Month: November 2014

Russian Kord and ASVK systems in Syria

Michael Smallwood with Yuri Lyamin A recent photo, above, shows a Syrian government fighter manning a Russian Kord 12.7 x 108 mm heavy machine gun (HMG) in the eastern Jobar district of Damascus city. The belt-fed Kord is chambered for either 12.7 x 108 mm or 12.7 x 99 mm (.50 BMG), and has an

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Differential identification of NSV and Kord heavy machine guns

Jonathan Ferguson Untrained observers frequently confuse superficially similar small arms and light weapon (SALW) systems, particularly with the pressure of covering a current conflict. These mistakes can act as a red herring for those seeking to establish the objective reality on the ground, or at worst, incorrectly act as evidence of involvement by external parties.

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Republican militants employ improvised grenade launcher in Belfast attack

Impro Guns A self-proclaimed ‘IRA group’ reported to be a merger of various splinter groups including the Real Irish Republican Army (RIRA), has released pictures of the improvised grenade launcher used in an attack on an armoured Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) vehicle in North Belfast last week. The launcher appears to be quite

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Ukrainian government returns 2S7 Pion self-propelled artillery to service

Michael Smallwood A press release from the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence details the military’s restoration of multiple 2S7 Pion (Пион; ‘peony’) self-propelled artillery systems which have been in storage for over 10 years. The video below shows a Ukrainian military-led team in Rivne working on a 2S7. Interviewed in the video above, Colonel Vadim Rudnitsky suggests

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Soviet & Russian ‘flame weapons’: incendiary, thermobaric, and FAE systems in Ukraine

N.R. Jenzen-Jones Recent news reports indicate Russia’s intention to modernise much of its military in the coming years. The commander of Russia’s Radiological, Chemical and Biological Defense (RChBD) troops, Maj. Gen. Eduard Cherkasov, announced a focus on so-called ‘flame weapons’ – incendiary, thermobaric and fuel-air explosive (FAE) weapons – describing a program of modernisation and development. “For the future

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ARES Research Report No.3 “Raising Red Flags: An Examination of Arms & Munitions in the Ongoing Conflict in Ukraine, 2014”

ARES is excited to announce the release of our latest Research Report, “Raising Red Flags: An Examination of Arms & Munitions in the Ongoing Conflict in Ukraine, 2014“. The report represents the culmination of months of research, identifying and examining over 100 different weapons systems, more than 60 different munitions, and more than 70 different armoured

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Arms diversion: a Caracal Model F pistol in Libya

Hassan Morajea with Michael Smallwood Pictures supplied to ARES show a Caracal F semi-automatic  pistol, produced by Caracal, a United Arab Emirates-based firearms manufacturer. This particular Model F is the personal protection weapon of an owner of a gold jewellery store in Tripoli’s Old City, in Libya. The owner, ‘U‘, says he purchased the pistol a few months

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