Есть он как раз во всех приличных справочниках - от Jane's Armour and Artillery и Jane's Infantry Weapons до советских справочников (вроде "Техники и вооружения иностранных армий" 1988 г). Создан Soltam на основе конструкции финского 160-мм миномета М58. Минометы сии весьма активно юзались израильтянами и поставлялись ими в Индию, Сингапур и Гондурас.
Вот из Jane's Infantry Weapons 2004-2005:
Soltam 160 mm mortars
Description
The Soltam 160 mm mortars, including the M-66, were design-influenced by the Finnish Tampella (now Patria Vammas) 160 mm M58 mortar. Soltam's 160 mm mortars can fire a 38.5 kg High-Explosive (HE) bomb out to 9,600 m. To do this requires a heavy weapon (1,790 kg in the firing position) and a detachment of six to eight personnel.
The barrel is a high-tensile-strength alloy steel tube. At the bottom end is the breech piece, which contains the firing mechanism. This is operated by a firing lever which allows the spring-loaded striker to trip off the sear and go forward to fire. The striker can be withdrawn to provide safety, particularly in the case of a misfire.
There is no bipod mounting for this weapon. Instead, the barrel is elevated and depressed by a single column which is part of the carriage. The weight of the bomb makes conventional loading difficult, so it is necessary to lower the barrel to a loading position. This is done by folding back the elevating strut from a hinge at its mid-point. A counterbalance mechanism makes it easy to elevate the barrel each time it is loaded. This consists of steel cables attached to the barrel some 2 m from the muzzle and led over sheaves into the lower pair of tubes that make up the chassis of the carriage.
The axles allow the roadwheels to be turned in and locked by a cam plate attached to the axle tube. The offside roadwheel incorporates a clutch and handle to allow slow traverse. The carriage rolls on its wheels through a complete 360º circle without moving the baseplate.
The baseplate is a heavy flat disc welded with a number of webs to give stiffness and to prevent any tendency to slide sideways. Four handles are welded to the top plate to allow carriage and baseplate extraction. There is a central socket into which the tail of the breech piece fits. This allows a full 360º traverse without movement of the baseplate. There is a spring-loaded locking arrangement to ensure that the breech piece cannot leave the baseplate.
Ammunition fired includes HE (standard M4), smoke White Phosphorus (WP) (M18) and training (M7).
The Israeli Army deploys a self-propelled version of this mortar, based on a much-modified M4 Sherman chassis.
Specifications
Calibre: 160 mm
Length of barrel: 2.85 m
Weights:
overall:
firing position: 1,790 kg
travelling position, excl baseplate: 1,500 kg
Weights:
baseplate: 290 kg
sight: 1.5 kg
Elevation: +41 to +70º (729-1,244 mils)
Traverse: total, 360º
Range:
minimum: 450 m
maximum: 9,600 m
Status
Available. In service with the Israeli Army, Honduras (30), India and Singapore.
Contractor
Soltam Systems Ltd.
Про самоходный 160-мм миномет из Jane's Armour and Artillery 2004-2005:
Soltam Systems 160 mm self-propelled mortar system
Development
The Soltam Systems 160 mm self-propelled mortar system was developed to meet the operational requirements of the Israel Defence Force for a system that was capable of carrying out close-fire support missions and for the battlefield illumination role for night armour actions.
The conversion work was undertaken by the Israeli company of Keren-Or based in Haifa in the late 1960s and is understood to have entered service with the Israel Defence Force around 1969. The complete 160 mm mortar system, which was originally developed as a towed mortar system and its associated family of ammunition, was supplied by Soltam Systems.
Description
It consists of a Sherman tank, or 105 mm M7 Priest self-propelled artillery system chassis with the turret and superstructure removed and replaced by a new all-welded steel armour superstructure with vertical sides, front and rear.
The front of the superstructure can be lowered forwards into the horizontal position to provide more space for the crew to operate the 160 mm Soltam Systems mortar system.
The Soltam Systems 160 mm breech loaded mortar is mounted in the centre of the vehicle and fires forwards, this has limited traverse and can be elevated from +43 to +70º. Elevation and traverse are manual.
The 160 mm mortar fires a high-explosive bomb weighing 40 kg up to a maximum range of 9,600 m. The high-explosive content is 5 kg. In addition there are other types of mortar bomb, including at least two types of smoke bomb and an illuminating bomb.
A total of 56 160 mm mortar bombs is stowed along the sides of the vehicle and below the floor on which the mortar is mounted. Access to the below floor bombs is via a hatch to the right of the driver's position.
A 7.62 mm or 12.7 mm machine gun is mounted on each side of the vehicle for use in the anti-aircraft or self-defence role. The vehicle has a crew of eight, with a loaded weight of 36,654 kg and is powered by a Cummins diesel engine developing 430 hp. This gives the vehicle a maximum speed of 43 km/h and an operational speed of about 300 km.
Status
Production complete. In service only with the Israel Defence Force. Recent information has indicated that these Soltam Systems 160 mm systems are now held in reserve.
