Is The Syrian Military Using Another Type Of Chemical Weapon?

Earlier this week I took a detailed look at the use of Improvised Rocket Assisted Munitions (IRAMs) by government forces in Syria.  The IRAMs used in Syria are basically 107mm rockets with the warheads removed, and replaced with much larger warheads, with range and accuracy being sacrificed for explosive power.  This makes it a very effective weapon in urban combat, with video evidence from pro-government channels showing them used to directly attack opposition positions at short range.

As part of that post I linked to a playlist of videos that showed IRAMs filmed by the opposition in towns and cities across the country over the past year.  Richard Lloyd of Tesla Laboratory Inc, who has studied various munitions used in the conflict, contacted me, and noted something very interesting about one of the videos.

Below are several examples of the IRAMs featured in the video.  As you can see, distortion from the original source video aside, they are all pretty much identical

The warhead is totally sealed, with no ports of any kind on the warhead, and the base of the warhead also has no ports, as shown below

Also note the configuration of the nozzles in this video showing an Iranian 107mm rocket used as part of the IRAM.  The number of nozzles vary on the type of rocket, different 107mm rockets have different numbers of nozzles, and the 140mm M14 rocket used in the August 21st Sarin attacks has 10 nozzles 

Richard Lloyd highlighted one video that wasn't like the other.  It shows what appears to be an IRAM with a significantly different design

The video, dated June 30th 2013, describe this as a strange munition dropped from an aircraft (which I believe is possibly an incorrect description of it's deployment), and there's certainly a number of strange things about it.  Photographs taken of the munition gives a clearer view

We can estimate the size of the munition from examining the rocket.  As you can see from the above picture of the Iranian 107mm rocket it's an identical nozzle configuration, so it seems almost certain the rocket is 107mm wide.  Richard Lloyd estimated the size as around 300mm wide,and 650mm long, with a volume of about 40-45 litres.

You'll note the rocket motor has embedded itself deeply into the warhead.  No other example of an unexploded IRAM shows this, and if the warhead was filled with solid explosives then it seems very unlikely to happen.   Richard Lloyd agrees with me that this strongly suggests that the warhead is hollow.

You'll also remember the other IRAMs didn't have a hole or a metal ring on the base of the warhead, so it's already notably different from other IRAMs.  Now let's examine the front of the warhead, which shows something that's extremely interesting

On the left of the warhead is a very unusual square object that appears to be very similar to the plug on the fill port of the munition used in the August 21st Sarin attacks, which I've previously referred to as the UMLACA.  The following photograph shows the base of the UMLACA warhead recovered from the August 21st attack

External

Internal

Aside from the fill port shown above, the UMLACA also had a second port on the base of the warhead, shown on the right in this image

I asked Richard Lloyd what he believe this port to be, and he said based off his knowledge, this is possibly used to arm and/or power the fuze.  There's more discussion of that in this post.

So what we appear to have here is a IRAM with a warhead designed to hold a liquid of some sort.  With only one example of this type of IRAM recorded in Syria so far, and little additional information, it's hard to know exactly what was inside this munition, but it's certainly a very unusual munition that's worth keeping an eye out for in the future.

You can contact the author on Twitter @brown_moses or by email at brownmoses@gmail.com