Bombshell Genius
A Jairdain being loaded
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
- Intent: To provide a heavy mortar
- Image Source: Soltam K6 mortar
- Canon Link: Mortar
- Restricted Missions: N/A
- Primary Source: Soltam K6 mortar
- Manufacturer: Ringovinda Systems
- Model: Jairdain 120mm heavy infantry mortar
- Affiliation: Open-Market
- Modularity: Yes: can change the ammunition fired by adding or removing augmentation rings
- Production: Mass-Produced.
- Material: Desh-terenthium, electronic components
- Classification: Mortar
- Size: Stationary
- Length: 1.3m barrel
- Weight: 140 kg (empty, without the hoversled)
- Ammunition Type: 120mm proton shells
- Ammunition Capacity: Externally mounted, but typically mortar teams carry 35 rounds
- Effective Range: Minimum range: 75 meters (without augmentation rings), maximum range: 5 km (with all six augmentation rings)
- Rate of Fire: Single action; 1 round every 15 seconds
- Integrated rangefinder
- Standard sensor suite
- Hoversled
The Jairdain mortar includes an integrated rangefinder as well as a standard sensor suite to help mortar crews establish firing optimal solutions as appropriate for indirect fire as fired from a high angle with a mortar. Also, the hoversled enhances the mobility of the mortar team by making the mortar and its ammunition much easier to carry around.
Strengths:
- Great for firing at massed or heavily armored targets in hard-to-reach areas for conventional field artillery
- Each round has the firepower of a standard proton bomb
- At point-blank range, the mortar is ineffectual
- Slow rate of fire
- Slow muzzle velocity
- Takes some time for its crew to set it up
Named after one of the Dominion's Jedi, Jairdain Ismet, the Jairdain 120mm mortar was, much like a variety of equipment, borne out of the weaknesses of the Dominion Tenth Sector Army during the Chiloon Rift campaign. It is typically carried around the battlefield in a hoversled, along with its ammunition, which normally includes 35 rounds, each of which have the firepower of a standard proton bomb; understandably, due to its great weight, a crew of 5 is necessary to make the best out of the capabilities of the muzzle-loaded Jairdain. A minimum time of 60 seconds is required to set up a Jairdain on the field or to remove it for moving the team in or out. As with all mortars, there is a range below which the Jairdain cannot hit; for this reason, it is required to be supported by other infantry elements to be fully effective.
Depending on the range of the target, the crew can choose whether or not to affix augmentation rings on the shell, which mostly contains additional propellant for the shell: with each additional augmentation ring, the shell's range increases but this goes both ways: the minimum and the maximum effective ranges are affected by the addition of augmentation rings. Without an augmentation ring, the mortar's effective range can range from 75m to 500m, whereas with all six rings affixed, the mortar can hit targets from 750m to 5 km away. Also, given the slow muzzle velocity, it is easy for mortars to miss small or mobile targets and hence must be used only against massed targets, large targets or against immobile targets such as fortifications.
