Tag: indirect fire

Russian 9N235 submunitions documented in Ukraine (2022)

N.R. Jenzen-Jones & Patrick Senft Editor’s Note: This article is based primarily on previous ARES articles documenting the use of the N235 submunition in Syria and Ukraine in 2014. Numerous photos posted on Twitter by the State Emergency Service of Ukraine (DSNS), Kharkiv Region, and others show munitions marked  in Cyrillic “9H235” (‘9N235’) that have

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ARES releases Special Report 4, assessing CCM compliance of munitions with sensor-fuzed submunitions

Armament Research Services (ARES) is pleased to announce the release of Special Report 4, Munitions Employing Sensor-fuzed Submunitions: Do they Comply with the Convention on Cluster Munitions?. Special Report 4 critically evaluates the definition of “cluster munition” established by the Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM), in order to assess the convention’s applicability to cargo munitions

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Chinese GP6 guided artillery projectiles in Libya

N.R. Jenzen-Jones In April 2019, Libyan National Army forces loyal to Khalifa Haftar captured the city of Gharyan in north-western Libya, approximately 70 km south of Tripoli. The city was recaptured by the Government of National Accord (GNA) forces in June 2019, with Haftar’s forces leaving behind materiel. According to Hamed Alzwy, who works in the

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Soviet 2B9M Vasilek self-loading mortar

Ernő Lovass & N.R. Jenzen-Jones The 2B9M Vasilek (‘Cornflower’) is a muzzle or breech-loading, long recoil-operated automatic smoothbore medium mortar. It is a modernised, air-cooled version of the 2B9 water-cooled mortar, itself derived from the earlier F-82 automatic mortar. Development of the 2B9 began in the late 1960s, with the Soviet army adopting the weapon in 1970. The modernised 2B29M

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GICHD presents “Characterisation of Explosive Weapons” final report

As part of their strategic mandate to improve human security, The Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD) launched the final results of their Characterisation of Explosive Weapons research project on 6 February 2017, which sought to describe and explain key types of explosive weapons and their destructive effects on humans and structures. The research

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ARES Special Report: Indirect Fire

Artillery systems have played a critical role in modern warfare. Estimates place the total number of casualties inflicted by artillery during the conflicts of the 20th century at between 50 and 80 per cent. The vast majority of munitions fired from artillery systems deliver a high explosive payload and, increasingly, conflicts have taken place in

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Chinese BEE4 BB/RA 130 mm projectiles in Syria

Yuri Lyamin In 2006, some sources indicated that China North Industries Corporation (Norinco) had developed a new 155 mm HE projectile design which incorporated two auxiliary propulsion techniques – base bleed (BB) and rocket assistance (RA). Shortly after these early reports emerged, it became apparent that Norinco had in fact developed a new family of

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