Bombshell Genius
An Asadal mortar braced against recoil
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
- Intent: To provide a light mortar
- Image Source: LD Systems
- Canon Link: Mortar
- Primary Source: M224 mortar
- Manufacturer: Ringovinda Systems
- Model: Asadal 60mm light mortar
- Affiliation: Open-Market
- Modularity: Yes: ammunition types can be changed and an autoloader can be affixed
Production: Mass-Produced
- Material: Desh-terenthium, electronic components
- Classification: Mortar
- Size: Small (1m barrel length)
- Weight: Light (20kg without autoloader) Average (60 kg with a fully loaded autoloader)
- Ammunition Type: Unguided shells (high explosive, thermobaric, ion, smoke, illumination, stun)
- Ammunition Capacity: One without the autoloader; the autoloader will usually carry 35 rounds, as will a mortar team
Reload Speed: Average
- Effective Range: Average (3.5km)
- Rate of Fire: Average (20 rounds per minute)
- Stopping Power: Average
- Recoil: Average
- Integrated rangefinder
- Standard sensor suite
- Hoversled
- Retractable barrel
- Great for firing at massed or heavily armored targets in hard-to-reach areas for conventional field artillery
- Explosive firepower
- Fast setup time (10 seconds if the enemy positions are spotted, 30 seconds if not)
- The mortar is ineffectual within 75m
- Indiscriminate
- Noisy when fired
It became apparent on Dagobah that the Jairdain heavy mortar, while effective against massed soft targets, was often cumbersome to maneuver, and, much to Jessica's dismay, administrative wrangling delayed its testing and entry in service. In an attempt to increase the firing rate, the 60mm Asadal was instead fitted with a breech-loading mechanism, unlike the muzzle-loaded Jairdain, while retaining all of the same electronic equipment. It is typically carried around in a hoversled that allows to carry thirty-five rounds whose payload is powerful enough to have the firepower of a conventional proton torpedo. It can quickly be set up on the field, in about 10 seconds, but if spotting (that is, locating the enemy and then establish a targeting solution) is required, an extra 20 seconds are required, for 30 seconds total. The Asadal is a crew-served weapon, requiring a crew of two to properly man without the autoloader. As with all mortars, there is a range under which the Asadal cannot hit; for this reason, it requires other support elements to be fully effective. In addition, standard high explosive or ion rounds have the most effectiveness within 5m of the detonation point, with a blast radius extending up to 20m from the detonation point.
Depending on the range of the target, the crew can choose whether or not to affix augmentation rings on the shell, which mostly contains additional propellant for the shell: with each additional augmentation ring, the shell's range increases but this goes both ways: the minimum and the maximum effective ranges are affected by the addition of augmentation rings. Without an augmentation ring, the mortar's effective range can range from 70m to 450m, whereas with all four rings affixed, the mortar can hit targets from 1km to 3.5km away. Also, given the flight time, it is easy for mortars to miss small or mobile targets and hence must be preferrably used against massed targets, large targets or against immobile targets such as fortifications.
