Barrack buster
Class of improvised mortars from Northern Ireland / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Barrack buster is the colloquial name given to several improvised mortars, developed in the 1990s by the engineering unit of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA).
Mk-15 Barrack Buster | |
---|---|
Type | Mortar |
Place of origin | Northern Ireland |
Service history | |
Used by | Provisional IRA |
Wars | The Troubles |
Production history | |
Designed | 1992 |
Manufacturer | Homemade |
Specifications | |
Shell | HE 196–220 pounds (80–100 kg) |
Caliber | 320mm (12.75in) |
Maximum firing range | 275 yards (250 m) |
Detonation mechanism | Impact |
The improvised mortar properly called "barrack buster" - known to the British security forces as the Mark 15 mortar - fired a 1 metre (3 ft 3 in) long metal propane cylinder with a diameter of 36 centimetres (14 in), which contained around 75 kg (165 lb) of home-made explosives and had a range of 75 to 275 metres (246 to 902 ft). The cylinder is an adaptation of a commercial gas cylinder produced by the Cobh company Kosangas for heating and cooking, and used in rural areas across Ireland.[1]
The Mark 15 was first used in an attack on 7 December 1992 against an RUC/British Army base in Ballygawley, County Tyrone,[1][2] The projectile, fired from a tractor parked near the town's health center, was deflected by the branches of a tree besides the perimeter fence. A number of civilians had to be evacuated.[3][4] It took ten hours for the British Army technicians to defuse the device.[5] A later IRA statement acknowledged that the mortar bomb had "failed to detonate properly".[6] The following, more successful attack took place on 20 January 1993 in Clogher, also in County Tyrone,[2] where the local RUC compound was heavily damaged,[7] and several RUC constables wounded.[8]