Sebastien Roblin
Self-propelled heavy mortar carriers are ubiquitous in modern mechanized armies. Mounted on light armored carriers and placed at the disposal of battalion commanders, such vehicles can deliver heavy and fast-responding indirect bombardments with 120-millimeter shells. When compared to self-propelled howitzers of similar caliber, mortars are lighter and require a smaller logistical train, but have significantly shorter range.
The United States Army mounts 120-millimeter mortars on wheeled Strykers (the M1129) and M113 tracked vehicles (designated the M1064). Russia fields its own 120-millimeter self-propelled vehicles, the 2S9 NONA.But it also uniquely fields gigantic 240-millimeter mortars on its 2S4 Tyulpan (Tulip) mortar carriers—by far the largest mortar system in use today. And by “use,” I mean in combat.
Why employ such a large mortar with such a relatively short range?
A look at history provides a few answers.
First answer: to destroy fortresses and hardened defensive positions. Israeli fortifications on the Golan Heights and Suez Canal, fortified mujahideen caves in Afghanistan, and airports defended by the Ukrainian Army have all been hit by M240 mortars at one point or another.
Second answer: to destroy cities. Apartment buildings in Grozny, Beirut and Homs didn’t destroy themselves.
This article will look at both the vehicle and its main weapon.
The thirty-ton 2S4 mates its M240 heavy mortar to a tracked GMZ vehicle chassis used in numerous other self-propelled weapons systems. The crew of nine (four vehicle operators and five gunners) is protected by up to twenty millimeters of armor—adequate protection against small arms and shrapnel.
http://nationalinterest.org/feature/the-russian-armys-super-gun-city-destroyer-17416
