Category: Ammunition

Small Arms Survey releases Working Paper 23 ‘Chambering the Next Round’

Emergent ammunition technologies are likely to prove key in future firearms designs. Emergent cartridge case technologies, the rise of the ‘general-purpose’ calibre, and other nascent technologies will affect the way in which firearms are designed, produced, managed in service, tactically employed, maintained, and sustained. Chambering the Next Round: Emergent Small-calibre Cartridge Technologies, a new Working Paper

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Serbian M02 Coyote HMG and 120 mm mortar projectiles in Syria

Yuri Lyamin with N.R. Jenzen-Jones In recent days, opposition groups within Syria have been documented in possession of Serbian-made arms and munitions. M62P8 120 mm high explosive (HE) mortar projectiles and an M02 Coyote 12.7 x 108 mm heavy machine gun have been identified. Whilst a number of weapons manufactured in the former Yugoslavia have

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West African arms trafficker arrested in Ghana

Oscar Nkala Police in the Ghanaian city of Kumasi last month arrested a 72-year-old suspected arms dealer from Burkina Faso and five Ghanaian accomplices in an operation that recovered a sizeable cache of small arms and ammunition. The seizure included 11 AK type and 10 G3 type self-loading rifles; 45 self-loading handguns of undefined make

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Arms & Munitions Brief No. 2: The Russian GM-94 Grenade Launcher

Armament Research Services is proud to release the second publication in our Arms & Munitions Brief series, The Russian GM-94 Grenade Launcher.  Authored by former Russian army officer and small arms historian Maxim Popenker, with ARES Director N.R. Jenzen-Jones, Arms & Munitions Brief No. 2 gives an overview of the GM-94’s development history, technical characteristics, and employment

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Research Report 4: Less-lethal munitions in Ferguson, Missouri

Armament Research Services is proud to announce the release of the latest publication its Research Report series. Research Report No. 4: Less-Lethal Arms & Munitions Documented in Ferguson, Missouri examines impact and riot control agent (RCA) munitions employed by security forces during the 2014 riots in Ferguson. Authored by chemical weapons specialist Peter White and

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ARES Research Note 7: Cartridge Headspace

Armament Research Services has released its latest Research Note, authored by ARES Technical Specialist Jonathan Ferguson. Research Note 7 gives an overview of the concept of cartridge headspace (CHS), and its importance in the correct functioning of a firearm. ARES Research Notes are short form publications, designed to provide brief, accurate information on a single

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Small Arms Survey releases ‘Research Note 48: Automatic Grenade Launchers’

The Small Arms Survey, a Geneva-based research institute, has released a new publication authored by ARES Director N.R. Jenzen-Jones, with contributions from ARES staff members Jonathan Ferguson and Graeme Rice. Research Note 48: Automatic Grenade Launchers looks at the technical features, development history, and usage of this light weapon system. The automatic grenade launcher (AGL), which

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Kornet anti-tank guided weapon captured from Sudanese Armed Forces

N.R. Jenzen-Jones According to a freelance journalist on the ground in Sudan and South Sudan, the Sudan People’s Liberation Army – North (SPLA-N) captured a variety of arms and munitions from Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) fighters yesterday, during fighting in Genezya, 18 km east of Kadugli, the capital of the Sudanese border state of South

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Kurdish YPG forces with Iranian tandem HEAT RPG-7 projectile

Michael Smallwood The above image is a still taken from the following video of Kurdish YPG forces fighting the Islamic State (IS) in Iraq uploaded on 29 December 2014. It shows a Kurdish fighter with an RPG-7 type rocket-assisted recoilless weapon, and what appears to be an Iranian tandem-charge RPG-7 projectile. Previously documented in Syria, these

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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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