page_title: Mortar (weapon)
section_title: "Home-made" mortars
hierarchical_section_title: Mortar (weapon) / History / "Home-made" mortars
caption_attribution_description: English: Photo of an IRA Barrack buster mortar
context_page_description: A mortar is an artillery weapon which fires explosive shells. The shells are known as bombs. They are fired at targets which are close, as mortars do not have long range. It has a short barrel which fires the mortar bomb at a low speed high into the air to reach its target. They have been used since medieval times. Mortars are made in different sizes, from large and heavy mortars to infantry mortars which can be carried by just one soldier. They are called an indirect fire weapon because the bomb drops onto the target from above, rather than being aimed straight at it. Soldiers firing a mortar do not need to be able to see their target.
context_section_description: "Home-made" mortars have been used by insurgent groups. They are usually used to attack well defended military bases or to scare civilians. An early example was the Davidka. This was used during the Israeli War of Independence in 1948. The Provisional Irish Republican Army used some of the best-known examples during the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. The biggest types came to be known as "barracks busters". They were usually made of heavy steel piping put onto a steel frame.
  Well-known events using "home-made" mortars include the 1985 Newry mortar attack. This was when nine members of the Royal Ulster Constabulary were killed. Another well-known event is the Downing Street mortar attack in 1991. In this, the IRA mortared 10 Downing Street during a meeting. Three bombs were launched but only one exploded. It landed in the back garden of the British Prime Minister's house. It only broke the windows at the back of the house. Prime Minister John Major had to move to Admiralty House while the windows were being fixed.
caption: An IRA "home-made" mortar tube.
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "", "Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon PowerShot G10", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "180", "Image YResolution": "180", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image DateTime": "2010:02:07 14:17:23", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "228", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "180", "Thumbnail YResolution": "180", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "3362", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "7406", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/60", "EXIF FNumber": "14/5", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "250", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2010:02:07 14:17:23", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2010:02:07 14:17:23", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "5", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "189/32", "EXIF ApertureValue": "95/32", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "95/32", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash fired, auto mode, red-eye reduction mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "61/10", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "4416", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "3312", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "Interoperability RelatedImageWidth": "4416", "Interoperability RelatedImageLength": "3312", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "3214", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "1104000/73", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "1104000/73", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "2", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard"}