Thursday, 17 April 2014

Two New Significant DIY Barrel Bomb Videos - Chemical And Skinny

Over the last 24 hours, two new videos have been uploaded to YouTube from different areas of Syria showing interesting variations in DIY barrel bombs.

The first, from Kafr Zita, shows the remains of two DIY barrel bombs that have been dropped on the town


This video shows the remains of a DIY barrel bomb and chlorine cylinder that was reportedly used in an attack on April 12th (covered here).  Later in the video, we see the remains of a badly damaged cylinder that shares very similar markings, from a more recent attack, and it appears since the initial reported chlorine barrel bomb attack on April 11th, there's been a number of attacks reported.  Only last night another chlorine barrel bomb attack was reported, with several videos uploaded from Kafr Zita.

Another video posted today from the town of Khan Shikhoun shows the remains of a DIY barrel bomb


What's interesting about this is it's a skinny version of the types of DIY barrel bombs that have been seen over the last few months (many examples here).  The first wave of DIY barrel bombs were around this smaller size, but there's certain features of this barrel bombs that suggest it's based on the design innovations of the newer, larger, barrel bombs

Three tail fins [Source]
Slot between tail fins [Source]
Det cord [Source]
So it appears this new, smaller, DIY barrel bomb is based on the design lessons learnt from the new wave of DIY barrel bombs.  Why they are using these smaller bombs is unknown for now.

Something else I noticed during my research for this post is the front end of one of the barrel bombs as it falls, something I only noticed when watching a particular piece of footage frame by frame


You'll note there appears to be a plate at the front of the bomb, and this is something visible in some videos of DIY barrel bombs

[Source]
It appears this front plate is part of a large, flat, impact fuze, another piece of information on how these bombs operate.
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6 comments:

  1. Anonymous17 April 2014 at 23:18

    And I suppose your going to tell us it was the regime that did and not the rebel..your nothing but predictable.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Patrick19 April 2014 at 10:17

    Exactly how would the rebels - who have no air force - be dropping aerial free fall bombs?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Mike Noda20 April 2014 at 09:20

    These are not really "chemical weapons", but some odd gas cylinders they decided to throw out of a helicopter. Sure, they will blow up or leak out dispersing some noxious fumes, but they are not purpose built chemical weapons and not that great at spreading death dealing chemicals. I think large propane cylinders attached to some explosives would be far more deadly then these Chlorine cylinders from the water treatment plant.

    My belief is that it doesnt really matter what they throw out of the helicopter whether it be a highly advanced cluster bomb or a garbage can filled with gasoline. These are devices of terror and mayhem designed to bring fear to the population. The quality of the device is not important, but just as long as it blows up and kills at least one person.

    Maybe they should get those Hezbollah guys to design a real bomb to throw out of the helicopter rather then using the usual in-house Syrian Army team. I know they are trying their best, but its obvious they are not engineers.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Mike Noda20 April 2014 at 10:59

    I found a video on Youtube of a very effective bomb dropped by a MIG. When the bomb is released you see several different objects in the air. When it finally hits the result is a line of destruction. I am no arms expert so I will not attempt to explain what it is, but it does look like the result is effective.

    http://youtu.be/huh5oFdrqYI

    So these barrel bombs are used to scare and terrorize. They throw whatever they can out of the helicopter and they are probably designed by the Syrian soldiers themselves but not engineers. When they really want to do some damage on a military target they turn to more effective weapons like in the video above. Right now they are throwing whatever they can out of the helicopter. The purpose is psychological and to get whoever is in the area to leave.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Unknown21 April 2014 at 09:53

      The video shows conventional, dropped ordnance (bombs) using high drag fins. This is very common. These fin assemblies function similar to the way US BSU-49/50 Ballute, high drag, retarding system operates. The BSU type fin assemblies replaced the older Snake Eye high drag fin assemblies. This is just general info but these high drag fin assemblies also play a role in fuze arming/functioning and aircraft ordnance delivery tactics.

      Delete
  5. anakin23 May 2014 at 15:51

    Dear Sir ,
    A " barrel bomb " is nothing more than a " gravity bomb " or " dumb bomb " as they were designed at the begenning of air warfare in 1914 !
    By your posts you try to show that it is a treacherous weapon and you try to provide an expertise on these bombings . Dear sir your mathematical calculations ( propbability , aerea of dispersion ) were made A CENTURY AGO ! http://longstreet.typepad.com/.a/6a00d83542d51e69e20133f58ada2d970b-800wi
    http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Py72GQ_C1KI/UYlMI2VNA_I/AAAAAAAABMA/rsjyzPefuP8/s1600/hand+dropped+bombs.jpg

    ReplyDelete

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