What does an incoming mortar sound like?
Channel: Tex
Date: 2021-05-24

Unlike the movies, an incoming and impacting round is a lot less like a boom and Michael Bay super-explosion.

Here you can hear a zooming sound as the round approaches. 

On impact, the explosive noise is a flat sounding percussion, that is immediately replaced with a high pitch Zipping noise. That zipping noise is sharapnel from the casing, and it's louder the closer you are to the concusion zone. 

The zip isn't as loud as the explosion but it's the worst of the two sounds. Its enough to make your spine shiver and I believe would be a better focus in movies.

Notice there isn't a fireball either. At night, you'll see a flash. During the day, it's just a dusty cloud of death.