Regular readers of the blog will be familiar with two weapons used by pro-government forces known as IRAMs (Improvised Rocket Assisted Munitions) and UMLACAs (Unidentified Munitions Linked to Alleged Chemical Attacks), both of which I've written a number of articles on. At it's most basic, and IRAM is an artillery rocket that's had the standard warhead removed, and replaced by a much larger warhead, and in Syria these have been launched from single barrel stand launchers, and four barrel truck mounted launchers (pictured below)
UMLACAs are munitions that were linked to the August 21st Sarin attack, and come in both an explosive type, and chemical type. The munitions come in two sizes, with the larger type, fired from a single barrel launcher, shown below
One question that remains is what the Syrian forces call these weapons. The following video posted by the Syrian National Defence Force is our first clue to what the IRAM is called
At 1m28s the narrator describes them as "bourkan" rockets, which translates to Volcano, and if you search for "Volcano" in Arabic there's some results that show the same munition appearing to be used, including the following video
The description claims to show Hezbollah using a Volcano rocket, and is a copy of an earlier video claiming to show Hezbollah in Eastern Ghouta, Damascus. Hezbollah appear to have used their own design of IRAM in the fighting in Qusayr, Homs, and it would be interesting if both the Syrian National Defence Force and Hezbollah are using the same term for IRAMs, even though the design differs
Hezbollah "Volcano" in Qusayr, Homs
Then, a couple of days ago, the following picture was posted on a pro-Hezbollah Facebook group
The original Facebook post has been deleted, but the contents was reported here. This is a screengrab taken from the video showing the Syrian National Defence Force launching UMLACAs, but what's interesting is commentators on Facebook claimed that this was a Hezbollah designed weapon, known as the "Volcano" described as "The Pride of Lebanese Industry". It could be said that the explosive version of the UMLACA is basically a larger version of the IRAM, and a suspected chemical variant of the IRAM shared at least one interesting feature with the chemical version of the UMLACA. It should be kept in mind these are just claims by commentators on a pro-Hezbollah Facebook page, so claims the weapon is Hezbollah made should be taken with a pinch of salt, and the NDF video showing the UMLACA claims it's a Syrian made weapon.
This leaves many unanswered questions; it's not clear if both the IRAMs and UMLACAs are known as Volcanoes, or if it's an error by the commentators on the pro-Hezbollah Facebook page. If they are known as Volcanoes, does that suggest the UMLACA could be a more advanced version of the IRAM? Was Hezbollah involved with the use of IRAMs by the Syrian military, and did that in turn lead to involvement with the development of the chemical UMLACA? Does that mean Hezbollah has access to UMLACAs, potentially their first chemical weapon? At this stage it's too earlier to know, but it does add a new twist to the tale of IRAMs and UMLACAs in Syria.
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.
In late 2012, those of us tracking the munitions used in the Syrian conflict began to see the remains of an unusual munition that opposition activists claimed had been launched from Syrian government positions
The munition appeared to be a 107mm artillery rocket (as used by the widely deployed Type-63 multiple rocket launcher), with the warhead removed and replaced with a much larger DIY warhead with a simple impact fuze. These munitions, known as Improvised Rocket Assisted Munitions (IRAMs), sacrifice range and accuracy for a massively increased payload. As John Ismay, a former United States Navy explosives ordnance disposal officer, told the New York Times' At War blog, these IRAMs appeared to be "conceptually identical to the IRAMs used by a particular group of insurgents fighting American forces in Iraq — Kataib Hezbollah". He goes onto the describe the use of the Iraqi IRAMs
The Iraqi IRAM was purpose-built for one thing: popping over T-walls and Hesco barriers at short ranges that prevented interception by C-RAM and creating mass casualties on-target.
Obviously, in Syria, there was no need for either side to use the munition for this purpose, and there were some who doubted the Syrian government would used improvised weapons, especially inaccurate and powerful weapons in urban areas.
In the following months I continued to collect videos of IRAMs (see here), with the unexploded remains of the munitions showing up in Damascus, Aleppo, Homs, and elsewhere. While it was claimed by opposition members that these munitions were fired by government forces, it wasn't until recently that an increasing body of evidence began to appear showing definite proof that the IRAMs were being used by Syrian government forces.
In late August 2013 a number of images appeared online that confirmed the munitions were being used by Syrian government forces. First, the capture of a ammo depot in Khanasser featured this pile of IRAMs stored alongside other weapons, including IRAMs in storage crates
Around the same time Jabhat al-Nusra published images of a four-barrel IRAM launcher they claim to have captured from government forces, along with crates full of IRAMs
The final piece of proof was provided by the pro-Government Abkhazian Network News Agency (ANNA), who has rare access to the Syrian military, and regularly posts footage of the Syrian military in action on their YouTube channel. This video showing "A brief summary of the situation in Syria for 30 August 2013" provided the final proof that the Syrian military were using IRAMs, at 1m11s
The video shows an IRAM being loaded and fired from a single barrel launcher, and was the first video showing the Syrian military using IRAMs.
One thing I was very keen to find out was how these munitions were actually being used in combat. One report that piqued my interest was from the fighting in Qusayr in June 2013. Colonel Abdul-Jabbar Mohammed Aqidi, at that time a senior member of the Free Syrian Army's Supreme Military Council, had travelled to Qusayr with reinforcements, and gave a very lengthy interview about his experiences. One part of the interview caught my eye
The enemy was applying a scorched earth policy by firing Iranian vacuum bombs, which caused whole building to fall down. This was forcing the fighters to retreat to another building.
In my experience, "vacuum" is a prefix frequently used by members of the Syrian opposition to describe all kinds of powerful explosive weapons, and that description reminded me of something else that had emerged in Qusayr. Josh Wood, a journalist who met opposition fighters who had fought in Qusayr, sent me a gallery of photographs provided to him by the fighters he spoke to, showing a munition they claimed was being used by Hezbollah
He told me that according to the opposition fighters
This weapon was used by Hezbollah forces in Qusayr. He described them as 107mm rockets fitted to something with a higher payload, with the 107mm propelling everything. He said the max range on these was about 1 km, but most of the time they were simply fired across the street horizontally at extremely close range. By his description, one of these could do significant damage to a small house. He said that these rockets really helped Hezbollah shift the tide in parts of that front-line.
At the time there was no more evidence of these munitions being used in Qusayr, and no way to confirm the story of the opposition fighters about how they were used.
This week, a video by the Syrian National Defence Force was posted online, showing fighting in Barzeh, north Damascus, with footage of a single barrel IRAM launcher being used at 1m17s
What's interesting about this is the launch tube is horizontal to the ground, suggesting it's being used for direct fire, not indirect fire, as in Iraq
The launch footage is then followed by footage showing the IRAMs hitting multiple targets. It appears, as described by the opposition fighters in Qusayr, that these munitions are being used for devastating effect against occupied buildings only hundreds of feet away from the launch site. It's not hard to imagine how devastating these munitions are, and difficult how (if not impossible) these munitions would be to defend against in an urban combat situation.
Reviewing the National Defence Force's Facebook page, it appears they don't only have access to the single barrel launchers, but also the type of truck mounted launchers Jabhat al-Nusra claimed to have captured
These aren't the only powerful explosive weapons the NDF has been provided with, with videos showing them using the launchers linked to the August 21st attack being posted online recently (albeit using the explosive type of munition), and the use of IRAMs in urban combat would seem to give them a significant advantage over opposition forces. This goes some way to explain some of the more unusual reports from the opposition of the weapons used against them, and it seems these weapons will continue to be a popular choice for government forces.
Thanks to reader simla1, and the Syrian National Defence Force, for the following video
Posted on the Syrian National Defence Force YouTube channel and Facebook pages, this video, titled "The Road to Victory", is a fairly straightforward promotional video, much like the videos posted by various opposition groups. The video shows of various military equipment, and at 1:33 it shows off something that's very significant
This clearly matches the type of munition used in the Sarin attack on August 21st, which I dubbed the UMLACA (unidentified munition linked to alleged chemical attacks). Previously it's been established there's at least two types of these munitions, explosive and chemical, and possibly two different sizes. I suspect this version might be the larger type I believe is launched from a single barrel launcher shown in a video published on August 28th. The smaller type is launched from twin-barrelled launchers, as seen at the government controlled Mezzeh airbase at the end of 2012.
It seems that with this video, and other evidence gathered over the past couple of months, it now seems undeniable that the Syrian military has been using this family of munitions for at least the past 10 months.
It's also worth noting the nose of the warhead appears to be rounded
During the discussion of the range of the munition, the aerodynamics of the warhead appears to be a significant factor in the range of the munition, and it appears some examples of the munition have been shown with a rounded nose, which is significant when calculating the possible range of the munition.
While not quite as significant, this video also contains another example of the Syrian military using IRAMs.
More posts on the subject of the August 21st attacks can be found here, and other posts on chemical weapons and Syria, including extremely informative interviews with chemical weapon specialists, can be found here.
One of the munitions I've been tracking in the conflict is an Improvised Rocket Assisted Mortar/Munition (IRAM), which the Syrian military has been using against opposition forces across the country for quite some time. An IRAM is basically an artillery rocket that's had the payload removed and replaced by an oversized warhead carrying a far large amount of explosive. What you lose in range and accuracy, you make up with explosive power. I've been collecting videos of the munitions here, and last week a video was posted showing the munitions piled up in a recently captured government munitions warehouse. Now, thanks to ANNA News, who has had unique access to government forces, we now have proof they are being used by government forces. The below video, pointed out to me by @ghostLot1, shows an IRAM being loaded by government forces as 1:15
The one thing that's very interesting about IRAMs is their history of use by Iranian backed groups in the region, in particularly Iraq, where they were used by Iranian backed groups to defeat the anti-mortar systems used at American bases (more details of which you can read here).
Update Thanks to @DeSilento who sent me the following images. These were taken from a Jabhat al-Nusra report, showing IRAMs and a launcher they captured from Syrian government forces
Since yesterday, there's been a number of reports of the opposition capturing government positions in the town of Khanasser, near Aleppo, a key supply route for government forces in the region.
The following video shows a government munitions warehouse in Khanasser captured by opposition forces
Among the various mortars and RPG rounds, there's a pile of munitions that the cameraman barely takes any time to look at, but are probably the most interesting thing in the room
Here we have a pile of around ten munitions known as IRAMs (Improvised Rocket Assisted Munitions), a DIY munition that takes a rocket, in this case a 107mm rocket, removes the original payload, and replaces it with a much large payload. It loses range and accuracy, but gains a much greater amount of explosive power. Not only are they here in large numbers, but there's even one in a shipping crate, suggesting they aren't being put together by forces in the local area
This isn't the first time they've been seen in the conflict, with a dozen sightings of these munitions going back to the October 2012. It's always been claimed by the opposition that these are being used by government forces, and many people have doubted the use of DIY weapons by government forces, but this seems to prove, that along with DIY barrel bombs, the Syrian government's forces have been deploying DIY weapons.
The New York Times' At War blog examined these in detail back in October 2012, talking about the munitions with specialist John Ismay, who details their use by Shiite militias in Iraq, in particular the Iranian linked Kataib Hezbollah. It should be noted that the IRAMs seen in Syria appear to use a mix of Chinese and Iranian 107mm rocket motors.
A few weeks ago I was sent a photograph of a unidentified munition recovered by fighters in Qusayr, reportedly fired by government forces
My eye was drawn to the markings, with "M220" possibly referring to part of an BGM-71 TOW, a type of US wire-guided missile, or the M220 propelling cartridge for M889A1/M889A2/M821A2 81mm high explosive mortar bombs. However, it wasn't clear how either would relate to this munition, so this device remained a mystery.
Thanks to the freelance journalist Josh Wood I now have much more information on these items, including a gallery of photographs, and details of how they were actually used. Josh told me this about his interview with the opposition fighter who provided the images
This weapon was used by Hezbollah forces in Qusayr. He described them as 107mm rockets fitted to something with a higher payload, with the 107mm propelling everything. He said the max range on these was about 1 km, but most of the time they were simply fired across the street horizontally at extremely close range. By his description, one of these could do significant damage to a small house. He said that these rockets really helped Hezbollah shift the tide in parts of that front-line.
The description of the damage it did to buildings reminded me of something Colonel Aqidi of the Free Syrian Army said in his interview about the situation he encountered in Qusayr
The enemy was applying a scorched earth policy by firing Iranian vacuum bombs, which caused whole building to fall down.
He may not be referring to these devices, as there was a lot of ordnance being used, but I'd assume he'd know the bombs dropped by the air-force are all Soviet. So what is this device?
I believe what we have here is what's know as an IRAM, an Improvised Rocket Assisted Mortar/Munition. In it's most basic form it's a barrel of explosives with a rocket motor attached (commonly from 107mm rockets), which allows an oversized payload to be launched a short range. It's a weapon used extensively in Iraq, as former United States Navy explosives ordnance disposal officer John Ismay told the New York Times
These weapons were solely used by Jaysh al Mahdi (JAM) Special Groups, which were the Shia fighting groups trained/funded/financed/equipped by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Quds Force.
If I’m not mistaken, only one group was really tied to the IRAM, and that was Kataib Hezbollah.
Kataib Hezbollah shouldn't been mistaken for Lebanon's Hezbollah, but they do have some obvious things in common with each other.
As the above New York Times article points out, this isn't the first time IRAMs have been spotted in Syria, with around a dozen videos posted so far. What is interesting about this IRAM is the design is very different from the others used so far, as appears to have a much larger warhead.
Both types use 107mm rockets, but in the earlier IRAMs the warhead appears to be generally smaller than the rocket, while in the above example it seems larger. CJ Chivers had this to say on the warhead
The point re: the M220 is not that the warhead originated from either a TOW or a mortar round; that's not especially important, because obviously it is not either. It's that someone may have repurposed a munitions storage case instead of using a large pipe, water tank, small barrel etc for a DIY projectile.
I spoke to John Ismay, and asked him about the design of the IRAM:
I was wondering if this looks like a design you've encountered before?
The design in the photographs doesn't look like the ones we encountered in Iraq. Those generally used an acetylene tank for a warhead section. The fuzes were a pyrotechnic time-delay and were generally all of the same design.
The tail section is very different from what we've seen in previous IRAMs, what are your thoughts on it's design?
The tail section shown in the photographs is curious, and probably is one of several reasons this weapon failed to function as designed. The Fadjr-1 is an Iranian copy of the Chinese Type 63 artillery rocket. These rockets have six canted venturi nozzles that impart instantaneous stabilizing spin to the weapon, thus freeing it from needing a rifled launcher. Check this page for some diagrams.
Thus, the added tail section is superfluous, and only adds weight to the tail. I suppose it's possible that the designer thought the addition would better help it fit into a cylindrical launcher, but this is really a cosmetic change at best and an additional destabilizing mod (on an already non-aerodynamic system) at worst.
As John highlights, the rocket used is Iranian in origin, with it's markings visible in this picture
Here we can see the rockets were manufactured in 2007, which is co-incidentally the same date on a cargo of smuggled 107mm rockets from Iran intercepted by the Israelis in 2009.
Possibly also related to these IRAMs is this video, which claims to be leaked from Hezbollah fighters
At the start of the video there's a truck mounted multiple barreled rocket launcher of a type I've not seen before. The rocket tubes seem to be very large, far larger than any system I've seen mounted on a truck, but possibly the correct size for the above IRAMs. The video quality is very poor, so it's hard to be certain, but this might be a first look at the system used to launch these IRAMs.
Recently Foreign Policy published a piece I had written for them on DIY weapons used in the Syrian conflict, How to Build an Army in Your Basement, which demonstrates some of the more common DIY weapons I've come across being used in Syria. In this post I'll take a look at some of the more unique weapons that I couldn't include in the article, starting first with this remote control bomb
Here we have shells being prepared for a DIY cannon, as well as a video of it being fired
This video shows a DIY launcher for S5 rockets, commonly fired from missile pods attached to helicopters (and less commonly rocket pods welded to trucks)
Here's a selection of IEDs designed to destroy "T-82" tanks, which would be an impressive feat indeed, as they don't exist
More remote control weapons, this time a machine gun with it's own video camera targeting system
Here the cannon from a BMP-1 has been mounted onto a truck, possibly preserving the auto-loader system
And here's a somewhat less advance version of the above
And finally we have another DIY weapon used by Assad's force, the IRAM, written about at length by CJ Chivers here
