| Origin | United Kingdom Canada |
|---|---|
| Is ranged | yes |
| Is artillery | yes |
| Is uk | yes |
| Used by | See Users |
| Wars |
|
| Designer | Royal Armament Research and Development Establishment, Fort Halstead (barrel and bipod) |
| Design date | 1956 |
| Manufacturer | Royal Ordnance (barrel and bipod) |
| Production date | 1965 |
| Weight | 35.3 kg (78 lb) |
| Part length | 1,280 millimetres (50 in) |
| Crew | 3 |
| Cartridge weight | 4.2 kilograms (9.3 lb) (L3682).[1] |
| Caliber | 81 millimetres (3.2 in) |
| Action | muzzle loading |
| Rate | 15 rpm, 1–12 rpm sustained, 20 rpm for short periods |
| Velocity | 225 m/s (740 ft/s) |
| Range | HE: 100–5,675 m (109–6,206 yd) Smoke: 100–5,675 m (109–6,206 yd) Illumination: 400–4,800 m (437–5,249 yd) |
| Max range | 5,650 m (6,180 yd) |
| Feed | Manual |
| Sights | Optical (C2) with Trilux illumination |
| Breech | none |
| Recoil | baseplate and spring buffered mounting clamp |
The L16 81mm mortar is a British and Canadian standard mortar used by the Canadian Army, British Army, and many other armed forces. It originated as a joint design by the UK and Canada. The U.S. armed forces version is the M252.
Description
It was introduced in 1965–66, replacing the Ordnance ML 3 inch Mortar in UK service, where it is used by the British Army, the Royal Marines and the RAF Regiment.
In UK armoured/mechanised infantry battalions, the L16 mortar is mounted in an FV 432 AFV (six[2] per battalion mortar platoon). British army light role infantry battalions and the Royal Marines may transport their mortars in BvS 10 vehicles (the replacement for the Bv 206). Otherwise, it is carried disassembled in three loads, (barrel, baseplate and bipod with sights, each approximately 11 kg), normally carried by a vehicle or helicopter and assembled for firing from the ground.
The weapon can be man-packed by the mortar detachment, in which case the ammunition would be carried by other soldiers of the battalion. In addition to their normal equipment, each soldier would carry four bombs in a pair of two-bomb plastic containers (known as greenies in the British Army).
Operators
Current operators
- Austria: known as 'M8 mortar'[3]
- Belize[3]
- Brazil[3]
- Canada[3]
- Estonia
- Guyana[3]
- India[3]
- Japan[3]
- Kenya[3]
- Malawi[3]
- Malaysia[3]
- Netherlands: L16A2[4]
- New Zealand: L16A2[5]
- [3]
- Norway[3]
- Oman[3]
- Portugal[3]
- Qatar[3]
- Saudi Arabia[6]
- Syria[citation needed]
- Thailand[3]
- [3]
- United Kingdom
- : M252 mortar[3]
- Yemen[3]
Former operators
- Australia: known as the 'F2 81mm mortar' it was manufactured in Australia,[7] and was replaced by the M252A1[8]
- Rhodesia – Rhodesian Army
- Lebanese Forces (militia)
References
- ^ "81mm Mortar". Retrieved 4 November 2014.
- ^ Rinaldi, Richard A. (August 2002). "Modern British TOE's". Orbat.com. Archived 2 December 2012 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 27 February 2013.
- ^ Berrigan, Frida & Ciarrocca, Michelle (November 2000). "Report: Profiling the Small Arms Industry - World Policy Institute - Research Project". World Policy Institute. Archived from the original on 23 August 2018. Retrieved 2018-08-29.
- ^ "Mortieren (60-, 81- en 120mm)". Defensie.nl. Ministerie van Defensie. Archived 2018-03-16 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2018-03-16.
- ^ "L16A2, 81mm Mortar". New Zealand Defence Force. Retrieved 7 August 2022.
- ^ Rottman, Gordon L. (1993). Armies of the Gulf War. Elite 45. Osprey Publishing. p. 30. ISBN 9781855322776.
- ^ "Australian Defence Sales Catalogue". Department of Defence. Commonwealth of Australia. 2023. p. 26. Retrieved 14 November 2025.
- ^ "New 81mm mortar capability being delivered". Defence Technology Review. ' (56): 5. Sydney: Sabot Media. August 2019. Retrieved 11 November 2025.
External links
- "81 mm mortar". British Army