AMOS or Advanced Mortar System is a Finno-Swedish 120 mm semi-automatic twin

barrel A barrel or cask is a hollow cylindrical container with a bulging center, longer than it is wide. They are traditionally made of wooden stave (wood), staves and bound by wooden or metal hoops. The word vat is often used for large containers ...

led,

breech loaded A breechloader is a firearm in which the user loads the ammunition from the breech end of the barrel (i.e., from the rearward, open end of the gun's barrel), as opposed to a muzzleloader, in which the user loads the ammunition from the ( muzzle ...

mortar

turret Turret may refer to: * Turret (architecture), a small tower that projects above the wall of a building * Gun turret, a mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon * Optical microscope#Objective turret (revolver or revolving nose piece), Objective turre ...

. AMOS has been fitted to a wide range of armoured vehicles, such as the

Sisu Pasi The Patria Pasi (earlier known as the Sisu Pasi) is a Finnish-made six-wheeled armoured personnel carrier (APC) originally designed for Finnish Defence Forces. The first variant was produced in 1983, and serial production began in 1984. It was d ...

Patria AMV The Patria AMV (Armoured Modular Vehicle) is an Eight-wheel drive, 8×8 multi-role list of military vehicles, military vehicle produced by the Finland, Finnish defence industry company Patria (company), Patria. The main feature of the AMV is its ...

and

Combat Vehicle 90 The Combat Vehicle 90 (CV90) (, strf 90 or Stridsfordon 90) is a family of Swedish tracked armoured combat vehicles designed by the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (FMV), Hägglund & Söner and Bofors during the mid-1980s to early ...

. The

Swedish Navy The Swedish Navy () is the maritime service branch of the Swedish Armed Forces. It is composed of surface and submarine naval units – the Fleet (), formally sometimes referred to as the Royal Navy () – as well as marine units, the Amph ...

originally planned to fit AMOS to the CB90 assault craft, but found that it was too small to carry it. Instead, a project to develop the larger Combat Boat 2010 was launched specifically to carry AMOS. Sweden cancelled its acquisition of the AMOS in 2009 due to budget regulations by recommendations from

Genomförandegruppen Genomförandegruppen ("''The Implementation group''") was the name of an internal work group that in 2008, within the Reinfeldt Cabinet Office, in Sweden was formed, which, according to a press release later issued by the Cabinet office, had been ...

. In 2016 a new self propelled mortar system called ''Mjölner'' based on a

CV90 The Combat Vehicle 90 (CV90) (, strf 90 or Stridsfordon 90) is a family of Swedish tracked armoured combat vehicles designed by the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (FMV), Hägglund & Söner and Bofors during the mid-1980s to early 1 ...

hull was ordered by the Swedish armed forces, it is based on the AMOS and has many visual similarities but is not as advanced.

Design

Patria AMV XA-361 AMOS Kokonaisturvallisuus 2015 04 interior

When fitted to a vehicle, both

GPS The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a satellite-based hyperbolic navigation system owned by the United States Space Force and operated by Mission Delta 31. It is one of the global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) that provide geol ...

- and inertia positioning are used. The electronic

fire-control system A fire-control system (FCS) is a number of components working together, usually a gun data computer, a director and radar, which is designed to assist a ranged weapon system to target, track, and hit a target. It performs the same task as a hum ...

utilizes digital maps. The twin barreled AMOS is able to keep up rate of fire of 12 rounds per minute. Using its computer-controlled Multiple round simultaneous impact (MRSI) feature it is possible to set up a burst of up to 10 rounds that hit the target simultaneously. The first rounds are fired at higher angles with more

propellant A propellant (or propellent) is a mass that is expelled or expanded in such a way as to create a thrust or another motive force in accordance with Newton's third law of motion, and "propel" a vehicle, projectile, or fluid payload. In vehicle ...

so that the rounds fly in a high arc. The next rounds are shot later with a slightly smaller angle and less propellant so that they fly a lower arc to the same target. This can be done seven times in a row, always adjusting the angle and power. The adjustment between shots is done by a

computer A computer is a machine that can be Computer programming, programmed to automatically Execution (computing), carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (''computation''). Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic set ...

. The strike of one AMOS unit roughly equals one strike of an

artillery battery In military organizations, an artillery battery is a unit or multiple systems of artillery, mortar systems, rocket artillery, multiple rocket launchers, surface-to-surface missiles, ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, etc., so grouped to f ...

. An AMOS

has a full 360-degree field of fire at elevations of −3 to +85 degrees. AMOS is capable of both conventional indirect fire and direct fire for self-protection. In a typical installation, mounted on a Patria AMV or a similar vehicle, the vehicle can dash to the next position roughly 30 seconds after initiating the 14-round salvo, leaving minimal time for detection and counter-attack by enemy; evasion is the primary means of self-protection. AMOS is manufactured and marketed by Finnish/Swedish Patria Hägglunds, a joint venture between Finnish Patria and Swedish BAE Systems Hägglunds. The system was to be known as the SSG120 in Swedish service.

Ammunition Ammunition, also known as ammo, is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. The term includes both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines), and the component parts of oth ...

for AMOS includes the Strix guided round and a modification of the Spanish

Instalaza Instalaza SA is a Spanish firm that designs, develops and manufactures equipment and other military material for infantry. The company, founded in 1943, is headquartered in Zaragoza, Aragon, where its production plant is also located. Instalaza's ...

MAT-120 120 mm Mortar Cargo Round (although the latter is restricted from the Finnish inventory because of Finnish partnership in the

Ottawa Treaty The Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction of 1997, known informally as the Ottawa Treaty, the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention, or often simply the Mine ...

abolishing landmines). AMOS is capable of firing standard muzzle-loaded mortar rounds, but due to the breech-load design in the AMOS, the rounds have to be equipped with a short stub case at the base of the fins, similar to a sabot. When the round is fired, the case exits the breech system automatically.

Operators

Current operators

* ** 18 AMOS ordered in 2010, delivered from 2013, all in service

Potential orders

* ** The

Army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

is looking for 62 self-propelled mortars, capable of indirect, semi-direct and direct fire and most likely on the 8x8

Pandur II Pandurs were a type of light infantry unit raised in Central Europe. The first was Trenck's Pandurs, used by the Kingdom of Hungary from 1741, fighting in the War of the Austrian Succession and the Silesian Wars. Others to follow included Vla ...

. The competitors are the

Patria NEMO NEMO (from "NEw MOrtar") is a single barrelled 120 mm remote-controlled Mortar (weapon), mortar turret currently being developed by Patria (company), Patria Land Oy in Finland. It is a lighter version of the AMOS mortar system, which has be ...

and the

M120 Rak M120 Rak is a self-propelled gun, self-propelled wheeled gun-mortar equipped with an automatically loaded 120 mm Mortar (weapon), mortar mounted on a tracked (SMG 120 / M120G) and wheeled (SMK 120 / M120K) chassis, designed by Huta Stalowa ...

. The NEMO is the favorite.

Cancelled orders

* ** 6 AMOS were in the end not ordered as 24 were initially ordered, but only 18 were purchased and supplied. * ** 40 AMOS was cancelled in 2009 due to financial reasons. It was expected to be installed on the

. In 2016, the Mjölner was selected to take over the role of the AMOS. 80 Mjölner turrets have been ordered so far. ** The AMOS purchase was cancelled in 2009 after studies finding out that fitting it to the Combat Boat 2010 was too expensive. Initially, the CB90 was the platform planned, but it was discovered to be too small to carry the AMOS. In 2023, Sweden decided to manufacture such a ship, but with the Patria Nemo as a turret, 8 were ordered.

References

External links

AMOS at Patria Hägglunds's website
Rev 7.3.2012

an
Amos Brochure 2008
at www.patria.fi. Rev. 7.3.2012

{{Authority control 120 mm artillery Mortars of Finland Mortars of Sweden Gun-mortars Military vehicles introduced in the 2000s Patria (company)