The Alakran-S, fitted to a Polaris RZR ATV, was displayed at IDEX 2023. Two of the vehicle's rear seats were removed to accommodate the mortar and racks for 24 81 mm mortar bombs, but it was otherwise unmodified. (Janes/Sonny Butterworth)
Milanion New Technologies Global Systems (NTGS) displayed a new member of the Alakran family of vehicle-mounted mortars at IDEX 2023, being held in Abu Dhabi from 20 to 24 February.
Called the Alakran-S (the ‘S' referring to ‘small'), the new system is designed to be deployed from lighter vehicles than the Alakran-L and the Alakran-XL. It consists of an 81 mm smoothbore mortar, a patented baseplate that is designed to transfer the recoil force to the ground, and a mechanism to deploy and stow the mortar on the back of the host vehicle.
The system can also be linked to an NTGS-designed fire-control system (FCS) that can be controlled via a tablet and linked to an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that is responsible for providing target acquisition, fire corrections, and battle damage assessment.
Unlike the larger versions of the Alakran, the Alakran-S uses a manual , rather than an automatic deployment , system. However, Juan Carlos Estrella, commercial director at Milanion NTGS, explained that because of the integration of a lighter mortar it is still capable of being deployed by one person within 15 seconds, the same time envelope as required for the larger automatic Alakran systems. The system can then carry out a firing mission, stow the mortar, and exit its firing position within one minute.
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