Originally Posted by Longtimer
Surprising that there is no evidence of motar damage in the few pictures that been released, on the tarmac. I would have thought a motar strike would have left a crater.
If you ever go to Dubrovnik, and walk the stone streets of the old town, you can still see the divots left by heavy mortar rounds in 1991-1992 when the Serbian-Montenegrin invaders lofted mortar rounds down on the town from the hills above.
The divots are not very deep. Most of the explosive force goes sideways and up, and the portion of the mortar round that was constrained by the stone surface just cannot accelerate and create much damage. On a softer surface, you will get craters. This relates to the instantaneous fusing of the mortar rounds. I've seen similar effects from AAA rounds on aircraft where proximity to hard surfaces acts to constrain and direct the explosive force.