During the Maneuver Warfighter Conference in Fort Moore, Georgia, on 10 September, a US Army crew has demonstrated the capabilities of the NEMO automatic turreted 120 mm mortar from Finland’s Patria.

The US Army is interested in outfitting Armoured and Stryker Brigade Combat Teams with a turreted mortar solution which is seen as a superior option to usual mortar installation on a turntable firing through a open hatch. An enclosed turret ensures superior protection not just from direct and indirect enemy fire but also from the health impacts of impulse noise and blast overpressure. An automatic system also vastly reduces the physical burden on the soldiers. A system has not yet been formally selected to deliver against this requirement, but the U.S. Army has been working with Patria since 2020, examining the NEMO with great interest, conducting feasibility studies and ultimately conducting Foreign Comparative Testing (FCT) to verify NEMO’s readiness to meet the requirement.

BAE Systems, which makes the Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle, has in turn been eager to demonstrate how the AMPV’s ExMEP roof system enables very rapid integration of various turrets to cover mission needs. One of the turrets integrated has been the NEMO system, enabling this complete, live fire field demonstration. NEMO is a remote-controlled 120 mm mortar system that can be used for direct and indirect fire missions and even has a demonstrated capability to fire accurately on the move. The system can execute multiple rounds simultaneous impact (MRSI) fire missions with up to 6 rounds hitting the target at the same time. US Army interest in a turreted mortar dates back at least to 2018. At the end of 2020 a market survey was initiated to seek solutions for the Future Indirect Fire Turret (FIFT), which demands an automated system with greater range than the current recoil mortars, and with MRSI capability and compatibility with new, precision ammunition and other lethal payloads. The FIFT must be compatible with the AMPV and/or the future IFV hull for the Armoured BCTs and with Stryker hulls for the Stryker BCTs. With the successful demonstration on the AMPV,

NEMO confirms its status as perhaps the most mature option available on the market.

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