Category Arms & Munitions ID
Two New Publications: Ammunition in Syria & AGLs for the ADF
Whilst the bulk of my attention lately has gone into writing for (and running!) Armament Research Services (ARES) and our blog, The Hoplite, I have had two new pieces released elsewhere recently. First, for the Small Arms Survey, I wrote a report examining small-calibre ammunition documented in Syria. From the Survey press release: The Working Paper Following […]
5.66 x 39 mm MPS cartridges documented near Kiev
This post originally appeared on The Hoplite, the ARES company blog. The seizure of former president Viktor Yanukovych’s estate in Mezhyhirya, an hours drive from Kiev, turned up a range of interesting arms and munitions. Nearby, a variety of ammunition was recovered from a private lake, including the cartridges shown in the image above. These are 5.66 x 39 […]
Yuri Lyamin and I have written on the recent capture of Syrian Khaibar-1 rockets by the IDF. An extract is below, but you can read the full article here. One of the greatest mysteries of the Syrian military industrial complex is a 302 mm rocket system known as the Khaibar-1 (also referred to as the […]
Improvised use of S-5 rockets in land warfare
Yuri Lyamin and I have authored the first ARES Research Report, “Improvised Employment of S-5 Air-to-Surface Rockets in Land Warfare”, which aims to provide a brief history and technical appraisal of a battlefield phenomenon which has received little attention to date. Below are some extracts from the publication, which can be read in full here […]
TS308 sniper rifles (B&T APR copies) in Kiev
I’ve written a new piece for the ARES company blog, The Hoplite, on Ukrainian made copies of Brügger & Thomet APR rifles deployed in Kiev during the ongoing civil unrest. You can read the full article here. The Ukrainian copies are produced under license by Tactical Systems Ltd (TS). According to B&T, the license for the entire […]
9M55K cargo rockets and 9N235 submunitions in Syria
Yuri Lyamin and I have written a new post for the ARES company blog, The Hoplite, on the presence of 9M55K cargo rockets and 9N235 fragmentation submunitions in Syria. Two interesting videos have surfaced from the area around the town of Kafr Zita, in the northern part of Syria’s Hama governorate. In recent days, heavy […]
North Korean Helical AK Magazines
A new piece, written by the Oryx Blog team is available over at The Hoplite. Several new developments in North Korean armaments can be witnessed amongst the recent flow of propaganda released by Pyongyang after Kim Jong-un’s ascension to power. One such development is what appears to be a new magazine model for the North Korean copy of […]
9K310 MANPADS captured from rebels in South Sudan
This post originally appeared at The Hoplite, the ARES company blog. Seen at the bottom centre in the photo above is a 9K310 Igla-1 (NATO designation: SA-16 Gimlet) man-portable air defence system (MANPADS). The weapons pictured were purportedly captured by soldiers of the Uganda People’s Defence Force (UPDF) stationed in South Sudan to protect key […]
Armour-piercing shotgun projectiles fired during protests in Ukraine
New on the Armament Research Services (ARES) company blog, The Hoplite, is a brief report examining armour-piercing (AP) 12 gauge shotgun slugs that have been recently documented in conjunction with protests in Ukraine. The projectiles shown are specialist armour-piercing (AP) 12 gauge shotgun projectiles, believed to be developed and produced by the Spetstekhnika (‘Specialised Equipment’) […]
Thales selects Steyr SL40 grenade launcher for EF88
Thales Australia have announced today that they have selected the Steyr SL40 grenade launcher to be paired with their EF88 assault rifle, which is being offered to the Australian Defence Forces under Defence’s LAND 125 Phase 3C program. The EF88 was originally offered with the Madritsch Weapon Technology ML40AUS grenade launcher, however a source close to […]
The Rogue Adventurer 