29 October 2021

Swiss 120 mm Thor mortar bomb completes development

by Christopher F Foss

Saab Bofors Dynamics Thor 120 mm mortar bomb, with a nose-mounted fuze but without increments at the rear. (Saab Bofors Dynamics)

Saab Bofors Dynamics Switzerland said it has completed a private-venture development of a 120 mm Thor mortar bomb, intended to enhance firepower for smoothbore mortars.

“The development of the Thor 120 mm has been completed and the first qualification batches have been produced; we and our partners are currently focusing on optimising the production process,” the company told Janes . “Meanwhile Thor 120 mm has been presented to various potential customers with the focus on deployment with mobile mortar systems.”

The Thor 120 mm smoothbore mortar bomb uses a multidimensional fragmentation design – a further development of the Mortar Anti-Personnel Anti-Material (MAPAM) design that was originally used on Saab's 60 mm and 81 mm mortar bombs.

According to the company, a traditional 120 mm mortar bomb fitted with a nose-mounted proximity fuze disperses fragments in nearly every direction, which decreases the lethality as more than 50% of the fragments are scattered upwards.

The design of the Thor 120 mm mortar bomb combines different shapes (cubes and spheres), materials (steel, molybdenum, and tungsten), and fragmentation sizes (2.5, 4.5, and 6.5 mm). The pre-fragmentation technology enables users to predict each round's lethal radius, which in turn is claimed to reduce collateral damage and increases effectiveness.

A key feature of the Thor bomb is that users select different chamber configurations or different fragments depending on the target set.

The bomb is insensitive munition (IM) compliant, weighs 15 kg, and typically contains 1,400 steel balls, 1,700 fragments, and 3.4 kg of PBXN-110 high-explosive (HE), with the option of an additional 1 kg of HE blast explosive.

Saab Bofors Dynamics Switzerland said it has completed a private-venture development of a 120 mm Tho...

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