Futuristic Mortar Turret Seen In Action At U.S. Special Ops Base In Syria
Computer-assisted 120mm mortar turrets offer special operations forces at remote bases in Syria an extra layer of defense.
BY
JOSEPH TREVITHICK
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PUBLISHED FEB 21, 2023 5:59 PM
Futuristic Mortar Turret Seen In Action At U.S. Special Ops Base In Syria
The U.S. military's main special operations task force focused on combating ISIS across the Middle East has released pictures showing personnel firing an XM905 Advanced Mortar Protection System, or AMPS, in Syria. The XM905 is a turreted, computer-assisted 120mm mortar specially developed to help provide an added layer of defense at forward operating bases. The complete system looks like it could belong in a video game like Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare or Command & Conquer.
Combined Special Operations Joint Task Force-Levant (CSOJTF-L) posted the pictures, which it said were taken at "a fire base in the al Shaddadi region" of eastern Syria, on Twitter yesterday. SOJTF-L subsumed Special Operations Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve (SOJTF-OIR) in 2021 and now provides an over-arching headquarters overseeing U.S.-led coalition special operations forces fighting ISIS in Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, and Egypt. AMPSs have been deployed at forward bases in Syria since at least 2018, as The War Zone has reported on in the past.
"Coalition forces fire 120mm illumination rounds using an XM905 Advanced Mortar Protection System," the accompanying Tweet says, referring to rounds that carry a large flare suspended under a parachute that is released after being fired. "Illumination rounds can be used to disclose energy formations, to signal, or to mark targets."
It's unclear which of these tactics, if any, the personnel may have been carrying out when the pictures were taken, or if it was simply a drill to maintain proficiency with the weapon system. Still, it does help highlight the purposes for which the AMPS was designed.
https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/futuristic-mortar-turret-seen-in-action-at-u-s-special-ops-base-in-syria
