AM 2B9 Vasilek automatic mortar

The 82 mm AM 2B9 Vasilek automatic mortar was introduced into service some time in 1971 but its existence was not revealed until the late 1970s. It is officially designated AM for `Avtomaticheskiy Minomet' or automatic mortar, but it also bears the name Vasilek (Cornflower, also written as Vasilyok). The 2B9 no longer provides the significant fire support function it once did among RFAS front-line forces but it remains a powerful weapon with a considerable firepower potential. The term 82 mm 2K21 Vasilek comprises the 2B9, a 2F54 transport vehicle, based on the GAZ-66 4 × 4 2,000 kg light truck, and a standard issue of 226 mortar bombs, 96 of them ready fuzed in 24 clips. The 2F54 transport vehicle also carries handling gear to load and offload the mortar and a crew of four. Towing speed on asphalt roads is 60 km/h. The 2B9 has also been observed mounted on MT-LB tracked carriers.

The 2B9 is mounted on a light two-wheeled split-trail carriage resembling that of the 76 mm mountain gun M1969 and capable of being towed by almost any vehicle. Alternatively it can be mounted in and fired from suitable armoured vehicles. The field carriage has light spades on the trail legs and a screw-type firing jack at the front of the saddle, relieving the suspension of shock when firing. A traversing top carriage carries the mortar assembly, balanced by spring-and-cable equilibrators running round the oversized trunnions. A hydrospring recoil system is fitted around the barrel and a magazine-type rapid loading device is fitted behind the breech. The breech block is of the screw type. Firing occurs during counter-recoil. A booster mechanism ensures a constant counter-recoil rate at all angles of elevation. The weapon can be muzzle loaded and fired at high angles, or breech loaded and fired at low angles. In the high-angle role up to three propelling charges can be used, giving the weapon a versatile trajectory for indirect fire. In the low-angle role rounds are fed through a port in the right trunnion in interconnecting four-bomb clips; a separate loading fixed propelling charge is used. The cyclic rate of fire at automatic is 170 rds/min, though the sustained practical rate is approximately 100 to 120 rds/min. The barrel can be water-cooled during sustained firing. With water cooling, the weapon can fire 300 rounds in 30 minutes. Without water cooling this falls to 200 rounds. In the mortar (high-angle) role standard 82 mm FRAG-HE mortar bombs weighing 3.1 kg are used, with a special three-equal-increments propelling charge system. In the low-angle role a special anti-tank projectile can be fired, using a fixed 75 g charge; this projectile weighs 3.2 kg and will defeat 100 mm of steel armour. In both firing modes fire control is carried out using a PAM-1 ×3 or ×2.5 optical sight and a K-1 collimator. At night the sight is illuminated by a Lutch PM2M illuminator.

Specifications

Calibre: 82 mm

Weight: in firing position, 635 kg; travelling, 645 kg

Elevation: -1 to +85º

Traverse: on carriage, 30º right and left

Muzzle velocity: low angle, automatic fire, 270 m/s; high angle, manual loading, 210 m/s

Range: 85º elevation, min, 770 m; max, 4,270 m Range 50% zone, max: 100 × 200 m

Rate of fire: max, practical, 120 rds/min

Manufacturer: Bolshevik Plant

Agency: Rosoboronexport Federal State Unitary Enterprise

Status: Available for production. Offered for export sales.