Showing posts with label missile. Show all posts
Showing posts with label missile. 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.

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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



Tuesday, 28 August 2012

The Free Syrian Army Storms A Surface To Air Missile Facility

This video, supposedly filmed outside of Damascus, has been posted online, apparently showing the Free Syrian Army shortly after they captured a missile facility

@salehram and @hlk01 both provided me with a translation of the opening statement from the video

Popular Defense Group
Abdulla Bin-Salam unit
Units of the Eastern Ghouta

A group from an FSA unit stormed a rocket maintenance and modification base in the area of Iftrees.  The regime had used this base to shell surrounding areas and for the storage of cannons and tanks that enter the villages and cities of Damascus Countryside.
During the successful operation, FSA members found a large group of rockets in a ready-to-launch state and with massive destructive capability.  The biggest surprise was a group of rockets that were being modified to carry unconventional warheads,  this may have been done to equip the rockets with chemical or biological warheads.

After bringing out this information - confirmed via evidence and images - to the public and international community, the Higher Military Council of the FSA warns that the Assad regime is preparing to shell Syrian cities with these destructive rockets.  It is not unlikely for the regime to resort to using rockets with unconventional warheads such as chemical, biological or other warheads.  The Higher Military Council calls upon Arab nations and the international community to rapidly intervene militarily to save the lives of Syrians before this regime takes revenge with a new level of crime that would have catastrophic consequences on the entire region.

Victory to the great Syrian revolution.
As well as a translation of what's said on the video
By the will of God, the Iftrees base has been stormed by the Popular Defense Group, Units of the Eastern Ghouta in Damascus countryside.

Thank God.  God is greater !  Here are the members of the Free Syrian Army.  God is greater!
Storming of the Iftrees base.  Tanks destroyed.  Storming of the rocket storage facility.  Ten rockets.
God is greater!
This warehouse of full of rockets.

Off-camera voice: God is greater! Rockets, Iftrees base, rockets.   Chemical weapons.  Oh people, Assad is hitting us with them.  God is greater!
Another video posted on a Youtube channel belonging to the al Islam Brigade also shows the missile base

What we can see in this video are SA-5 surface to air missiles, which makes me seriously question that claims in the opening statement of the first video that "The biggest surprise was a group of rockets that were being modified to carry unconventional warheads,  this may have been done to equip the rockets with chemical or biological warheads.", especially as Syria has access to a large number of SCUD missiles, which are designed for surface to surface attacks with a variety of warheads.  It also seems very unlikely these missiles would actually be any use to the FSA without the correct equipment and training, as well as enough time to move them to a safe location before the Syrian Army responded.

Related Articles
Massive Missile Base Defection Reported
The FSA Captures An Unusual Weapon
More Evidence Of Complete SA-7 Anti-aircraft Missile Systems in Syria




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