Bombshell Genius
A Dunkirk mortar braced against recoil
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
- Intent: To provide a heavy mortar
- Image Source: Wikipedia
- Canon Link: Mortar
- Restricted Missions: N/A
- Primary Source: Soltam M-66, Jairdain heavy mortar
- Manufacturer: Ringovinda Systems
- Model: Dunkirk 160mm heavy mortar
- Affiliation: Open-Market
- Modularity: Yes: ammunition types can be changed
Production: Mass-Produced
- Material: Desh-terenthium, electronic components
- Classification: Mortar
- Size: Large (2m barrel length)
- Weight: Heavy (1.3 tons)
- Ammunition Type: Unguided shells (high explosive, thermobaric, ion, smoke, illumination, stun)
- Ammunition Capacity: One (but a mortar team will usually carry 35 rounds)
Reload Speed: Slow (4 rounds per minute)
- Effective Range: Long Range (10 km)
- Rate of Fire: Low (4 rounds per minute)
- Stopping Power: Very High
- Recoil: High
- 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
- High firepower
- The mortar is ineffectual within 150m
- Slow rate of fire
- Indiscriminate
- Takes some time for its crew to set it up
- Very noisy when fired
It became apparent on Ord Radama that the Jairdain heavy mortar, while effective against massed soft targets, delivered insufficient firepower, and, much to Jessica's dismay, administrative wrangling delayed its testing and entry in service. However, to maintain the same firing rate, the 160mm Dunkirk 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 two conventional proton bombs, with the wheels being part of the recoil absorption system. It requires a minimum setup time of 90 seconds. The Dunkirk is a crew-served weapon, requiring a crew of six to properly man. As with all mortars, there is a range under which the Dunkirk 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 30m of the detonation point, with a blast radius extending up to 100m 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 150m to 750m, whereas with all six rings affixed, the mortar can hit targets from 1km to 10 km away. Also, given the slow muzzle velocity, it is easy for mortars to miss small or mobile targets and hence must be used only against massed targets, large targets or against immobile targets such as fortifications.
