The Ukrainian army uses Iran-made 120mm high-explosive mortar rounds.

This was announced by Ukraine Weapons Tracker OSINT channel analysts.

Servicemen of the 24th Mechanized Brigade have published a photo of the use of Iranian M48 120mm mortar rounds at the invaders’ positions.

No less attention deserves the mortar that Ukrainian gunners operate. The Iranian HM-16 mortar can be seen in the photo, the appearance of which was reported by Militaryi in July 2022.

Earlier, the use of Iranian 120mm mortar rounds by the Ukrainian Defense Forces was not reported. Ukraine might have gotten them through third states that have become intermediaries in the supply chain from Iran to Ukraine. The less likely, but a possible source may be the United States, which periodically intercepts maritime smuggling supplies of weapons from Iran to Yemen, and then transfers the cargo to Ukraine.

The ammunition caught on video, judging by the markings, was manufactured in 2022. According to the analysts who verified the shells from the photo, the number of Iranian 120mm mortar rounds in the arsenals of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is measured “not by hundreds or even thousands of shells, because there are more of them”.

The Iranian M48 120mm mortar round can be identified by its bright brown color, location of propellant charges, and markings.

Earlier, Militarnyi reported that one of the units of the Ukrainian Territorial Defense Forces used Iranian 120mm mortars.

HM-16

Iranian HM-16 mortars are a replica of the Israeli Soltam K6 mortar, which is developed by Soltam Systems of Israel. The manufacturer stated that the HM-16 mortar had a maximum firing range of 6,600 meters.

Andrii Moruha, instructor of the Come Back Alive Foundation War Department, spoke about the use of these mortars during the Russian-Ukrainian war in the To Arms project.

“The ones that were given to the TDF and the Armed Forces, had many issues: it breaks off here, it falls away there. They’re like a little DIY made… I came to the brigade of these mortars – 50% had already been sent for repair. They were taken for repair, because either the place of attachment disappeared or the bipod bent,” Andrii Moruha explained.

The Iranian mortars undergo restoration at Ukrainian enterprises.