created, but for unknown reasons it was never accepted for service.

Only in 1967 did they return to this project again. It took three years to refine the weapon, and already in 1970 the new 82-mm mortar was put into service. It received its name in honor of one of the most beautiful wildflowers - cornflower.

Initially, the 2B9 "Vasilek" mortar had a water-cooled barrel, but after a few years the designers came to the conclusion that air cooling would be more convenient. The casing into which the barrel was placed and water was poured was removed, the walls of the barrel were made thicker and its surface was equipped with ribs that acted as a radiator.

The new modification of the “Vasilka” received the name 2B9M; it can be easily distinguished from its predecessor by its characteristic ribbed barrel. Subsequently, the modernization fully justified itself: the mortar became simpler, lighter, and better suited for desert conditions, where water is in great short supply. It was put into service in 1982 and put into mass production.

The classic mortar has one serious drawback: each shot moves it slightly, causing deformation of the ground under the base plate. Therefore, the mortar crew has to constantly retarget their weapons.

The 2B9 "Cornflower" mortar has partially solved this problem: the recoil energy from a shot is spent on reloading, in addition, it is damped by hydraulic shock absorbers located around the barrel. That is why this 82 mm mortar has high firing accuracy even when firing automatically.

"Cornflower" can be loaded both from the muzzle (in this case single shooting is carried out) and from the breech. At the same time, clips of four mines each are loaded into the mortar, and automatic fire is conducted. A special feature of the 2B9 “Vasilka” is that it can fire along a flat trajectory, with a minimum elevation angle (from −1° to 85°).

Weapon Description

The 82-mm mortar 2B9 "Cornflower" is designed to destroy enemy infantry, both openly located and located in field shelters.

The mortar's automatic operation is based on the recoil of the free shutter; the shot is fired when the shutter is open.

The mortar consists of a barrel, a recoil mechanism, a bolt and bolt box, as well as two machines: upper and lower. The lower machine is connected to the chassis. The mortar has light weight(just over 600 kg), so on short distances it can easily be moved by calculation forces.

The barrel is connected to the receiver using threads. The recoil device consists of three spring rods, two of which are located below the bolt box, and one is installed above. The fire mode switch lever and the reloading handwheel are located in the lower part of the receiver, and the trigger lever is on its upper surface. The clip receiver is located on the right, each clip contains four mines.

The rate of fire of the mortar is more than 170 rounds per minute, and the rate (depending on the loading speed) is 100-120 rounds.

On the left are the handles for the turning and lifting mechanisms.

The “Vasilka” chassis is two-wheeled with suspension. When moving into the firing position, the mortar rests on the jack and bipod of the frame, and the wheels are hung out.

The mortar is equipped with a PAM-1 sight.

The 3B01 shot is used for firing; it includes an 82-mm mine and a powder propellant charge. The mine weighs 3.1 kg. The minimum firing range of the “Vasilka” is 800 meters, the maximum is more than four kilometers. When a mine explodes, it produces up to 600 fragments, which provide damage within a radius of 18 meters.

A mortar crew consists of four people: a commander, a loader, a gunner and an ammunition carrier (also known as a driver).

A transport vehicle (GAZ-66-05) is used to transport the mortar and its ammunition.

In the 80s, they tried to make the Vasilek self-propelled by installing it on the rear of the hull of the MTLB tracked tractor.

Combat use

The baptism of fire for the Cornflower automatic mortar was the war in Afghanistan. It was used very widely Soviet troops during this conflict. Usually, within a mortar battery of a motorized rifle regiment, one or two platoons were armed with Cornflowers. Each of them received three mortars.

It was in Afghanistan that the mortar was first installed on the MTLB body, although this was not provided for either by the design of the tractor or by the instructions for using the mortar. However, as a result of such “amateur activity,” the troops received new self-propelled gun with excellent rate of fire, maneuverability and high combat effectiveness.

2B9 "Cornflower" was actively used in both Chechen companies. It was used by both federal troops and Chechen separatists. There is information about the use of this mortar in the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict.

Currently, "Cornflower" is actively used in combat operations in eastern Ukraine. It is used by both Ukrainian government troops and separatists.

The world's only mass-produced automatic mortar.

The Soviet Union made attempts to create automatic mortars several times in the post-war period. By the end of the 1950s, the F-82 mortar was even brought to the final stage of testing, but it was never put into service.

The topic of an automatic mortar was returned to only in the second half of the 1960s. By 1970, such a mortar was developed by the team of the Design Bureau of Transport and Chemical Engineering (KBTCHM), chief designer Victor Filippov.

Mortar 2B9 "Cornflower", Technical Museum of JSC AvtoVAZ, Tolyatti. Photo: ShinePhantom

A feature of the mortar was the ability to fire at a high rate, which already classified it not so much as a mortar, but as a serious artillery weapons. The operation of the automation is based on the principle of blowback. Firing modes: single and automatic.

The ammunition for the mortar was 3B01 fragmentation rounds, the basis of which was the standard 82-mm O-832DU mine for standard army mortars of the same caliber. When a mine exploded, 400-600 fragments weighing at least 1 g were formed. At the same time, the radius of continuous destruction (90% of standing objects) was at least 6 meters, and the radius of effective destruction (at least 40% of standing objects) was 18 meters.

Smoke and flare mines were used. HEAT shells were also developed for firing at lightly armored targets. The loading scheme is cassette (magazine of 4 mines, weight of an unloaded cassette is 4.35 kg).

The mortar crew consists of four people: commander, gunner, loader and carrier. The latter is also the driver transport vehicle 2F54 (based on GAZ-66). Also, the MT-LB universal tracked tractor was widely used to transport mortars during the war in Afghanistan.

The next version of the “Vasilka” was the 2B9 M modification, the main important difference of which was the change in the type of barrel cooling from water to air. A characteristic feature of the 2B9 M is its thickened barrel, ribbed in the middle part.

The Chinese W99 mortar (essentially its copy) was created on the basis of the Vasilka.

Performance characteristics of the mortar:

• Combat weight: 632 kg
• Time to transfer to firing position: 1.5 min
• Technical rate of fire: up to 170 rounds per minute
• Practical rate of fire: 100−120 rounds per minute
• Long-term firing rate: 300 rounds in 30 minutes (with liquid cooling).
• Mine weight: 3.1 kg
• Mine initial speed: 272 m/s
• Firing range: from 800 to 4270 m.

Artillery of Russia and the world, guns photos, videos, pictures watch online, along with other states, introduced the most significant innovations - the transformation of a smooth-bore gun, loaded from the muzzle, into a rifled gun, loaded from the breech (lock). The use of streamlined projectiles and various types of fuses with adjustable settings for the response time; more powerful propellants such as cordite, which appeared in Britain before the First World War; the development of rolling systems, which made it possible to increase the rate of fire and relieved the gun crew from the hard work of rolling into the firing position after each shot; connection in one assembly of a projectile, propellant charge and fuse; the use of shrapnel shells, which, after the explosion, scatter small steel particles in all directions.

Russian artillery, capable of firing large shells, acutely highlighted the problem of weapon durability. In 1854, during Crimean War, Sir William Armstrong, a British hydraulic engineer, proposed a method of scooping wrought iron gun barrels by first twisting iron rods and then welding them together using a forging method. The gun barrel was additionally reinforced with wrought iron rings. Armstrong created a company where they made guns of several sizes. One of the most famous was his 12-pounder rifled gun with a 7.6 cm (3 in) barrel and a screw lock mechanism.

Artillery of the Second World War (WWII), in particular Soviet Union probably had the greatest potential among European armies. At the same time, the Red Army experienced the purges of Commander-in-Chief Joseph Stalin and endured the difficult Winter War with Finland at the end of the decade. During this period, Soviet design bureaus adhered to a conservative approach to technology.
The first modernization efforts came with the improvement of the 76.2 mm M00/02 field gun in 1930, which included improved ammunition and replacement barrels on parts of the gun fleet. new version the guns were called M02/30. Six years later, the 76.2 mm M1936 field gun appeared, with a carriage from the 107 mm.

Heavy artilleryall armies, and quite rare materials from the time of Hitler’s blitzkrieg, whose army crossed the Polish border smoothly and without delay. The German army was the most modern and best equipped army in the world. The Wehrmacht artillery operated in close cooperation with infantry and aviation, trying to quickly occupy territory and deprive Polish army ways of communication. The world shuddered upon learning of a new armed conflict in Europe.

USSR artillery in positional warfare on the Western Front in last war and horror in the trenches among the military leaders of some countries created new priorities in the tactics of using artillery. They believed that in the second global conflict of the 20th century, the decisive factors would be mobile firepower and fire accuracy.

Mortars in the 20th century became an indispensable type of infantry weapons. According to their standard equipment, depending on the caliber, they are intended to equip units at the company, battalion, regimental and division levels. The “Cornflower” became a unique means of fire destruction - a mortar capable of firing in bursts and, if necessary, performing tasks previously characteristic only of artillery pieces.

What is a mortar

In the classical sense, a mortar is a type of weapon that uses a jet stream formed when a propellant charge is ignited. The barrel of this weapon sets the direction and initial speed of the projectile, called a mine, which is a feathered ammunition. The fuse, usually a contact fuse, is located in its front part. The design of the mortar usually includes a removable base plate, bipod, guidance and aiming devices. Again, in the classical sense, loading is carried out immediately before the shot. The mine is fed from the muzzle of the barrel, the primer located at the rear of the projectile ignites the detonator, resulting in activation of the ejector charge.

However, in the USSR they also called mortars Guards Katyushas. The Tulip 2S4 system also, despite its clearly howitzer nature, belongs to this class of weapons, although it is often called

In the USSR in 1970, the Cornflower mortar was adopted. The photo of this means of fire destruction of enemy personnel evokes rather associations with a cannon. However, the appearance and structure of the projectile clearly indicates that it is a mine. The ammunition does not have a casing, it is feathered. So what is this symbiosis of a gun and a mortar? And what is it for? What are its advantages?

Mortars and guns

There are several reasons why mortars have become widespread, and all of them are important. This type of weapon is characterized by relative lightness, simplicity, manifested both in manufacturability and maintenance, high destructive power and the ability to cover a target from above, directly from the sky, that is, from the direction of least protection. A howitzer or mortar is used to fire along an overhead trajectory. at the same time, it weighs more, is more complex and costs the defense budget a larger amount. Guns, of course, have their advantages, such as increased range, caliber and accuracy, but under certain conditions, which arise quite often in battle, these advantages are offset. The line between two common large-caliber weapons is almost completely erased by the Cornflower mortar, the photo of which transparently hints at its “kinship” with guns. Depending on the position of the barrel, it becomes similar to a mortar, a howitzer and a regular cannon firing flatly. If to this interesting property add a high rate of fire, then the uniqueness of the weapon becomes obvious.

The history of the creation of "Cornflower"

The idea of ​​​​creating rapid-fire mortars arose in the post-war Soviet Union. In 1946, designer V.K. Filippov proposed using recoil energy to reload a breech-loaded gun. This technical solution in itself is not new, except that important moment, that it was used in relation to the mortar, and not to rapid-fire cannon. Filippov's work was crowned with success; in 1955, the KAM product was adopted by the Soviet Army. It was intended for use in stationary conditions (casemates and long-term fortifications) and was a rapid-fire automatic mortar. Four years later, the field version of the KAM was ready and tested, called F-82. For reasons that are unclear today, this sample was not put into production. In 1967, after some revision, it was nevertheless adopted by the state commission. According to the tradition established among artillerymen, it received the delicate floral name “Cornflower”. The 82-mm automatic mortar could fire at a rate of fire of 100 rounds/min. at a rate of fire of 170 rounds. The difference in these two figures is due to the time required to reload the cassettes.

Modification "M"

Several years of operation in the army allowed engineers to conclude that water cooling of the barrel could be eliminated. The massive casing, which protects against overheating at a high rate of fire, was removed, the wall thickness was increased in the central part, providing the surface with ribs that improve heat transfer conditions and act as an air cooling radiator. In all other respects it was the same “Cornflower”. The mortar began to be called 2B9M (modified), externally it can be easily distinguished from the previous version by its ribbed barrel. As further practice has shown, this technical solution was justified, especially for desert conditions in which troops lack water.

What can “Cornflower”

The classic mortar suffers from a serious design flaw. The recoil energy causes a displacement of the entire system due to soil deformations and mechanical effects on the trunk. After each shot, the crew is forced to adjust the parameters and actually aim again. The design of the Cornflower mortar makes it possible to usefully use recoil energy to feed a new projectile into the barrel. Hydraulic shock absorbers located around the barrel serve to absorb its excess. As a result, the accuracy of hits remains high when firing in bursts. The clip contains four mines.

Versatility of use

One of the advantages of "Cornflower" is its versatility. You can shoot it in different ways.

The 2B9 can be used as a regular mortar, in which case it is loaded from the muzzle. But the main difference between the gun is its ability to fire like a regular cannon with a minimal and even negative (up to 1°) elevation angle. For firing in the “mortar” mode, three types of charges can be used; in the artillery method, the ammunition is unified. There are two modes: automatic and single.

Ammunition

The 3B01 fragmentation round serves as standard ammunition for which the 120-mm Vasilek mortar is designed. Its action is fragmentation, but in addition to it, other types of charges are also provided, including cumulative ones, designed to destroy armored vehicles.

The charge includes, in addition to the six-fin mine O-832DU, the main powder charge Zh-832DU. With an initial speed of 272 m/s, it provides a range of destruction from 800 to 4270 m. The mass of the propellant ammunition is 3100 grams, up to six hundred fragments are formed upon explosion, each weighing more than a gram. The radius of complete damage is 18 meters.

In addition to the main powder charge, designed to impart initial speed to the mine and attached to its tail, additional ones are also used. The decision on their use is made by the crew commander, having determined the target at which the Cornflower mortar will fire. Firing range depends on the choice of additional propellant charges. They are long fabric covers containing a ring-shaped tail part of the projectile in front of the stabilizer and fastened with a regular button fastener. Their power is determined by a number - from 1 to 3.

Mobility aids

The 82-mm Vasilek mortar weighs 622 kg, so a special vehicle is used to transport it. As such, an adapted GAZ-66, designated 2F54, is usually used. The gun on the march is in the back, in special cases(in case of an urgent change of position or other sudden situations) towing is allowed. The crew consists of four people (commander, gunner, loader and carrier-driver).

The success of the design repeatedly prompted engineers to different countries attempt to create an automatic self-propelled mortar. “Cornflower” was installed on the MT-LB tracked chassis in the USSR and Hungary, and some craftsmen still mount it on powerful American army Hummer jeeps today.

How to shoot from the "Cornflower"

The standard carriage is as lightweight as possible; it looks like a regular cannon carriage; the design includes a pallet and a frame. Putting it into combat mode leads to the fact that the wheels are raised above the ground, and the jack and the frame with the openers are used as support. The automatic mortar "Cornflower" can be raised or lowered, depending on the firing conditions. Maximum height the elevation of the trunk in the lower position is 78°, in the upper position 85°. When mounted shooting with a slope exceeding 40°, in order to avoid damage to the mechanisms from impacts on the ground, it is necessary to dig a recess under the butt plate. Small elevation angles are used to point the barrel at armored targets. In this position, the 82-mm Vasilek mortar is used as a light anti-tank gun with a short range, but at the same time very powerful.

For direct fire, a panoramic sight is provided, on which in this case the standard optics (PAM-1) are changed. The guidance equipment also includes a Luch-PM2M lighting device, designed for firing at night.

Combat use

The first serious combat test for 2B9 was Afghan war. The peculiarities of operations carried out in mountain ranges revealed the full potential of the weapons we are considering. Its versatility and ability to hit hidden targets, combined with mobility, earned the respect that the Cornflower enjoyed among the troops. The mortar was often mounted on lightly armored MT-LB transporters, which made it possible to quickly leave positions after a couple of bursts without waiting for return fire. At the same time, some design flaws became clear. In particular, the mine cassette was not always placed in its normal place, and its delivery required a heavy blow with a hammer, which the loader always had at hand.

In general, the automatic mortar performed well. It was also used in many armed conflicts that arose in the territory former USSR, in particular in both Chechen wars.

Characteristics

At present, information about how the Cornflower mortar works is no secret. Its characteristics have also lost the classification of secrecy due to the widespread use of this weapon throughout the world.

The guidance mechanisms are simplified as much as possible and are built on screw units. Manual rotation of the gate provides horizontal guidance within 60° and vertical guidance from -1° to 85° (with the jack fully raised). The maximum combat radius is 4.7 km. The barrel is smooth, the rotation of the mine is provided by six tail feathers, which have a slope relative to the longitudinal axis. The cassette is designed for four charges. Standard ammunition contains 226 min. The total weight of the equipped vehicle exceeds six tons. It moves on the highway at a speed of 60 km/h, on rough terrain - 20 km/h. The system is brought into combat position according to the standard in one and a half minutes.

Foreign "Cornflowers"

The design of the gun is simple, original and technologically advanced. It has no analogues in the world, although these samples are now produced in China People's Republic. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the PRC acquired a license to manufacture a “type 99 gun” - this is how the “Cornflower” was called in the Middle Kingdom. The mortar was produced in huge numbers, and now it can be seen and heard in the most different regions planets engulfed in the flames of war.

There is no information about whether “Vasilki” is currently a member. Most likely, they have already been replaced by more advanced models.