Category: Arms & Munitions ID

Bersa Lusber 84 used in assassination attempt on Argentinian Vice President

Patrick Senft On the evening of 1 September 2022, Argentina’s Vice President, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, survived an assassination attempt outside her Buenos Aires home. The would-be assassin pointed his handgun at Ms. Kirchner (see Figure 1) and reportedly pulled the trigger. Nothing happened. Nonetheless, media reporting has claimed that the weapon was loaded—and thus

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Craft-produced firearm used to assassinate Shinzo Abe

N.R Jenzen-Jones & Patrick Senft Around 1130 hrs local time on 8 July 2022, former Prime Minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe (Abe Shinzō; 安倍 晋三), was shot in Nara, Japan, with a craft-produced (‘privately made’) firearm. Videos of the shooting suggest that the assailant was within a few metres of the former Prime Minister when

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ARES releases Research Report 12: Digital Bazaar (online arms trade, Syria)

Armament Research Services (ARES) is excited to announce the release of Research Report No. 12, Digital Bazaar: The Online Trade of Arms & Munitions in Opposition-controlled Syria. The release of Research Report 12 marks the completion of a project which began with Research Note No. 11, ‘Analysing the Online Arms Trade in Opposition-controlled Syria’, and

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FGC-9 3D-printed firearm seized in Western Australia

N.R. Jenzen-Jones & Patrick Senft On 12 June 2022, the Western Australia Police Force (WAPOL) held a press conference to present the first fully functional 3D-printed firearm seized in the Australian state of Western Australia (WA) to date. The gun was reportedly seized on 3 June 2022 from an 18-year-old individual who had manufactured it

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Soviet 3-Z-2 incendiary mortar projectiles documented in Ukraine (2022)

Tony Salvo & N.R. Jenzen-Jones An image shared by the State Emergency Service of Ukraine (DSNS) via social media in early May depicts what appear to be several Soviet 3-Z-2 (sometimes written ‘3Z2’) 120 mm incendiary mortar projectiles near the city of Mykolaiv, in southern Ukraine (see Figure 1). The items pictured display evidence of

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Russian PTKM-1R Top-attack Anti-vehicle Mine Documented in Ukraine (2022)

Patrick Senft Images shared to social media indicate that the Russian PTKM-1R (ПТКМ-1Р) top-attack anti-vehicle landmine was recently employed in Ukraine. This munition is not known to have been previously employed on operations. It was shown for the first time outside Russia by Rosoboronexport JSC in November and December last year, when it was displayed

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Soviet or Russian 9M22S incendiary rockets documented in Ukraine (2022)

N.R. Jenzen-Jones Editor’s Note: This article draws, in part, on a previous ARES article examining the use of the 9M22S incendiary rocket in eastern Ukraine in 2014. Images shared by ABC News foreign correspondent James Longman via social media earlier today (19 April 2022) show the remnants of 9M22S 122 mm incendiary rockets (see Figure

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Russian POM-3 anti-personnel landmines documented in Ukraine (2022)

Mick F. & N.R. Jenzen-Jones On the 28 March 2022, a pro-Ukrainian Facebook account posted several pictures of  Protivopekhotnaya Oskolochnaya Mina 3 (противопехотная осколочная мина; ПОМ-3; POM-3) scatterable anti-personnel (AP) landmines and one КБ ПОМ-3 (KB POM-3) cassette—each holding four POM-3 mines—apparently taken in Kharkiv Oblast, in the east of Ukraine (bordering the Russian Federation).

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Weapons & equipment seized from alleged Russian saboteurs in Ukraine (2022)

Mick F. Editor’s Note: This article has an information cut-off date of 9 March 2022. On the morning of 24 February 2022, the Russian Federation invaded Ukraine. The opening strikes were made with air-delivered and surface-to-surface guided and unguided munitions, with the ground invasion commencing immediately after the first attacks.  The invasion was focused on

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Soviet 9N24 submunitions documented in Ukraine (2022)

N.R. Jenzen-Jones & Patrick Senft Editor’s Note: This article is based primarily on a previous ARES article documenting the use of the 9N24 submunition and the 9N123K cluster munition in Syria in 2018. Photos posted on Facebook by the Mobile Rescue Centre of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine (DSNS) show 9N24 submunitions employed by

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