Picatinny Arsenal engineers Michael Markowitch, Francesco Rizzi, Bryan Drake, Jason Surmanek, Samuel Perez, Raymond Trohanowsky, Wooje Na, and Piotr Czerechowski were granted US Patent No 9528802 B1 for Indirect Fire Munition (IDFM) Non-Lethal Cargo Carrier Mortar on Dec. 27, 2016.
The IDFM Non-Lethal Cargo Carrier Mortar deploys non-lethal sub-munitions to an intended target. The cargo carrier mortar includes a deceleration system which allows for the discarded mortar to descend at a controlled non-free fall velocity thereby minimizing the risk of injury or collateral damage from the mortar. The cargo carrier mortar is adapted to be compatible with existing standard military equipment such as standard mortar caliber sizes.
“Currently the armed forces are unable to deliver non-lethal effects at extended ranges. Our goal was to develop a mortar that would be capable of delivering a non-lethal payload at ranges typical of mortar systems. In order to achieve this a method of controlling the fall of the major metal parts sub-assemblies needed to be designed,” said Markowitch.