mortar fire
Lobbed artillery shells
Mortar fire is the discharge of mortar shells—explosive projectiles launched from portable, short-barreled weapons at high angles.
The term covers both the act of firing and the incoming shells themselves: The village came under mortar fire at dawn.
Unlike direct-fire weapons, mortars lob rounds in an arc to strike targets behind cover or in defilade.
- artilleryLarge-caliber battlefield weapons
- shellsProtective outer layers
- bombardmentSustained projectile assault
- explosionsViolent, rapid expansions
- shrapnelScattered explosion fragments
incoming · take cover · barrage · howitzer · rounds · crater · trenches · blast · smoke · rubble · cement · pestle · brick · masonry · trowel · grout · stonework · bunker
- war violencemassacre, bombardment, bombing, shelling, combat
- attacksattack, assault, raid, strike, offensive
- combat supportair support, close air support, ground support, artillery support, medevac
- gunfireshoot, gunshot, gunfire, blast, report
- naval gunnerynaval gun, cannons, gunnery drills, guns, naval guns
- projectile physicstrajectory, projectile motion, launch angle, velocity, gravity
mortar firedirect fire
Shooting at seen targets
hand-to-hand combat · melee combat · rifle fire · sniper fire · bayonet charge
mortar firefortification
Strengthening defenses or nutrients
shelter · air defense · shielding · evacuation · retreat
mortar, fire, mortars, mortared, mortaring, fires, fired, firing, fiery