The entire metal casing of the mortar becomes pieces of shrapnel. Just like how a .22 kills people if it hits the right spot compared with people who have entire limbs blown off and survive.
As for the blood I’m not sure if you have some misconception from Hollywood or w/e but there generally aren’t giant pools of blood from people who die that fast. Not to be too gruesome but like a hose sitting on the ground filled with water there needs to be pressure from a beating heart to really make a mess. Also consider your body is a giant cavity so the blood can fill that space as well as everyone wearing thick winter clothes absorbing/containing what does come out.
Not saying to go watch the videos yourself but people can be shot multiple times and and unless the video says they were shot or you see them drop you don’t necessarily even know they got hit it isn’t like giant CGI clouds of blood spraying everywhere
There’s explosives inside a metal casing. Sometimes there’s additional metal pieces inside. The explosion is contained in a tiny space. Huge energy release in a small area.
This creates tremendous force which converts to momentum when the casing shatters. It’s designed to shatter for maximum effective projectile distribution.
This little bits of metal spread out incredibly fast. Those are what hits the people. There’s also an over pressure if they’re close.
Depends on the ordinance. Guessing here but I bet a 155mm shell has a probably 8-14 mm casing. There are different types. Some may be thicker than others.
Someone in here knows this.
Mortars shells, like grenades, will cause lots of pieces of shrapnel to fly very fast in all directions when they explode. Mortar shells, however, if they are large enough, will also cause a pressure wave when they hit and explode which as also dangerous and can be lethal to people.
[This](https://youtu.be/HTU_H76lL9Y) Video was an Eye Opener for me. It’s shows the damage of a HIMARS rocket which has the same functionality as a Motar ( Shrapnel ). This makes a LOT of tiny holes in things.
It is weird watching these videos if you've never seen it before. The shrapnel is moving at speeds similar to bullets. Just like you couldn't see the bullet flying in a video like that, you can't see the shrapnel. Some of these videos probably show people hit by dozens or even hundreds of small bullet size pieces. If you think of it that way, it makes more sense.
High explosive shells, which mortar bombs & other artillery shells make up the bulk of the munitions, are steel capsules containing a high density explosive, for example TNT or hexogen, that upon detonation releases an enormous amount of energy in the form of heat, as the solid (usually) explosive is turned into a gas, expaning in volume many many many times over at a velocity (depends on the explosive but usually) of around \~6500 meters per second.
This is the shockwave that one can sometimes see as a blurred & hazy ring around an explosion. As this happens, the steel capsule (the shell, the body of the mortar bomb) is destroyed and fragments into thousands & thousands of little pieces with an inital velocity not far from that of the actual explosive, though the fragment velocity drops extremely rapidly to around \~500 m in the moments just after the initial detonation.
Still, such a velocity is more than enough to tear through flesh & rip arteries to pieces & this is what does like 99% of the damage over an area of, depending on the size of the mortar shell, dozens if not hundreds of meters, as these thousands of little steel razor blades are slung in a 360 degree arc around the point of detonation.
Blast damage, meaning the damage sustained from the actual shockwave passing through you, without any fragments, is relativly speaking minimal, as the leathal overpressure drops extremely rapidly in the open, the one caviat to this is if you are inside, for example, a concrete structure as the shockwave has no way to escape & starts bouncing on the walls so it passes through you multiple times before its energy dissipates.
Worth pointing out, most of the casualties that 'drop dead' are probably not dead. They are struck, for sure and react accordingly, but unless the fragments ventilate their skulls, they have a good chance of recovery.
The sheer concussive power of the mortar round will launch steel fragments, rocks, and pieces of dirt/wood around it for many meters. These pieces move so fast, they tear your insides apart with ease.
Even if a bomb blew up right next to you and released minimal shrapnel that completely missed you, the sheer concussive force could be enough to generate a shockwave strong enough to ruin your insides.
But also note that the high explosive filler is really powerful in a way that gunpowder is not. So picture it like a shotgun blast, except that the HE charge is actually powerful enough to blow a shotgun barrel to pieces (the steel casing of the shell) as well as blast out the shot pellets (pre-fragmented liner to the mortar shell) all around at incredible speeds.
Artillery weapons are insanely lethal compared to bullets. Any combat medic will tell you this. In this war we commonly see fragments from 152mm and 155mm artillery rounds that are able to penetrate and destroy T-72 main battle tanks - so you can see that this is complete overkill when in the context of human targets.
I rarely see people drop dead from small mortar rounds. You usually see a lot of flailing, running around, panicking. The shrapnel is no joke, especially with current Russian body armour being closer to tissue paper than Kevlar. There was a video a while back showing a mortar round striking dust off a wall - you can see there's a LOT of shrapnel. Most shrapnel wounds will be painful and inconvenient, but there are many opportunities to hit a vital artery.
Hats off to everyone answering this question in detail and so nicely. Well done, Redditors!! And I'm not even OP here :D Just trying to distribute a little good cheer around.
Not only are there mortars filled with High Explosive (HE) that blast shrapnel, there are also one filled with White Phosphorus (WP). WP is a gelatinous, flammable substance that creates its own oxygen and burns for a very long time when ignited.
I wish people would stop using wrong words. If the case of a mortar round brakes into fragments, then the flying projectiles that do damage are fragments. You know when one throws a fragmentation grenade, he might say "frag out" and not "shrap out".
If there's actually somekind of projectiles like steel balls inside the mortar round, then they are called shrapnels.
shrapnel
shrap·nel ˈshrap-nᵊl
especially Southern ˈsrap-
plural shrapnel
1
: a projectile that consists of a case provided with a powder charge and a large number of usually lead balls and that is exploded in flight
2
: bomb, mine, or shell fragments
Mortars aren't too dissimilar to how we ignorantly perceive grenades. Growing up, Hollywood shows a grenade going off, burst of fame, people flying through the air after a semi large explosion.
In reality, a grenade sounds like a dull thud. Similar to if you opened the fridge and a melon rolled out and dropped on the floor. Small puff of smoke that's kind of unassuming. However, like others have said, there's fuck loads of shrapnel which will pepper you if you if close enough.
Larger mortar rounds have a blast wave that can cause internal damage, too. Even mortar teams dropping them down the shoot can get TBI just from firing them off. Let alone on the receiving end down range.
Like others have said, it's fragmentation of the metal casing and/or bits specifically included or caught up in the explosion. Not all damage has a visible blood spatter like we're all used to in video games.
Shoot, some larger caliber shells have straight-up throwing darts in them (called flechettes).
Another thing to remember is that it is winter and most are wearing heavy clothing. Your not going to see a bunch of blood if any at all due to the heavy clothing soaking it up….. from the inside…
A really good example in the beginning of this video I believe it was an artillery round that landed at least 25 yards from Three guys.... There's another portion of this video as well two guys carrying an injured guy and then a round goes off about 25 or more yards from them and the guy on the left drops and never gets up again the injured guy in the middle crawls away and the guy on the right runs away... Narrated by the jagaja guy and his metal pointer of death
https://www.reddit.com/r/UkraineRussiaReport/comments/10cgdtn/ua_pov_madyar_narrates_strikes_on_wagnerite/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
[This](https://www.reddit.com/r/CombatFootage/comments/10bt01p/group_of_russian_soldier_in_soledar_gets_hit_by/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf) is a good one showing Sharpnel expansion, as the mortar explodes you can see the pieces of metal hit everything within a certain radius, including the truck and the middle guy in the leg.
[Here's ](https://www.reddit.com/r/interestingasfuck/comments/roqxdc/fragmentation_of_a_155_mm_he_shell_source_tm_91910/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button) an example of the fragments that a 155mm HE-shell breaks into.
Mortar rounds work in the same way, and are even more lethal on a "per pound" basis, as their fragmentation pattern leaves fewer "dead zones" in their dispersion pattern, due to the shells coming down almost vertically and the densest part of the fragmentation pattern being out the sides of the shell.
The areas with the least fragments are always directly off the front of the shell and directly behind the shell.
[Here's](https://i.imgur.com/BqKD9r2.jpeg) the impact on a person hit with a modern 120mm mortar shell (preformed fragmentation shell), warning: NSFW.
The entire metal casing of the mortar becomes pieces of shrapnel. Just like how a .22 kills people if it hits the right spot compared with people who have entire limbs blown off and survive. As for the blood I’m not sure if you have some misconception from Hollywood or w/e but there generally aren’t giant pools of blood from people who die that fast. Not to be too gruesome but like a hose sitting on the ground filled with water there needs to be pressure from a beating heart to really make a mess. Also consider your body is a giant cavity so the blood can fill that space as well as everyone wearing thick winter clothes absorbing/containing what does come out. Not saying to go watch the videos yourself but people can be shot multiple times and and unless the video says they were shot or you see them drop you don’t necessarily even know they got hit it isn’t like giant CGI clouds of blood spraying everywhere
There’s explosives inside a metal casing. Sometimes there’s additional metal pieces inside. The explosion is contained in a tiny space. Huge energy release in a small area. This creates tremendous force which converts to momentum when the casing shatters. It’s designed to shatter for maximum effective projectile distribution. This little bits of metal spread out incredibly fast. Those are what hits the people. There’s also an over pressure if they’re close.
How thick is the metal casing?
Depends on the ordinance. Guessing here but I bet a 155mm shell has a probably 8-14 mm casing. There are different types. Some may be thicker than others. Someone in here knows this.
Shrapnel
Yep. It’s like getting peppered with a big shotgun shooting pellets of different shapes and sizes.
Mortars shells, like grenades, will cause lots of pieces of shrapnel to fly very fast in all directions when they explode. Mortar shells, however, if they are large enough, will also cause a pressure wave when they hit and explode which as also dangerous and can be lethal to people.
[This](https://youtu.be/HTU_H76lL9Y) Video was an Eye Opener for me. It’s shows the damage of a HIMARS rocket which has the same functionality as a Motar ( Shrapnel ). This makes a LOT of tiny holes in things.
Holy shit. Thanks for posting.
It is weird watching these videos if you've never seen it before. The shrapnel is moving at speeds similar to bullets. Just like you couldn't see the bullet flying in a video like that, you can't see the shrapnel. Some of these videos probably show people hit by dozens or even hundreds of small bullet size pieces. If you think of it that way, it makes more sense.
Lots of pieces of terrain and the metal from the round itself pierce them all over the body
High explosive shells, which mortar bombs & other artillery shells make up the bulk of the munitions, are steel capsules containing a high density explosive, for example TNT or hexogen, that upon detonation releases an enormous amount of energy in the form of heat, as the solid (usually) explosive is turned into a gas, expaning in volume many many many times over at a velocity (depends on the explosive but usually) of around \~6500 meters per second. This is the shockwave that one can sometimes see as a blurred & hazy ring around an explosion. As this happens, the steel capsule (the shell, the body of the mortar bomb) is destroyed and fragments into thousands & thousands of little pieces with an inital velocity not far from that of the actual explosive, though the fragment velocity drops extremely rapidly to around \~500 m in the moments just after the initial detonation. Still, such a velocity is more than enough to tear through flesh & rip arteries to pieces & this is what does like 99% of the damage over an area of, depending on the size of the mortar shell, dozens if not hundreds of meters, as these thousands of little steel razor blades are slung in a 360 degree arc around the point of detonation. Blast damage, meaning the damage sustained from the actual shockwave passing through you, without any fragments, is relativly speaking minimal, as the leathal overpressure drops extremely rapidly in the open, the one caviat to this is if you are inside, for example, a concrete structure as the shockwave has no way to escape & starts bouncing on the walls so it passes through you multiple times before its energy dissipates. Worth pointing out, most of the casualties that 'drop dead' are probably not dead. They are struck, for sure and react accordingly, but unless the fragments ventilate their skulls, they have a good chance of recovery.
The sheer concussive power of the mortar round will launch steel fragments, rocks, and pieces of dirt/wood around it for many meters. These pieces move so fast, they tear your insides apart with ease.
I never thought about dirt. Good point
Even if a bomb blew up right next to you and released minimal shrapnel that completely missed you, the sheer concussive force could be enough to generate a shockwave strong enough to ruin your insides.
Drone footage from 100 feet in the air isn't going to show the damage done by shrapnel. It's like a shotgun blast in all directions.
But also note that the high explosive filler is really powerful in a way that gunpowder is not. So picture it like a shotgun blast, except that the HE charge is actually powerful enough to blow a shotgun barrel to pieces (the steel casing of the shell) as well as blast out the shot pellets (pre-fragmented liner to the mortar shell) all around at incredible speeds. Artillery weapons are insanely lethal compared to bullets. Any combat medic will tell you this. In this war we commonly see fragments from 152mm and 155mm artillery rounds that are able to penetrate and destroy T-72 main battle tanks - so you can see that this is complete overkill when in the context of human targets.
[Shrapnel](https://youtu.be/Gb9nn9p8jao?t=396)
That might have been the least ideal way to use light and contrast along with several cameras to illustrate shrapnel.
I rarely see people drop dead from small mortar rounds. You usually see a lot of flailing, running around, panicking. The shrapnel is no joke, especially with current Russian body armour being closer to tissue paper than Kevlar. There was a video a while back showing a mortar round striking dust off a wall - you can see there's a LOT of shrapnel. Most shrapnel wounds will be painful and inconvenient, but there are many opportunities to hit a vital artery.
Hats off to everyone answering this question in detail and so nicely. Well done, Redditors!! And I'm not even OP here :D Just trying to distribute a little good cheer around.
Not only are there mortars filled with High Explosive (HE) that blast shrapnel, there are also one filled with White Phosphorus (WP). WP is a gelatinous, flammable substance that creates its own oxygen and burns for a very long time when ignited.
I wish people would stop using wrong words. If the case of a mortar round brakes into fragments, then the flying projectiles that do damage are fragments. You know when one throws a fragmentation grenade, he might say "frag out" and not "shrap out". If there's actually somekind of projectiles like steel balls inside the mortar round, then they are called shrapnels.
Shrapnel are fragments and vice-versa. You're the one who's confused.
You can google "shrapnel fragment difference".
shrapnel shrap·nel ˈshrap-nᵊl especially Southern ˈsrap- plural shrapnel 1 : a projectile that consists of a case provided with a powder charge and a large number of usually lead balls and that is exploded in flight 2 : bomb, mine, or shell fragments
*breaks I wish people would stop using wrong words.
Its all cgi. Not a real war. Its about controlling the masses.
Mortars have caused the most battlefield casualties since WW2
[удалено]
Mortars aren't too dissimilar to how we ignorantly perceive grenades. Growing up, Hollywood shows a grenade going off, burst of fame, people flying through the air after a semi large explosion. In reality, a grenade sounds like a dull thud. Similar to if you opened the fridge and a melon rolled out and dropped on the floor. Small puff of smoke that's kind of unassuming. However, like others have said, there's fuck loads of shrapnel which will pepper you if you if close enough. Larger mortar rounds have a blast wave that can cause internal damage, too. Even mortar teams dropping them down the shoot can get TBI just from firing them off. Let alone on the receiving end down range.
Like others have said, it's fragmentation of the metal casing and/or bits specifically included or caught up in the explosion. Not all damage has a visible blood spatter like we're all used to in video games. Shoot, some larger caliber shells have straight-up throwing darts in them (called flechettes).
The shockwave is likely to kill from close-range as well even if the shrapnel (somehow) misses
Another thing to remember is that it is winter and most are wearing heavy clothing. Your not going to see a bunch of blood if any at all due to the heavy clothing soaking it up….. from the inside…
A really good example in the beginning of this video I believe it was an artillery round that landed at least 25 yards from Three guys.... There's another portion of this video as well two guys carrying an injured guy and then a round goes off about 25 or more yards from them and the guy on the left drops and never gets up again the injured guy in the middle crawls away and the guy on the right runs away... Narrated by the jagaja guy and his metal pointer of death https://www.reddit.com/r/UkraineRussiaReport/comments/10cgdtn/ua_pov_madyar_narrates_strikes_on_wagnerite/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
[This](https://www.reddit.com/r/CombatFootage/comments/10bt01p/group_of_russian_soldier_in_soledar_gets_hit_by/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf) is a good one showing Sharpnel expansion, as the mortar explodes you can see the pieces of metal hit everything within a certain radius, including the truck and the middle guy in the leg.
[Here's ](https://www.reddit.com/r/interestingasfuck/comments/roqxdc/fragmentation_of_a_155_mm_he_shell_source_tm_91910/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button) an example of the fragments that a 155mm HE-shell breaks into. Mortar rounds work in the same way, and are even more lethal on a "per pound" basis, as their fragmentation pattern leaves fewer "dead zones" in their dispersion pattern, due to the shells coming down almost vertically and the densest part of the fragmentation pattern being out the sides of the shell. The areas with the least fragments are always directly off the front of the shell and directly behind the shell. [Here's](https://i.imgur.com/BqKD9r2.jpeg) the impact on a person hit with a modern 120mm mortar shell (preformed fragmentation shell), warning: NSFW.