Artillery: Twin Barrel 120mm Mortar Does Fancy Tricks

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December 25, 2010: Finland has ordered another 18 Amos 120mm mortar turret systems for use on its wheeled armored vehicles. The AMOS is a twin barrel 120mm mortar design that allows the self-propelled mortar to get out a large volume of fire before moving (to avoid counterbattery fire from a foe equipped with shell spotting radar that can quickly locate where the firing weapon is located.)

AMOS can fire GPS guided shells. These are expensive, so Amos can also put 14 unguided shells on a target simultaneously using a computer controlled system that quickly fires shells at different times and angles so that they all arrive at once. Maximum rate of fire is 26 shells a minute. Max range of AMOS is ten kilometers. AMOS is also used by the Swedish armed forces and has been in service for three years, and in development since the 1990s.