Mortar

Mortars are a category of indirect fire artillery. The term is used to refer to a number of weapons going back to the 15th century. The defining characteristic that they have is that they are intended to fire a projectile up on a steep angle, where it travels on a ballistic arc and then falls down on enemy positions. In modern times, a mortar is typically a piece of man-portable artillery able to launch small shells. These weapons were first developed during the Great War.

Mortors in Science Fiction

• Captain Kirk once used a mortar to launch a photon grenade at an enemy position (TOS "Arena").