81MM Mortar, All Types

The 81MM Mortar, All Types program is a key line item in the Army's FY 2026 ammunition procurement budget, supporting both operational and training requirements for Stryker Brigade Combat Teams, light infantry battalions, and specialized units such as Airborne, Air Assault, and Ranger formations. The program's overarching objectives are to ensure war reserve readiness, facilitate individual and collective training, and provide munitions for testing and quality assurance, in accordance with Department of Defense Instruction 3000.04 and Army Regulation 5-13. The FY 2026 base budget allocates resources for the procurement of cartridges, reflecting the Army's commitment to maintaining adequate inventories for Title 10 war reserve, operational, and training needs.

The high explosive cartridge is designed for both combat and training. Its goals include providing reliable, lethal indirect fire support with enhanced insensitive munitions (IM) features to reduce vulnerability to fire, heat, shock, and impact. This cartridge incorporates a multi-option fuze, which offers electronic countermeasure resistance and optimized proximity detonation for increased lethality. The FY 2026 request supports annual training and war reserve inventory, with procurement strategies focused on competitive multi-award IDIQ contracts for key components to ensure cost efficiency and surge capacity.

Another high explosive cartridge is primarily used for training due to its lower cost, but is also suitable for combat. It features IM enhancements and a dual safety point detonating/delay fuze. The FY 2026 budget includes procurement for this item, marking a new start for this line. The procurement approach mirrors that of the other series, emphasizing competitive sourcing and best-value criteria to manage costs and production risks. This line item supports both training and war reserve requirements, ensuring a balanced inventory for operational flexibility.

A training-unique cartridge is not intended for combat. Its objective is to provide realistic, cost-effective training by replicating the size, shape, and weight of standard HE rounds, with a practice fuze that produces flash, bang, and smoke signatures. The FY 2026 request supports depot-level training stocks. Procurement is structured to leverage competition among vendors for components such as shell bodies, fins, ignition cartridges, and propellant charges, with the aim of minimizing costs and ensuring timely delivery.

The visible light illumination cartridge is designed for use in both training and combat scenarios. It enables night operations, fire adjustment, and signaling, especially in joint operations with allies lacking night vision devices. The FY 2026 budget provides for procurement, with strategies focused on competitive contracting for components such as body tubes, tail cones, ignition cartridges, and illumination candles. Cost increases in recent years are attributed to raw material and labor rates, particularly for the candle and metal container components.

Across all sub-programs, the procurement strategy relies on competitive multi-award IDIQ contracts for major components, with up to three vendors per item. This approach is intended to reduce costs, mitigate supply chain risks, and maintain surge production capacity. Acceptance testing and production engineering are included in the budget to ensure quality and compliance with specifications. The program's justification is rooted in statutory requirements for homeland defense, emergency response, and military support to civil authorities, as outlined in Section 1815 of the FY 2008 National Defense Authorization Act.