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the rm37 37mm engineer shovel mortar is a squad weapon used by the russians to strengthen grassroots firepower. this weapon has two uses, it can be used as a shovel or a mortar. it is very light and simple and can be carried and used by a soldier. however, there is no aiming device, and the soldier can only aim the mortar at the target for rough aiming and shooting. this mortar was an attempt by the soviets to strengthen the firepower of the squad. at that time, the soviet army had no shortage of heavy firepower, but the infantry support firepower was still relatively poor. in the early days of the war, the firepower pillar that ordinary soldiers could rely on, in addition to the maxim m1910 water-cooled machine gun and dp-27 light machine gun mounted on the wheeled gun mount, was the rg-42 grenade in their hands; so in 1939, the soviet union approved this 37mm caliber ultra-light dual-purpose mortar.

the rm37 was born in this context and is designed to destroy hostile targets located in open areas (trenches, ditches, buildings, pits, bushes, etc.), to eliminate enemy manpower, and to destroy machine guns, mortars and artillery.

the 37mm engineer spade mortar weighs 2.4 kilograms and has a very simple structure. it consists of three parts, each of which has two functions. for example, the spade handle is also used as a mortar bracket, the spade handle is also used as a mortar barrel, and the spade body is also used as a mortar base plate. the barrel is 400 mm long, the initial velocity of the shell is 65-70 meters per second, the range is between 60 meters and 250 meters, and the combat rate of fire is about 30 rounds per minute.

the 37mm small shells fired by this gun weigh about 0.5 kilograms in total, and there is only one type of grenade. although it is not large in size, it is also specially developed and has all the necessary components. its structure is similar to that of ordinary mortar shells, consisting of a fuze, charge, projectile, tail tube and basic powder tube. the only difference is that there is no additional powder bag, and the firing power comes entirely from the basic powder tube. its projectile is made of cast iron with a smooth surface, unlike ordinary mortar shells that are processed with air-tight grooves. the projectile is filled with tnt and detonated by the m-50 mechanical fuze screwed to the front end of the projectile.

although this type of gun is small, it still needs to be set up for firing. first, use the shovel function to dig out a base plate pit that can accommodate the shovel body. it is best to dig a slope at a 45-degree angle to the horizontal ground on the side facing the user, so that the gun barrel can be fired at the optimal firing angle of 45 degrees. at the same time, the angle between the gun barrel and the rear seat plate is close to vertical, which effectively prevents sliding. then pull out the bracket from the gun barrel, clamp it on the gun body and lock it, and insert the lower part of the bracket into the ground to fix it. when firing, it is necessary to avoid firing the gun barrel at an angle less than 45 degrees, otherwise it will easily cause the rear seat plate to slide, and it will also reduce the descending speed after the shell is loaded, resulting in misfire.

when carrying it, the mortar bracket is stored in the barrel, which is restored to the shape of an engineer shovel, and then put into a special canvas carrying bag and hung behind the waist. the special 37mm small artillery shell has a special carrying device, which consists of a set of shoulder straps and a belt. there are 15 independent iron tubes around the waist, each containing a shell, and the mouth of the tube is fixed with a spring sheet.

in july 1939, the engineer shovel mortar began mass production. the soviet army had just experienced a terrifying purge, and more than 30,000 officers were imprisoned or executed. in november 1939, at the beginning of the soviet-finnish war, this mortar was sent to the karelian front for actual combat testing. although the soviet army sent a large number of troops to participate in the war, there is little actual combat information about this engineer shovel mortar. in short, the performance of this mortar on the front line can be described as lackluster. the shells fell into the mud or snow, affecting the effective killing radius of the shell fragments. in addition, the gun was not designed with special sights or auxiliary aiming equipment. the shooting angle and direction of shooting depended entirely on the user's own control and were corrected according to the actual impact point. due to the user's lack of experience and nervousness, they often could not aim accurately, further reducing the effectiveness of this mortar.

considering that this engineer spade mortar is inferior to the 50mm pm-40 small-caliber mortar in all aspects, it was stopped from being produced and used at the end of 1941. the soviet army turned to mass production and equipment of pm-40, and only the airborne troops still retained a small number of engineer spade mortars. although it withdrew from the regular army, there are still many mortars of this type equipped to the guerrillas fighting behind enemy lines. in the new stage of guerrilla warfare, this gun can be said to be like a fish in water. the combat range of guerrilla warfare behind enemy lines is precisely close-range firefights, and it is also facing the enemy with light weapons. this kind of ultra-light mortar similar to "rifle grenade" and "heavy grenade launcher" conforms to the guerrilla warfare principle of fast fighting, fast collection, and fast hiding, so this weapon has been warmly welcomed by the guerrillas. it can be seen that there are no bad weapons, only commanders who can't use weapons.

interestingly, this design was revived 50 years later. russia developed a new type of engineer spade grenade launcher based on the 40mm gp-25 rifle-mounted grenade launcher, which has a modern appearance. like its predecessor, the 37mm engineer spade mortar, its spade handle is also used as a launch tube. however, because the launch principle of the vog-25 grenade does not require a very long barrel, a plastic handle must be connected to the mouth of the launch tube to ensure that the handle is long enough when used as a spade. this engineer spade grenade launcher weighs 2 kilograms, and its initial velocity and maximum range are basically the same as those of the gp-25 rifle-mounted grenade launcher. it can even use the spade head to shoulder and shoot directly at close-range targets. a special sight is also added to one side of the barrel, and its comprehensive performance far exceeds that of the 37mm engineer spade mortar. however, since the performance of the gp-25 rifle-mounted grenade launcher is sufficient for use, this engineer spade grenade launcher has to remain in the sample stage.