120-mm PM-38 mortar

The 120 mm battalion mortar model of 1938 (PM-38) is a Soviet 120 mm caliber mortar. It is a smoothbore rigid system with a triangular layout. It was developed by the design bureau under the leadership of B.I. Shavirin.

In 1937, the Artillery Committee of GAU began research work in the field of mortar armament, during which a system of mortar armament with tactical and technical characteristics of 50 mm, 82 mm, and 120 mm mortars was included in the plan for equipping the Red Army with combat equipment at the beginning of 1938.

The first 500 mortars were delivered in 1939 and 2,115 in 1940.

As of January 1, 1941, the GAU had 2,115 mortars in inventory, of which 15 required repair.

As of June 1, 1941, the Red Army already had about 3,000 120 mm mortars in service.

As of June 22, 1941, the Red Army had about 3,800 120 mm mortars in service. According to the pre-war staff of 1941, each Red Army rifle regiment had four 120 mm mortars (by the end of the war, according to the staff of 1945, their number was increased to six).

On August 20, 1941, the USSR State Defense Committee revised the plans for the production of mortars and ordered an increase in the production of all types of mortars. The industry was ordered to manufacture 169 units of 120 mm mortars from the beginning of September to the end of December 1941.

The production of 120-mm mortars was mastered in Leningrad. The mortars produced were used not only in the forces of the Leningrad Front but also on other fronts (in November 1941, 220 units of 120-mm mortars were transferred from Leningrad to Moscow and used in the Battle of Moscow, and another 25 were transferred to the Volkhov Front). In addition, the production of 120-mm battalion mortars and 120-mm mortar mines for them was mastered at the Khabarovsk plant “Dalselmash.”

At the end of August 1941, the design team was tasked with developing a more technological variant of the mortar, which was developed by a design group headed by B.I. Shavirin (20 people), as well as an initiative group of designers (G.D. Shirenin, V.I. Lukander, S.B. Dobrinsky, A.G. Sokolov, S.P. Vanin). As a result, a 120-mm battalion mortar of the 1941 model was developed - simplified and without a wheeled carriage.

In 1942, the creation of special divisional and corps groups for counter-mortar combat began in the Red Army (which included reconnaissance units, 120-mm mortar units, and 122-mm artillery guns), which were used to destroy enemy 81-mm and 105-mm mortars on firing positions.

In 1943, the design team of the serial plant, led by A.A. Kotov, carried out modernization of the design, which was adopted for service.