Manufacturer catalog

Soltam Systems

Soltam Systems was an Israeli artillery and mortar manufacturer associated with 120 mm mortar systems, 155 mm towed howitzers, ammunition, and related fire-support equipment. Its legacy sits in both older Soltam-branded weapons and later Elbit land-systems marketing after Elbit completed the Soltam acquisition in October 2010.

4 weapons

Soltam Systems produced Israeli mortar and artillery systems, including the 120 mm Soltam M65/K5 mortar line, the K6 heavy mortar family, 155 mm howitzers, mortar ammunition, and fire-support equipment. The company is relevant to catalog entries where Soltam is the original manufacturer or designer, even when a later product page is maintained under Elbit Systems.

Elbit Systems announced in 2010 that it would acquire Mikal's holdings in Soltam and later reported completion of the acquisition. Elbit's own acquisition-history page lists Soltam under its 2010 growth milestones, and current Elbit product material still presents legacy systems such as the M-71 under the land weapons and munitions portfolio.

mortarsartillery systemsmortar ammunitionfire-support equipment

Notable Systems

120 mm Soltam M65, 120 mm towed heavy mortar, Artillery

120 mm Soltam M65

120 mm towed heavy mortar

Israeli-produced 120 mm mortar derived from Finnish design work and documented as a Soltam M65/K5 system.

Sources: GlobalSecurity Soltam K5 M65
120mm Soltam K6, 120 mm smoothbore heavy mortar, Artillery

120mm Soltam K6

120 mm smoothbore heavy mortar

Soltam-developed 120 mm heavy mortar family that became associated with U.S. M120/M121 service derivatives and remains a key Soltam mortar-line catalog connection.

Sources: ODIN K6 Mortar
155 mm Soltam M-71, 155 mm/39-caliber towed howitzer, Artillery

155 mm Soltam M-71

155 mm/39-caliber towed howitzer

Soltam 155 mm/39-caliber towed howitzer line; Elbit's current product material describes the M-71 as a long-range field gun with high-speed towing and eight-member crew deployment.

Sources: Elbit M-71

A7 120 mm long-range mortar

Archived Israeli-Weapons material describes the A7 as a longer-range development of earlier Soltam M65 and A4 models.

Sources: Archived Israeli-Weapons M65

Manufacturer History

  1. Soltam founded

    Reference sources trace Soltam Systems to a 1950 founding in Israel, with a defense focus on artillery and mortar production.

    Sources: Wikimedia Commons Soltam Systems

  2. Elbit acquisition agreement

    Elbit Systems announced an agreement to acquire Mikal's holdings in Soltam, Saymar, and ITL, stating that completion would give Elbit full ownership of Soltam and Saymar.

    Sources: Elbit Soltam Acquisition Agreement

  3. Soltam acquisition completed

    Elbit Systems reported that it completed the acquisition of all Soltam shares held by Mikal and its subsidiaries, leaving Elbit with a 100 percent interest in Soltam.

    Sources: Elbit Soltam Acquisition Completion

Successors
Elbit Systems
Website links
Elbit SystemsElbit Systems about pageElbit Soltam acquisition announcementElbit Soltam acquisition completion

Soltam's older corporate pages are not consistently available; the profile uses acquisition records, Elbit's current corporate and product pages, cataloged system sources, and Wikimedia/Wikidata-backed identity data.

Manufacturer Sources

  • Wikimedia Commons Soltam SystemsPublisher: Wikimedia Commons | Note: Supports Soltam Systems identity, Israeli location, 1950 inception, Yokneam Illit headquarters, Elbit ownership, and the category's Soltam mortar/artillery context. | Accessed: 2026-07-06
  • Elbit Soltam Acquisition AgreementPublisher: Elbit Systems via PR Newswire | Note: Supports Elbit Systems' 2010 agreement to acquire Mikal's holdings in Soltam and its statement that completion would give Elbit full ownership of Soltam. | Accessed: 2026-07-06
  • Elbit Soltam Acquisition CompletionPublisher: Elbit Systems via PR Newswire | Note: Supports the October 2010 completion of Elbit Systems' acquisition of Soltam and Elbit's resulting 100 percent interest in Soltam. | Accessed: 2026-07-11
  • Elbit About UsPublisher: Elbit Systems | Note: Supports Elbit Systems' current corporate acquisition-history presentation, including Soltam as a 2010 acquisition milestone. | Accessed: 2026-07-11
  • Elbit M-71Publisher: Elbit Systems | Note: Supports the M-71 product context, including 155 mm/39-caliber towed howitzer type, long-range field-gun description, high-speed towing, and eight-member crew deployment. | Accessed: 2026-07-11
  • ODIN K6 MortarPublisher: U.S. Army TRADOC ODIN | Note: Supports K6 identity as a 120 mm mortar developed by Soltam Systems of Israel and its relationship to the Soltam K5 line. | Accessed: 2026-07-11
  • GlobalSecurity Soltam K5 M65Publisher: GlobalSecurity.org | Note: Supports Soltam's production role for the M65/K5 mortar and the Israeli license-production background. | Accessed: 2026-07-06
  • M-71 cannon deployedPublisher: Wikimedia Commons | Note: Image provenance and licensing page for the selected Soltam M-71 howitzer photograph. | Accessed: 2026-07-11
  • Archived Israeli-Weapons M65Publisher: Israeli-Weapons.com via Internet Archive | Note: Supports Soltam manufacturer attribution and the M65/A7 mortar-family context. | Accessed: 2026-07-06

Produced weapons

Category

Artillery

Tube artillery, rocket artillery, and long-range ground fires.

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120mm Soltam K6, 120 mm smoothbore heavy mortar, Artillery2001 War in Afghanistan, 2003 Iraq War +2 more120mm Soltam K6120 mm smoothbore heavy mortarBuilt in: Israel / United StatesThe 120mm Soltam K6 is an Israeli smoothbore heavy mortar family that became the U.S. Army's M120 towed mortar and M121 carrier-mounted mortar. It gives infantry, mechanized, and partner-force units battalion-level high-angle fire support from a 120 mm tube, with direct source records spanning Afghanistan, Iraq, the anti-ISIS campaign, and K-6/M120 transfer and training context for Ukraine.
155 mm Soltam M-71, 155 mm/39-caliber towed howitzer, Artillery2021 Myanmar Civil War155 mm Soltam M-71155 mm/39-caliber towed howitzerBuilt in: IsraelThe Soltam M-71 is an Israeli 155 mm/39-caliber towed howitzer developed from Soltam's earlier M-68 gun-howitzer line. It combines NATO-standard 155 mm ammunition, a split-trail carriage, horizontal sliding-block breech, compressed-air rammer, and high-speed towing gear; in Myanmar's post-2021 civil war, open reporting places M-71 guns in the captured artillery inventory from Operation 1027 rather than proving post-capture firing.