Over the last couple of days I've seen the same video repeatedly shared on Facebook and Twitter with claims that it shows a chemical weapon used on Al Bab
There's obviously a massive amount of interest in chemical weapon use in Syria at the moment, so it's worth taking a look at this video.
What we actually have in this video is a ODAB-500PM fuel-air bomb, which have been used in the conflict for several months. I've collected a number of videos showing the remains of these bombs, which have generally been burnt out, so this is a pretty unique look inside an ODAB that hasn't caught fire. You'll note in the video the men talk about liquid spilling out of it, and that it smells like benzene, which makes sense as this bomb sprays a cloud of fuel around it just before igniting.
Over the past months we've seen an escalation in the air war in Syria, with helicopters being joined by L-39 and MiG jets, and an increasing variety of weapons being deployed by the Syrian Air Force. By examining the various UXO (Unexploded ordnance) filmed by opposition activists in Syria we can see which weapons are being used by the Syrian Air Force, and get an idea of the quantities being used.
S-5 Rockets
One of the most widely used weapons by the Syrian Air Force is the S-5 rocket, used from the earliest days of the air war, and capable of being used by both helicopters and jets. They also featured heavily in the Libyan Civil War, generally fired from rocket pods welded to the backs of pick up trucks.
They have a very distinctive long thin body, usually a light metallic colour, with black stabliser fins at the rear. The actual explosive charge it only at the very end of the missile, the rest of the body being used to hold propellant. As the above videos demonstrates large numbers of rockets have been used across Syria.
AT-2 Swatters
AT-2 Swatter/3M11 Fleyta anti-tank missile have made rare appearances, the above example being from December 2012, around the same time their was a significant rise in the use of armour by the Syrian opposition. Unlike the other bombs and missiles on this page the AT-2 has an in-built guidance system, the remains of which can be seen in the above video.
OFABs
OFABs are Russian made general purpose bombs (classified as fragmentation/blast bombs in Russia) designed for attacking lightly armoured vehicles, non-fortified structures, and personnel in the field. The first OFABs to be identified as UXO in Syria were the larger OFAB 250-270 bombs
In August, around the same time as L-39s started being used in Aleppo and elsewhere, we began to see evidence of OFAB 100-120 bombs
It's interesting to note that since L-39s were first spotted in Aleppo I've collected around 30 examples of unexploded or partly exploded OFAB 100-120 bombs, compared to a handful of all other bomb types in the same period. This strongly suggests that OFAB 100-120 bombs are the bomb of choice for the Syrian Air Force, and were very likely introduced alongside the use of L-39 jets in Aleppo.
FABs
In October 2012 Russian FAB M62 high explosive bombs first made an appearance. These are simply large high explosive bombs, and while they haven't been used as widely as OFAB bombs they are far larger and much more powerful. Unexploded FAB bombs have been spotted making up part of a massive truck bomb used by Jabhat al-Nusra.
RBK Cluster Bombs
RBK 250/250-275 cluster bomb dispensers and their associated cluster bomblets first made their appearance in the conflict aroundJuly 10th 2012 in the Jabal Shehshebo region in the Hama, later confirmed by Human Rights Watch. Evidence of only one cluster bomb was found at that time, carrying AO-1 SCH fragmentation bomblets, designed to attack lightly armoured targets and ground personnel. Here activists took the incredible risk of lining them up for a Youtube video
Cluster bombs are rather unique as they will nearly always leave behind evidence of their use, namely the dispenser part of the bomb which opens up when deployed to scatter the bomblets, rather than exploding like a traditional bomb. This means that each bomb dropped can be reasonably expected to leave behind a casing.
Until August 2012 there were no more videos of cluster bombs or bomblets until activists in Abu Kamal posted this video
Again, they take a huge risk moving these bomblets to make a Youtube video, and what they are showing here are PTAB 2.5m cluster bomblets, primarily used as anti-armour weapons, but equally deadly to anything else in the area.
There were virtually no other reports of cluster bomb use until around October 10th, when shortly after the opposition captured a major highway in the Idlib region there was a sudden and massive increase in reports of cluster bomb use across the entire country. Later, in late November, we saw the first images of incendiary cluster bombs loaded with thermite based ZAB incendiary bomblets. This escalation in the air war appeared to occur shortly after a series of military bases were captured in the Aleppo region.
ZAB-100-105s
Around the same time ZAB incendiary cluster bombs made their first appearance in the conflict we also saw the first use of ZAB-100-105 incendiary bombs, containing both a napalm style mixture and 9 thermite cartridges designed to scatter on impact. More details of the contents of these bombs can be found here.
ODABs
ODABs are fuel-air bombs which create huge explosive fireballs that are capable of much more destruction against buildings than an OFAB bomb. It's believed by some people these bombs were used in Azaz in an incident where it appears only two bombs flattened houses in "an area of approximately 70-by-70 meters – more than half a football field" killing over 40 civilians. Judging by UXO evidence it appears these bombs have only been used since August 2012, and not in huge quantities. More examples can be found here.
BETABs
So far only a few examples of BETAB penetration bombs have been recorded since their first appearance in September 2012, specifically the BETAB-500M62 free-fall 500kg model. Designed to penetrate and destroy reinforced structures it's unclear why one would be used in a village outside of Aleppo, as the above example was. While these bombs are cleared for use on the various jets used by the Syrian Air Force it's unclear if they can be dropped by helicopters. More examples can be found here.
ADIEDs
From August 2012 there were multiple reports of ADIEDs (Air Deployed Improvised Explosive Devices) dropped across Syria. To begin with multiple examples of what appears to be DIY bombs, barrels filled with explosives and piece of shrapnel were reportedly dropped from helicopters in locations across Syria, followed by an increasing number of reports of "TNT barrel" being dropped.
What appears to have happened is activists have begun to use the term "barrel bomb" or "TNT barrel" to describe pretty much any cylinder shape bomb they see being dropped, something that's reflected in the increasing number of videos being uploaded to Youtube described as showing "barrel bombs" or "TNT barrels" that in fact clearly are OFABs or one of the other bombs shown above.
In late October 2012 videos were posted online that showed members of the Syrian air force dropping these devices from the back of a helicopter, seemingly confirming that these improvised devices were being used by the Syrian Air Force. More examples of ADIEDs can be found here.
Naval Mines
In December 2012 we saw the first sighting of naval mines dropped from helicopters in two locations in Syria. It's unclear how effective these have been as weapons, or whether this reflects supply issues for the Syrian Air Force.
I'm often sent videos and pictures with requests to identify the weapons shown, and one I've been seeing a lot of in the last 24 hours is this video from Qalaat al Mudeeq, near Hama
This screenshot gives you a full view of the weapon
The men in the video seem a bit confused about what dropped this, one claiming a MiG, the other a helicopter, but it's likely they are both right, as what we're seeing here is the remains of two totally different bombs.
The bottom half clearly belongs to a RBK series cluster bomb, used widely in that region, an example of which can be see here. Note the number of tail fins which extend beyond the metal ring at the end of the bomb
The top of the bomb is a less commonly seen weapon an ODAB, which I've written about before here. There's not many examples of the ODAB where the nose cone is with the rest of the bomb, this being one of them, but if you compare the following two pictures of ODAB variants to the nose cone in the Franken-bomb video you get an idea of what they look like
So what are we seeing? Some DIY hybrid dropped by the Syrian Air Force? That seems unlikely, as while this bomb has a nose cone and tail it's missing the all important payload, which makes it only really effective if it lands on top of someone and crushes them to death. What's more likely is the men in the video have mis-identified two pieces from different bombs as belonging to the same weapon, and inadvertently created the Franken-bomb we see above.
Back in August Bjørn H Jespersen examined evidence that pointed towards thermobaric bombs being used in Syria. These bombs, also known as vacuum bombs, function by first dispersing a cloud of fuel shortly before a secondary detonation that ignites the fuel, creating a powerful shock wave.
Bjørn H Jespersen was first alerted to these after coming across this very unusual video from Talbiseh that clearly showed two large bombs moments before impact
Since that video 4 more videos have been found they appear to be the same style of bomb, if not the same model, 3 of which are from Talbiseh
By examining the damage to the three bombs in Talbiseh it appears they are different, not the same bomb filmed on 3 separate occasions.
