Profile
- Type
- 60 mm lightweight company mortar
- Conflict side
- Ukraine
- Origin
- United States
- Service note
- Introduced in the late Cold War and still fielded in updated M224A1 form
Artillery
M224
The M224 is a U.S. 60 mm lightweight company mortar built for infantry close-support fires from either a conventional bipod/baseplate setup or a lighter handheld mode. Its modest weight, 70- to 3,490-meter conventional-mode range, and high-angle fire make it useful for small-unit suppression, screening, and illumination missions; Ukrainian forces have been documented employing U.S.-made M224 mortars during the Russia-Ukraine War.
- Conflict side
- Ukraine
- Built by
- Watervliet Arsenal
- Built in
- United States
Service History
- In service
- U.S. service from the late 1970s; improved M224A1 fielded from 2011
- Used by
- U.S. Army, U.S. Marine Corps, Ukrainian Armed Forces
- Wars
- Russia-Ukraine War
Production History
- Built by
- Watervliet Arsenal
- Built in
- United States
- Produced
- Legacy M224 production and parts manufacture continued into the M224A1 transition
- Variants
- M224, M224A1
Specifications
- Caliber
- 60 mm
- Crew
- 3-person mortar squad
- Weight
- 46.5 lb complete mortar in conventional mode; 18.0 lb in handheld mode
- Range
- 70 to 3,490 m with M720/M888 high-explosive rounds in conventional mode
- Rate of fire
- Up to 30 rounds for the first 4 minutes; 20 rounds per minute sustained with M720/M888 ammunition
- Operating modes
- Conventional bipod/baseplate firing or handheld firing with the M8 baseplate
- Ammunition
- High explosive, smoke/white phosphorus, illumination, and training rounds
Conflict Usage
- Russia-Ukraine War
- Side: Ukraine
Ukrainian troops have been documented using U.S.-made M224 60 mm mortars on the front line; U.S. security-assistance reporting separately lists 58 supplied 60 mm mortar systems and large stocks of mortar ammunition.
Related Weapon Systems
MO-120 RT120 mm rifled towed heavy mortarThe MO-120 RT is a French 120 mm rifled towed heavy mortar developed by Brandt and later associated with TDA/Thales production. Its rifled barrel, two-wheel carriage, and rocket-assisted ammunition option give it longer range than many smoothbore infantry mortars, while remaining towable by light or medium vehicles. In the Russia-Ukraine War, Ukrainian forces received Belgian MO-120 RT mortars and used the type for front-line indirect fire support.
2B14 Podnos82 mm smoothbore mortarThe 2B14 Podnos is a Soviet 82 mm smoothbore mortar developed in the early 1980s as a lighter, longer-ranged replacement for older battalion mortars. Its portable barrel, baseplate, and bipod loads make it suitable for light infantry fire support, and OSCE reporting documents Podnos mortars on both sides of the Donbas front during the Russia-Ukraine War.
MILANMan-portable anti-tank guided missileMILAN is a Franco-German, wire-guided anti-tank guided missile built around a reusable launch post and disposable missile round. Designed for infantry anti-armor teams, the SACLOS system requires the operator to keep the sight on target while guidance commands travel through a wire link. France has documented MILAN systems among the anti-tank weapons delivered to Ukraine for the Russia-Ukraine War.
120-PM-38120 mm towed heavy mortarThe 120-PM-38, also known as the M1938, is a Soviet 120 mm smoothbore heavy mortar designed under B. I. Shavyrin and built for infantry fire support. Its large mortar bomb, wheeled transport arrangement, and roughly 5.7 km range made it a durable Soviet artillery design, with Ukrainian stocks still documented around the Russia-Ukraine War rather than acquired as a modern foreign transfer.
2S12 Sani120 mm heavy mortar systemThe 2S12 Sani is a Soviet/Russian 120 mm mortar system built around the 2B11 mortar, a wheeled carriage, and a transport vehicle. It gives battalion-level units a mobile indirect-fire weapon with a roughly 7 km range, and modernized 2S12A systems on Ural-based vehicles have continued to appear in Russian supply and combat reporting during the Russia-Ukraine War.
AGM-88 HARMAir-to-surface anti-radiation missileThe AGM-88 HARM is a U.S. high-speed anti-radiation missile built to home on radar emissions from enemy air-defense systems. In the Russia-Ukraine War, U.S.-supplied HARMs gave Ukrainian aircraft a suppression-of-enemy-air-defenses weapon for forcing or striking Russian radar systems despite the missile's original integration with Western aircraft.Sources
FM 23-90 MortarsPublisher: U.S. Marine Corps | Note: Provides M224 configuration, crew, weights, operating modes, range, rate of fire, and ammunition data. | Accessed: 2026-06-2060MM M224A1Publisher: U.S. Army Capability Program Executive Office Ammunition & Energetics | Note: Supports M224A1 background as a lighter successor that maintains the legacy M224 range, rates of fire, and barrel life. | Accessed: 2026-06-20U.S. Army awards Watervliet $4.2M contract for new mortar baseplatePublisher: U.S. Army | Note: Supports Watervliet Arsenal production background for M224 and M224A1 mortar components. | Accessed: 2026-06-20Ukranian fighter finds US-made M224 mortar effective on front linesPublisher: Voice of America | Note: Directly documents Ukrainian front-line use of U.S.-made M224 60 mm mortars during the Russia-Ukraine War. | Accessed: 2026-06-20Fact Sheet on U.S. Security Assistance to UkrainePublisher: U.S. Department of Defense | Note: Documents U.S. provision of 58 60 mm mortar systems and more than 400,000 mortar rounds to Ukraine. | Accessed: 2026-06-20File:M224 mortar firing.jpgPublisher: Wikimedia Commons | Note: Image provenance and licensing page for the selected M224 mortar photograph, identifying U.S. Army/Flickr source context and Commons license metadata. | Accessed: 2026-06-20