Dragon Fire (mortar)
The Dragon Fire 120 mm heavy mortar was designed and produced by the French company 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 (MCWL) started a Concept Demonstrator project in 1997. They wanted a weapon  that would be a "mortar in a box," that is a weapon that 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, Development, and Engineering Command (ARDEC) at Picatinny Arsenal, New Jersey to design and build a firing system to fulfill the design objectives. An early requirement was that the system had to be a 120mm system to give sufficient lethality and range. Ultimately, the design team picked parts of the French Thomson-Daimler Armements (TDA) experimental 2R2 M mortar because it had a usable power driven traverse and elevation in addition to a loading system. Its 120mm rifled ammunition promised greater accuracy and range. The project completed the experimental weapon, now called the Dragon Fire, in 17 months. 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 MOWAG 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 fire. Following successful testing, the Marine Corps initiated a Requirement Document for an Expeditionary Fire Support System (EFSS) to fill the gap in the availability of supporting fire for the initial air-delivered elements of an expeditionary operation. 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 the  lessons learned with the first Dragon Fire. PM Mortars/ARDEC was again designated 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 afterwards, TDA dropped out of the project because of issues concerning sharing of design information and their price, and when Marine Corps Systems Command 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 II was half the weight of the first Dragon Fire, versus over . It 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. The Dragon Fire II was incorporated into testing with the Counter Rockets, Artillery, and Mortars (C-RAM) project while it was still undergoing engineering and safety tests at Yuma Proving Ground. It fired in support of C-RAM's demonstrations and was responsive and accurate, with most rounds landing within a circular error probable (CEP) of at a range of . During 2007, a Light Armored Vehicle was modified to accept the Dragon Fire internally as a modular artillery weapon. Over the next months opposition to the Dragon Fire II and to MCWL's involvement in  long-term experimentation increased. Funding was first reduced and then cut completely. As a last attempt to use this system, it was converted to become a full-time LAV mortar system for the Marine Corps. This funding was removed in 2009 and the weapon is currently in storage at Picatinny Arsenal. It was proposed to develop a "fire on the move" capability for the Dragon Fire II - Light Armored Vehicle (LAV-M) as the first artillery system to fire accurately from the moving vehicle but the Marine Corps Warfighting Lab ended long-term development projects and all technology funding was  cut. 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-25, towed by a HMMWV, or air deployed by CH-53 Sea Stallion helicopter or V-22 Osprey. Fixing the weapon 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 18 seconds of receiving an order. The weapon is also capable of being operated manually in the event of failure of an automatic system. Because the Dragon Fire II contains its own GPS positioning system and pointing system (the Honeywell 5000HG Ring Laser Gyro) and on-board SINCGARS FM radio, it was also capable of controlling other like weapons, with the potential of one designated "Master Gun" controlling multiple other Dragon Fire Mortars in a synchronized manner. 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 awarded Raytheon a contract to design, develop and demonstrate a new 120mm long-range, guided-mortar munition for use with the M327 mortar. The new Precision Extended Range Munition (PERM) is expected to be ready for a live-fire demonstration by the summer of 2015. The 120mm rifled mortar PERM round will  give the EFSS a reach of , with a CEP of . The prototype PERM rounds have a GPS antenna and small fins, canards, that provide lift and extend the range of the weapon. The Marine Corps acquisition program performed a shoot-off of the prototype mortar rounds developed by Raytheon and ATK. In December 2015, the Marine Corps awarded a five-year contract to Raytheon Missile Systems to deliver about 4,300 rounds. Each round, weighing 16 kg (35 lbs) each, costs $18,000 each, about $16,000 more than the non-precision rounds.