Small Arms & Light Weapons

MUJAO fighters with 9K32 or 9K32M MANPADS in Mali

MUJAO fighter with SA-7 systemThis screenshot, a frame taken from the YouTube video seen below, shows a fighter of the Mouvement pour le Tawhîd et du Jihad en Afrique de l’Ouest (MUJAO) in Mali holding a 9K32 or 9K32M Man Portable Air Defence System (MANPADS). From the blurry video it is difficult to determine whether this is a 9K32 (NATO reproting name: SA-7a) or 9K32M (SA-7b) system, both produced in the former Soviet Union, or a foreign variant. It is clear, however, that both the gripstock and Battery Coolant Unit (BCU) are present. MUJAO are associated with Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), Ansar Dine, and Mokhtar Belmokhtar’s brigade, and are listed on the United Nations Al-Qaida Sanctions List.

The rest of the video contains little of interest in terms of materiel, with MUJOA fighters seen armed with a typical assortment of AK-pattern assault rifles (including at least two Chinese Type 56-2 rifles), DShKM heavy machine guns, and so on. The video also shows MUJAO fighters using a handful of Soviet-era armoured vehicles, including a BRDM-2 and a BTR-60, both equipped with 14.5×114 KPVT heavy machine guns

My thanks to Aris Roussinos for spotting this video. 

Categories: Arms & Munitions ID, Mali, Small Arms & Light Weapons | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Anza Mk-II MANPADS in Libya

Anza Mk-II (2)

Anza Mk-II Man-Portable Air Defence Systems (MANPADS) have been observed in Libya. A source working with an NGO in Libya, who wishes to remain anonymous, sent me the images featured in this piece. These images were taken in 2011 at arms depots wrested from government control by rebel forces. The Anza Mk-II, developed at the Dr A.Q. Khan Research Laboratories in Kahuta, is a derivative of the Chinese QW-1, first developed in the early 1990s. It was introduced to Pakistan’s armed forces in 1994, and features a slant range of approximately 5km, a maximum engagement altitude of around 4km, and a missile speed of approximately 600m/s. The Anza Mk-II missile features a solid-fuel booster and solid-fuel sustainer motor, weighs 10.68kg, and contains around 550g of High Explosive (HE).

The Anza Mk-II constitutes a greater threat than the SA-7b systems that make up the bulk of MANPADS identified in Libya. Nonetheless, it poses only a moderate danger to modern fighter aircraft. How these missiles ended up in Libya is not clear, with Malaysia being the only known export customer of the system. Anza Mk-I missiles have, however, been recovered by the Indian military from militants in Kashmir.

Anza Mk-II (1)Anza Mk-II missile launch tubes are seen alongside 9K32M (SA-7b) and 9K338 (SA-24) tubes in a captured arms depot. 

The Federation of American Scientists has some more information, here

Categories: Arms & Munitions ID, Libya, Small Arms & Light Weapons | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

British RAF Regiment in Mali

By N.R. Jenzen-Jones

RAF Reg (1)
Royal Air Force (RAF) Regiment troops, possibly based out of Honington or Wittering, have been deployed to Bamako as a force protection (FP) element for RAF operations in support of the French intervention in Mali. France’s Opération Serval is being supported by two RAF C-17ER transport planes, operated by No. 99 Squadron from RAF Brize Norton. These aircraft are to ferry French armoured vehicles from the Évreux-Fauville Air Base in France, to Bamako.

Whilst the British government has claimed there will be ‘no UK boots on the ground’, that is not strictly true. In this video, RAF Regiment FP elements can be seen at Bamako Airport with a range of field kit, small arms, and other equipment. The RAF tactical recognition flash and RAF Regiment ‘mudguard’ badges can be clearly seen (see examples below). French VAB (Véhicule de l’Avant Blindé) series armoured personnel carriers are unloaded from the C-17ER. RAF regiment gunners fought alongside US Marines during the insurgent attack on Camp Bastion in Afghanistan, last September. The attack left two US Marines of Marine Attack Squadron 211 (VMA-211) dead, 6 AV-8B Harrier II ground attack aircraft destroyed, and two more damaged. Members of No. 5 RAF Regiment Force Protection Wing and elements 2/10 Battalion US Marines then fought to regain control of the airfield, capturing one insurgent, and killing fourteen others.

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Categories: Mali, Small Arms & Light Weapons | Tags: , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

EF88: Australia’s Next-Generation Assault Rifle

IMG_9219

This piece is adapted from an article appearing in Volume 5, Number 1 of the Small Arms Defence Journal.

In September 2012, I had the opportunity to visit Lithgow (New South Wales, Australia) at the invitation of Thales Australia in order to conduct a Test and Evaluation (T&E) of their Enhanced F88 Assault Rifle. This weapon is being developed for the Australian Defence Force (ADF) under the Land 125 Phase 3C program. Pending the results of Department of Defence testing, this rifle will be in the early stages of manufacturing in 2014. A version of the EF88, with several minor differences, is being marketed globally by Thales as the F90, drawing directly on the Australian small arms experience. The EF88 is the latest iteration of the long-serving F88 Austeyr; this updated weapon has been designed and produced more than 20 years after the first F88 rifles entered service in Australia, and over 35 years since the Steyr AUG on which it is based was first designed in Austria. Fundamentally, the EF88 remains much the same as its predecessors: a bullpup-configuration selective fire weapon, chambered for the 5.56x45mm NATO cartridge, short-stroke piston operated and firing from a closed bolt.

Despite core similarities, the EF88 features a number of improvements designed to make the weapon more user-friendly and more combat effective. Many of these changes were inspired by a combination of operational user input and Defence specifications, whilst others were entirely Thales Australia’s own concepts.  In fact, Thales Australia made a corporate decision to exceed the specifications laid out by Defence in Land 125, and have upgraded their operations at Lithgow from ‘build-to-print’ manufacturing to encompass a true Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) capability.

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Categories: ADF, Ammunition & Ordnance, Small Arms & Light Weapons | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Australian F1A1 ball ammunition

When I visited Thales Australia to conduct a T&E of the EF88 assault rifle and ML40AUS grenade launcher in September, I took a few basic photos of the (relatively) new F1A1 ammunition. The cartridge differs from the earlier standard F1 cartridge in several ways, featuring green painted tips, modified case wall thickness, a  new propellant AR2210V01, new primer cup design, and a projectile with modified boat tail length and meplat (tip diameter). Some information is available in this Thales presentation.
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Categories: ADF, Ammunition & Ordnance, Small Arms & Light Weapons | Tags: , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Update: EF88 assault rifle and ML40AUS grenade launcher

Many of you following the blog will know I’ve been keeping close tabs on the Thales Australia EF88 assault rifle, being developed under the Land 125 Phase 3C program. I have written a review of the rifle which can be found in Issue 4 of On Duty Magazine, out this month. The rifle can be seen above in its latest iteration, being featured at Land Warfare Conference 2012, which I recently attended in Melbourne. The Madritsch ML40AUS grenade launcher has been finished in a two-tone paint scheme that corresponds with that of the rifle, and Defence have asked that Thales add the optional bolt catch release they were offering with the F90. The rifle is seen here with the ‘Tier 3′ sight Thales intends to offer Defence, a Trijicon TA44SR-10 1.5×16 ACOG.
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Categories: ADF, Arms & Munitions ID, Small Arms & Light Weapons | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

EF88 Video: test firing the EF88 and ML40AUS

A few more videos from my recent trip to Thales Australia in Lithgow, New South Wales. In these videos, Rob Maylor is test firing the EF88 out to 600m, and the Madritsch ML40AUS at 150m. In the first video, Rob is using the 20″ barrel EF88 (equivalent to the F90M, or Marksman variant) with a Harris bipod and 4x ACOG. We were firing ADI (Thales Australia) manufactured F1A1 ball. In the second video, we’ve still got the 20″ variant, this time without the bipod, and with a Thales-designed quadrant sight. You can see some high-speed footage of the ML40AUS in use here.

Photo and videos copyright N.R. Jenzen-Jones.

Categories: ADF, Small Arms & Light Weapons, Travel | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

The Vagaries of Proliferation: AK-103 and F2000 assault rifles in Gaza

On October 2nd the armed wing of Palestinian Islamic Jihad (حركة الجهاد الإسلامي في فلسطين‎), the al-Quds Brigades, took to the streets of Fatah in Southern Gaza to mark the 17th anniversary of the assassination of Fathi al-Shaqaqi. Shaqaqi was assassinated in Malta by the Mossad in 1995. Each year, the al-Quds Brigades take to the streets for a military parade to mark the event, brandishing a variety of arms and carrying all manner of banners and flags. This year’s parade, however, was a little different, and held some interesting items for those of us following the spread of various small arms. Amongst the usual assortment of Russian AKMs & Eastern Bloc copies, Chinese Type 56 variants, PKMs, and RPG-7 variants and copies were two far less common weapons: the F2000 and AK-103 assault rifles.

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Categories: Arms & Munitions ID, Libya, Small Arms & Light Weapons | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Update: RPG-7 Projectiles in Syria

What is probably an Iranian tandem HEAT projectile. Photo: Lens Young Homsi.

In the weeks since I published my first piece on RPG-7 projectiles that have been sighted in Syria, a number of people have responded to my request for further material. As C.J. Chivers notes in this post:

“The fairly small circle of competent and ethical researchers can be collaborative and collegial, and their informal networks can lead to solid conclusions and analysis that otherwise would not exist.”

He couldn’t be more correct. Often times I have turned to fellow researchers, technical specialists, or translators – almost always on an informal basis – to help me put together another piece of a given puzzle. Without such a network, much of the valuable research we conduct as individuals would exist only in a vacuum, and would be of little ‘real world’ value. In return, of course, I receive requests for assistance on a daily basis. I’m happy to help almost all of these people, time and knowledge permitting.

For this piece,  a Syrian activist, an MP.net forum member, an amateur arms researcher, and a conflict correspondent have all pitched in, providing me more material to work with. Others have assisted with translating foreign languages. Still others helped by simply getting the word out. Thanks must go to Chris, in particular, for his excellent contributions.

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Categories: Ammunition & Ordnance, Arms & Munitions ID, Small Arms & Light Weapons, Syria | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Saudi Arabian Army ammunition in Syria

Much has been made of the recent BBC News article featuring an image of a shipping crate marked for delivery to the Royal Saudi Arabian Land Forces (Saudi Arabian Army), found in a Free Syrian Army base in Aleppo, Syria. Whilst the BBC article uses the term ‘Saudi weapons’ in its headline, the crate rather more likely contained small arms ammunition produced at the Lugansk Cartridge Works (LCW), in the eastern Ukrainian city of Luhansk. LCW (formerly known as ‘Soviet State Factory, Lugansk’) was a key ammunition production plant during the Soviet era, manufacturing predominantly 9×18, 5.45×39, and 7.62×39 calibre cartridges. LCW currently manufacture lead core full metal jacket (FMJ), steel core FMJ, and blank ammunition in a variety of calibres, and also manufacture ammunition from their ‘sporting-hunting’ range under contract for WOLF Performance Ammunition.

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Categories: Ammunition & Ordnance, Arms & Munitions ID, Small Arms & Light Weapons, Syria | Tags: , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

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