Image source: topwar.ru
Footage is being distributed on the network, in which, according to Ukrainian sources, soldiers of the 24th OMBr of the Armed Forces of Ukraine demonstrate an Iranian-made NM-16 mortar and ammunition for it. Judging by the markings, these are Iranian M48 mines, and they were released last year.
As it is known, Tehran and Kiev are in a tough political confrontation due to the fact that the Ukrainian authorities unprovenly accuse Iran of supplying weapons to Russia. Therefore, the Iranian mortar with ammunition could not get to Ukraine directly.
At the same time, Washington has repeatedly reported on the interception by US Navy warships of civilian vessels in the Gulf of Oman, which transported quite large shipments of weapons, ammunition and explosives from Iran to Yemen. Representatives of the command of the naval forces say that the smuggled shipments of weapons are intended for the Houthi rebel army, which controls about a third of Yemen, including the capital Sanaa.
Taking into account the fact that the AFU is experiencing an acute shortage of ammunition, even of the NATO standard, and the Western allies are trying to solve this problem in every possible way, it is easy to assume that an Iranian-made mortar turned up in Ukraine just after the next arrest of the US Navy in the Gulf of Oman of some fishing schooner transporting a shipment of weapons to Yemen.
The standard 120 mm NM-16 mortar, which is in service with the Iranian army, is produced by the Hadid Industrial Complex, which is part of the Industrial Group for the Production of Weapons of the Organization of the Defense Industry of Iran. Presumably, the NM-16 is a lightweight version of the Israeli towed mortar Soltam M-65, supplied to Iran before the 1979 revolution.
The firing range of this mortar is from 250 to 6200 meters, with active-reactive mines — up to ten kilometers. The rate of fire of the gun reaches up to ten rounds per minute. The Iranian Industrial Group for the production of Ammunition produces high-explosive fragmentation, lighting, smoke and reactive 120-mm mines for these mortars.
So, from one thread to another, Kiev's NATO allies are turning the APU into an army, in the arsenal of which almost all types and types of weapons ever produced in various countries of the world will soon be presented.
Image source: topwar.ru