Dragon Fire ( mortar ) The Dragon Fire 120 mm heavy mortar was a private venture by TDA Armaments that was picked up by the US Marine Corps for its EFSS ( Expeditionary Fire Support System ) requirement . It is a fully automated mortar capable of using rifled or smoothbore 120 mm ammunition . Like all mortars it is a high - angle - of - fire weapon used for indirect fire support . Dragon Fire is also expected to be effective in a counter - battery role . History . The US Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory started a Concept Demonstrator project in 1997 . They wanted a weapon which would be a " mortar in a box , " that is a weapon which could be remotely emplaced and fired unattended on a future battlefield . In late 1997 , MCWL accepted a proposal by the army ' s Program Manager , Mortars ( PM Mortars ) and Armament Research , Design , and Engineering Command ( ARDEC ) at Picatinny Arsenal , New Jersey to design and build a firing system to fulfill the design objectives . At an early stage , it was decided that the system had to be 120mm caliber to give sufficient lethality and range . Ultimately , the design team picked parts of the French Thomson - Daimler Armements ( TDA ) experimental 2R2M mortar because it had a usable power traverse , elevation , and loading system and because its 120mm rifled ammunition promised greater accuracy and range . The project completed the experimental weapon , now called the Dragon Fire , in 17 months and it was used in a series of firing experiments beginning in September 1998 . During 1999 - 2002 , the Dragon Fire was used during the Limited Object Experiment ( LOE ) Urban Warrior and several follow - on experiments and the French - made 2R2M mortar mounted in a Piranha vehicle served as a surrogate for a mobile , Light Armored Vehicle - mounted firing system . These experiments showed that the concept of automating the fire control , aiming and loading of a medium - range firing system substantially reduced fire mission response times and resulted in accurate , efficient fires . Following the success of these experiments , the Marine Corps initiated a Requirement Document for an Expeditionary Fire Support System ( EFSS ) to fill the gap in the availability of supporting fires for the initial air - delivered elements of an expeditionary operation . To fulfill this requirement , the Marine Corps Warfighting Lab initiated a follow - on project called Dragon Fire II which was to be a Government - designed , Government - produced weapons system and it would incorporate all of the " lessons learned " with the first Dragon Fire . Once again PM Mortars / ARDEC was tapped to do the design work and to modify the M95 Mortar Fire Control System ( MFCS ) to provide the advanced fire control and weapon control for the new system . The project was initiated in 2002 but not long afterward , TDA dropped out of the project because of issues concerning sharing of design information and their price , and when MARCORSYSCOM made it known that it would be looking for an " off the shelf , commercial system " for the EFSS requirement , the system specifications for the Dragon Fire II were de - scoped to Concept Demonstrator and the budget was reduced . ARDEC contracted with General Dynamics to design the new electric actuators for elevation , traverse , loading and firing and despite some difficulties in that contract , the finished Dragon Fire II , now known as the XM - 326 120mm Automated Mortar , was rolled out at Rock Island Arsenal in September 2005 . The new Dragon Fire weighed half the weight of the first Dragon Fire ( 3 , 450 pounds vs over 7 , 000 pounds ) and was capable of receiving a fire mission over its on - board radio , processing the fire mission , aiming the weapon , loading and firing in any direction within 18 seconds or less . Very quickly , the Dragon Fire II was incorporated into experiments with the Counter Rockets , Artillery , and Mortars ( C - RAM ) project and while it was still undergoing engineering and safety tests at Yuma Proving Ground , it fired in support of C - RAM ' s demonstrations and quickly proved to be responsive and extremely accurate , with most rounds landing within a Circle Error Probable of 15m or less at a range of 5 , 600m . During 2007 , a Light Armored Vehicle was modified to accept the Dragon Fire internally as a modular artillery weapon and this system was demonstrated . Despite these successes , opposition to the Dragon Fire II and to MCWL ' s involvement in long - term experimentation grew stronger and funding was first reduced and then cut completely . As a last attempt to use this capable system , it was converted to become a full - time LAV mortar system and was selected to become the new LAV - Mortar system for the Marine Corps . This funding was removed in 2009 and the weapon is currently in storage at Picatinny Arsenal . The Dragon Fire II was featured in the Discovery Channel ' s Future Weapons program . Operation . The Dragon Fire mortar system can be deployed mounted in an LAV , towed by a HMMWV , or air deployed by CH - 53 Sea Stallion helicopter or V - 22 Osprey . Mounting in an LAV does not require a separate mount ; its towing carriage can be converted to an LAV mount in five minutes . After deployment the crew can control the weapon system from a remote station . In operation it is designed to be fully automatic : loading , computing firing solutions , aiming and firing automatically . From an unloaded condition , the weapon is capable of loading , completing a firing solution , aiming , and firing the first round within 14 seconds of receiving an order . The weapon is also capable of being operated manually in the event of failure of an automatic system . The advanced fire control system is fully compatible with the US Army system , to reduce the risk of friendly fire ( fratricide ) incidents . Types of rounds . The Dragon Fire system is designed to be able to use all NATO types of rifled and smoothbore 120 mm mortar ammunition . However the USMC is developing a new Precision Extended Range Munition ( PERM ) round to be able to hit within 20 meters of the target point at a range of 17 km .