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

A New Scud-Type Warhead Appears Across Syria

On February 26th of this year the following video from Aleppo was posted on Youtube

What this appears to be is a cargo warhead for a large rocket or missile, designed to carry a payload such as cluster bomblets.  Since then the same type of warhead has appeared at a number of locations across Syria, with the following video being a clear example from Aahal, Mayadeen, Deir Ez Zor

Other examples have appeared elsewhere in Deir Ez Zor, including the recently captured city of Raqqa on March 26th.

The problem is, I cannot pin down the exact type of warhead this is, or the system it's used on.  Some people have suggested it might be from a 9K79 Tochka/OTR-21 tactical ballistic missile, which can use a cargo warhead, but I've been unable to find solid evidence to support that.  I'm certain this is from a large surface-to-surface missile or rocket, and almost 100% sure it's a cargo warhead, but frustratingly I've been unable to find a perfect match.  If anyone has a good idea of what this is (or even better, reference images), please feel free to comment below or send me an email.


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

Update - Photographic Evidence Of Scud Missile Use In Syria

Update March 3rd - The following video has now been uploaded to Youtube showing the missile in question

What's very notable about this video is that while the markings and damage on the missile appears identical to the one pictured below it appears the missile in the video is covered in much more overgrowth.  This seems to indicate that the photograph was taken at a much earlier date, which suggests these missile remains have been in place for many months.

Thanks to Salaam Sami for pointing out this photograph, which may be the first clear debris evidence of a Scud missile in Syria

This picture was supposedly taken in the village of Moelh, Deir Ez Zor, and unlike previous large missile and rocket remains, which pointed to other types of weapons(mainly Luna-M/Frog-7 rockets), the missile in this photograph appears to share the same characteristics as the Scud-B/C.  Here's images of the Scud-A and Scud B engines (source)

You'll note the second picture showing the Scud-B engine matches strongly with what can be seen in the photograph from Moelh, and the rail that runs along the length of the missile, in line with a tail fin, also appears in this photograph of a Scud-B

However, it should be noted one photograph shouldn't be considering 100% positive proof this is from Syria, but I've been unable to come across the same image using various online search tools.  If it is a genuine image then this is the first clear debris evidence of Scud missiles being used in Syria.


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

Video And Picture Evidence Of A "Scud-Type" Missile Attack In Syria

In December of 2012 NATO and US officials claimed that the Syrian military had begun using "Scud-type" weapons, which was then widely misreported as claims of just Scud missiles being used in Syria.  The officials were referring to the range of surface-to-surface missiles used by the Syrian military, which includes the notorious Scud missiles, as well as other, less well known, systems.  Since then a number of videos have been posted online claiming to show these types of missiles and rockets launched in Syria (most of which I've collected here), along with reports from across the country of these weapons being used.  However, whenever it's been possible to investigate these attacks no debris evidence has been found to prove these types of weapons were used in the attacks.

Today we finally have very strong debris evidence from one of these attacks.  Videos and photographs from the village of Belioun in Jabal Zawiyeh shows the remains of a weapon that reportedly landed outside the village.  My understanding is this village has not been the scene of fighting for many months, and only occasionally sees attack from air.  Here are the video and photographs from the village (thanks to Al'Thowra Souria for providing these images)

The 3rd photograph allows us to easily identify the weapon used.  The markings read "9Д19TC" and "9M21TC", with 9M21 referring to the rocket used by the 9K52 Luna-M/FROG-7 short-range artillery rocket system, and the 9Д19 referring to the solid propellant booster used as part of the 9M21.  It's likely the string of 3 numbers under each of those markings refer to the batch number, factory, and year of manufacture of the booster and rocket, putting the year of manufacture as 1983. The 9M21 rocket has a range of 70km and a circular error probable of 500-700m.  It can carry a 500kg high explosive warhead, as well as a chemical or nuclear warhead.

To my knowledge this is the first time we've had identifiable debris evidence of these kinds of large rockets being used on civilian populations, and that's not the only video seen today showing possible evidence of these rockets.  This video was also posted showing as yet unidentified remains of another weapon used in Syria

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

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

• FROG-7 (Luna-M)
• OTR-21 Tochka/KN-02 Toksa (Viper)
• Scud-B, C, and D

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. 

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

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.

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