60MM Mortar, All Types

The 60MM Mortar, All Types program is a critical component of the Army's ammunition procurement strategy, supporting both operational and training requirements for light infantry, Stryker Brigade Combat Teams, and specialized units such as Airborne, Air Assault, and Ranger battalions. This line item ensures the Army maintains adequate war reserve inventories, supports individual and collective training, and meets test requirements in accordance with DoD Instruction 3000.04 and Army Regulation 5-13. The program is justified by its role in enabling combatant commander operational plans, homeland defense, and military support to civil authorities, as outlined in Section 1815 of the FY 2008 National Defense Authorization Act.

This cartridge provides visible light illumination for night operations, enabling monitoring of enemy activities and adjustment of fire at greater distances. It is particularly valuable for signaling and combined operations with allies who may lack night vision devices. The request supports the procurement of new cartridges, marking a new start for this item. The M721 is ballistically matched to the M720A1 HE cartridge, allowing seamless transition between illumination and high explosive rounds without gun adjustment. Production involves multiple contractors, with Pine Bluff Arsenal and Crane Army Ammunition Activity handling key components.

This high explosive, enhanced fragmentation cartridge is designed for use against personnel and materiel targets, providing both blast and fragmentation effects. It utilizes insensitive munitions for increased safety and incorporates the M734A1 multi-option fuze, which can be set for proximity detonation to optimize lethality. The budget allocates funds for the procurement of new cartridges. The procurement strategy uses competitive multi-award IDIQ contracts to ensure cost efficiency and surge capacity, with Rock Island Arsenal and Picatinny Arsenal serving as key procurement centers.

The M769 full range training round is a cost-effective alternative to standard HE rounds for training purposes, providing realistic simulation with flash, bang, and smoke signatures. This item is not used in combat but is essential for maintaining readiness and proficiency among Army personnel. The request supports depot-level inventory for annual training. Multiple vendors supply components under competitive contracts, with production rates designed to meet large-scale training needs.

The M768 is an insensitive munitions-enhanced high explosive cartridge primarily used for training but also suitable for combat. It features the M783 dual safety, point detonating/delay fuze and a high fragmentation steel shell. While there is no current budget request for this item, it remains an approved service round, with previous procurements supporting both training and war reserve inventories.

The M720 series is the preferred warfighting cartridge, combining high fragmentation steel bodies with insensitive explosives and the M734A1 multi-option fuze for optimized lethality. It is used against personnel and materiel targets in both training and combat scenarios. Although not included in the current budget request, past procurements have supported war reserve and training requirements, with production involving contractors such as Day & Zimmermann and L-3 Fuzing & Ordnance Systems.