General Information
The Cardom is a 81mm/120mm Recoil Mortar System, manufactured by Soltam Systems. Since Soltam’s sale in 2010, Elbit Systems has taken over its manufacturing. The mortar has been used by the US Army in Iraq and Afghanistan, in the Syrian civil war, and by Azerbaijan in the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
Variations:
Keshet – The systems name in use of the Israeli military.
Dragon EFSS – The systems name in use of the US forces.
Use by Israeli Forces
Since 2006 the mortar is used by many Israeli military units including: Golani, Giva’ati, Kfir, Nahal and the paratroopers brigades, as well as the Armored Corps. Cardom has been used during the attack on Gaza in 2008-2009 (Cast Lead) and 2014 (Pillar of Defense) in many incidents.
Noticeably, on September 5th, 2009, a 13 year old Palestinian boy was killed by the mortars in the Gaza strip. On July 30th, 2014, 3 Palestinian journalists were killed by the mortars in an Israeli bombarding of the market place in Sajaiyeh in the Gaza strip.
| ￪1 | Photo: Uziel302 |
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