Recently a new Youtube channel has been created for a group calling themselves the Martyr Issam Saleh Air Defense Battalion, part of the Farouq Brigade, one of the major armed groups in Syria. What's very interesting about this channel is the amount of MANPADS (Man Portable Air Defense Systems) on display
Above we see two examples of what I believe are SA-16 MANPADS, and one SA-7. What we also have is a rare example of a MANPADS being fired in Syria, and while the quality of the video is too poor to be 100% certain I believe this is a SA-16 being fired
While it's unclear if the missile successfully reached it's target it does provide rare evidence of MANPADS being used by the Syrian opposition.
As I wrote earlier this week footage has been emerging from the recently overrun Air Base near Taftanaz, and footage has now been posted that appears to show the DIY barrel bombs (ADIEDs) that have been dropped across Syria
In total there appears to be 10 ADIEDs (Air delivered improvised explosive devices), which appear to be of a similar style to some of the ADIEDs shown in videos on my Youtube ADIED playlist, for example
It also appears one of the Hip helicopters has had a trolley installed, presumably to make it easier to push the ADIEDs out of the helicopter
So with this find we now have evidence of ADIEDs in Syrian air bases, evidence of them being dropped, and plenty of UXO evidence. All that's needed now is footage of them actually being built for their entire life-cycle to be on record.
Today it's been reported that a major helicopter base near Taftanaz, southwest of Aleppo, was overrun by the Syrian opposition and as with all overrun bases in Syria a series of videos have been posted online showing both the battle and the aftermath. Among those videos is this lengthy 34 minute tour of the air base
As it's rather long I thought I'd pick out a few interesting highlights from the video. First we have this brief shot of the building that the remnants of the forces defending the base retreated to, before being hit by artillery/tank fire, as shown in this video. This screenshot shows the damage done to the building
This would seem to suggest that this aircraft was in use, not just rusting on the tarmac. Later on we have this shot of a badly damaged Hind helicopter armed with a pair of what I believe are UPK-23 gunpods, and a pair of OFAB 100-120 high explosive fragmentation bombs. There's also a number of bombs on the ground surrounding the aircraft
So this appears to be another aircraft that was in active service when it was destroyed. What interesting about the OFAB bomb is Jabhat al-Nusra, one of the group apparently involved in the attack, has used unexploded bombs in VBIED attacks, so I'm very curious in the number of bombs that were captured in the air base attack, as it's likely they'll be parts of future VBIEDs.
Another example of a Hip armed with loaded UB-16-57UMP launchers is shown, and then we have this very interesting example of an RBK cluster bomb tail unit, something that's always left over when a RBK cluster bomb is used
Although it's hard to be 100% sure this might indicate that the Syrian Air Force dropped cluster bombs on it's own air base during the battle, something that could be confirmed with UXO evidence.
Another video tour was posted on Bambuser, which at the 22:14 mark shows a military truck mounted with a UB-16-57UMP launcher. This seems to show that the Syrian forces at that base were building their own DIY rocket launchers to defend the base
At 16:18 in the Bambuser video we also see this cluster bomb on the ground next to a damaged helicopter
The following footage, reportedly taken from a Syrian Air Force pilot, shows unique images of a thermobaric bomb dropped from a Mil Mi-24/Hind helicopter over Syria
We can identify the exact type of bomb from this brief view of the entire bomb
Take note of the tail fins and overall shape, which matches to the ODAB 500-PMV, shown below
Not to be confused with the very similar ODAB 500-PM
We can also identify the location the bomb was dropped by comparing the roads and structures on the ground to satellite images on Google Maps. This image, taken from the video and rotated 90 degrees, gives use the clearest match
This location is 2km east of Aleppo International Airport, with the location to the north being a military base, with the bomb being dropped just south of a factory on the south of the above map, near what appears to be an artificial waterway.
As far as I'm aware this is the first clear evidence of ODAB bombs being dropped by helicopters in Syria, and also demonstrates how close the fighting is to Aleppo International Airport.
Update January 10th Thank to Guardian_Mario for putting together this image from separate frames of the video giving us a much better view of the area
As I've written about in the past videos showing the handling of UXO (unexploded ordnance) have been frequently uploaded to Youtube by activists in Syria, with great risk to everyone in the video. For example, in this recent video from a village in the Hama region of Syria shows the cluster bomblets from an Egyptian Saqr 122mm rocket, launched from BM-21 Grads, being handled and shown to the camera
On the same channel we have a video of a man who tried to pull one of the Saqr bomblets out of the ground by pulling at the ribbon attached to the bomblet, which caused it to explode, destroying both his hands and killing him
Cluster bomblets used in the Saqr rockets have a very different arming mechanism from the bomblets used in the RBK cluster bombs dropped by aircraft in Syria. The ribbon each one is attached to is connected to the arming pin, and when the bomblet is dispersed the ribbon stabilises the bomblet and arms the bomblet as it falls through the air by pulling the pin into the armed position. The problem is, if the bomblet doesn't disperse correctly and the ribbon doesn't have chance to pull the pin, the bomblet is not activated, but still very likely to go off if the ribbon is pulled. Think of it as a hand grenade pin, as soon as it's remove the munition is going to go off, and this is likely what cost the man in the above video his life. It's very unlikely the people handling these unexploded munitions know how the arming mechanism relates to the ribbon, so they are taking huge risks handling these submunitions, as the above video clearly demonstrates.
The RRMA (Responsible Reseachers for Arms and Munitions) has put together a number of safety posters in English and Arabic with details of some of the cluster submunitions commonly sighted in Syria, and videos of other examples of Saqr rockets seen in Syria can be found here.
While I always attempt to identify the weapons and munitions sent to me sometimes I get stumped, and these following videos are two examples of weapons that I've been unable to identify.
This first item, supposedly dropped from a MiG, shows what appears to be a tail section from an unguided bomb. To me it appears to be just he tail section of a bomb, and appears to be unusually thin, with massive tail fins, suggesting the bomb would be much longer than what we can see in the photograph. The tail fins are also missing the ring that's common in many of the other bombs used so far in the conflict (which can be seen here), and having reviewed a large number of Soviet and Russian bombs (commonly used by the Syrian Air Force) I've been unable to find a match.
This second video from Daraya, near Damascus, shows what may be some type of rocket. The fixed tail fins and tail ring would suggest it was not a tube launched rocket, such as those used by the BM-21 Grad, and I've yet to see any rockets or bombs used in the conflict with those square tail fins.
As I'm totally stumped (along with many other arms researchers I've spoken to) I'm asking if any of you recognise these devices. If you have an idea what these could be leave a comment below, or send me a Tweet or email at the usual places.
Today I've been pointed to this collection of photographs showing a DIY rocket launching system reportedly seized by the Syrian Army from the Syria opposition in Kafersoosseh. What's interesting about this rocket launcher is the ammunition it uses, pictured below
The rocket, also featured in this Syrian State TV report, is a French made 68mm SNEB rocket, usually fired from rocket pods attached to a variety of helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft, but not the Russia/Soviet aircraft generally used by the Syrian Air Force.
This therefore begs the question of the possible source for these rockets. There have been other recent sightings of these weapons, including this video and this video, and as far as I'm aware there's been no earlier sightings before November 2012, which might imply these are something they've acquired recently. The Syrian Air Force does have French made SA-342 Gazelle helicopters so there's a chance they might have acquired these rockets during there recent advances across the country, but there's been no video evidence of that being the case. These rockets are used quite widely in the region so the black-market is another possibility, and I'd assume (maybe wrongly) if a regional power was going to send arms to Syria they'd send something that didn't require the construction of a DIY weapons systems to launch it inaccurately at the enemy.
One other possible source is Libya. In the first half of 2012 a shipment of arms from Libya allegedly destined for Syria on the Lutfallah 2 cargo ship was intercepted by the Lebanese Army, and this blog has a series of photographs taken of the cargo. Among the wide variety of munitions there's crates containing the same type of 68mm rockets pictured above
With rumours and reports of other cargo vessels bringing weapons to Syria from Libya it seems that this could be another possible source of the rockets.
