Showing posts with label FROG-7. Show all posts
Showing posts with label FROG-7. Show all posts

Thursday, 25 April 2013

Leaked Video Shows Scud Launches By The 155th Brigade In Syria

On several occasions in the past there's been a number of videos claiming to show launches of various large missiles and rockets by the Syrian army.  A new video has now been posted, "leaked" from the 155th Brigade, based a few kilometers northeast of Damascus, which shows multiple launches or large rockets and missiles


A couple of things point to this being Syria, and not somewhere else.  First of all the Syrian flag can be seen briefly at two points in the video


At this point in the video the soldiers chant something that roughly translates to "with soul, with blood, we sacrifice ourselves to you Bashar", a slogan originating from well before the start of the conflict.  This then begs the question of whether or not the video was filmed before the conflict, especially as the clothes and whether seems to put this during a warmer period of the year, not the winter months.  The single clue seems to be at 3:07, when soldiers in the background use the word "thawra", which means revolution.  Four people have told me this word was used, with two people telling me the soldiers say how shouting Allahu Akbar during the launch made them sounds like rebels.  This is the only evidence I've come across to date it during the conflict, so if anyone else spots anything in the video that dates it that would be a great help.

Update April 25th - Here's the best translation so far of what's said via @freeCritic2000
Soldier 1 - Allahu Akbar
Soldier 2 - Don't bother with Allahu Akbar otherwise I feel like I'm in the revolution.  Like in Horan.
Soldier 1 - Shut up, the other day I nearly lost my voice due to the times I shouted Allahu Akbar.

Next let's take a look at the weapons shown in the video.  At the beginning of the video we see the launch of two missiles, both from a vertical position, and with a distinct orange flame at the start of the launch


Although the missiles cannot be seen clearly, the vertical position and the orange flame are both indications that these are either Scud missiles launches, or launches of missiles based off Scud missiles, such as the North Korean Rodong-1 missile.  Both Soviet era Scud missiles, and North Korean Rodong-1 missiles are reported to be in service with the Syrian military.

Next there's these launchers


These appear to be launchers for Luna-M/Frog-7 rockets, the remains of which have been seen at a number of impact sites in Syria.

Finally there's a group of launchers I've be unable to ID


These may be locally produced versions of Iranian rocket systems, such as the Fateh-110, or Zelzal-2 or 3, but there isn't enough reference material publicly available to confirm this, so if anyone has a good quality image of the Syrian versions of those systems, let me know.

Update April 25th 2013 I believe this footage actually might have been filmed at a test conducted in July 2012 by the Syrian military, and covered on Syrian State TV


The footage in the above video seems to match some of what's shown in the "leaked" video, and the conversation of the two soldiers about the rebels and Horan would make sense in this context.  Another reader has told me that at 6:40 they talk about "projects", which in the Syrian military refers to war-games, so it seems extremely likely this is the July 2012 test.

Related Articles

Scud-B Missile Remains Filmed Near Raqqa
A New Scud-Type Warhead Appears Across Syria
Photographic Evidence Of Scud Missile Use In Syria
Clear Evidence Of DIY Barrel Bombs Being Used By The Syrian Air Force
Heavy Weapons And Surface To Air Missiles Captured From The 46th Regiment Base
Video Shows Captured SA-16 And SA-24 Surface To Air Missiles
Unexploded Cluster Bomblets Repurposed As DIY Rocket Warheads

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



Sunday, 16 December 2012

Mystery Solved! - Remains Of A Large Unidentified Missile/Rocket Film In Syria

Update December 17th Thanks to the many people who made a variety of suggestions for the identity of the missile, and I believe we now know what this is.  It appears to be part of a S-200 surface to air missile, specifically the "PRD-81/5S25/5S28 solid propellant booster using RAM-10K filler with 3-5 sec burn duration".  How it got into that field is still a mystery, but it seems we can exclude this video from examples of surface to surface missile in Syria. 

Update December 19th Thanks to @massdall for this video which gives a clear view of the booster described above.

In the past week there's been numerous reports in the press of claims by US and NATO officials of Scud missiles being fired at opposition forces in Syria.  Since then a number of videos have been posted online claiming to show Scud missile launches, but none have been clear enough to make a positive ID, for example


The Syrian military has a variety of tactical ballistic missiles including Soviet, North Korean, and Iranian missiles, so it cannot be assumed these launches are Scud missiles.

Today two videos were posted online showing the remains of a large missile, possibly the first example of tactical ballistic missile remains being filmed in Syria


The missile is covered with Russian text, but the markings don't give much useful information, with most of it appearing to be basic technical information and information about the correct method of transport, none of which provides enough detail to make a positive ID.  As the text is in Russian it means the following missiles used by the Syrian military are the most likely suspects
From what I can tell the missile in the video is too thin to be a Scud, and the OTR-21/KN-02 doesn't appear to have tail fins in the same position, so that would leave the FROG-7.  However, due to the damage on the missile it's difficult to find matching features, so for now I'll have to leave this one as an unidentified missile. 

Related Articles
Evidence Of New Grad Launched Cluster Munitions Used In Syria
Grads Join Scuds And Incendiary Bombs In The Latest Escalation Of The Syrian Conflict
How to Build an Army in Your Basement - Even More DIY Weapons
Are Assad's Forces Using IEDs In Syria?
Unexploded Bombs Used In A Truck Bomb By Jabhat al-Nusra  
Clear Evidence Of DIY Barrel Bombs Being Used By The Syrian Air Force
Unexploded Cluster Bomblets Repurposed As DIY Rocket Warheads


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