Boris Karpa (MicroBalrog) The newest Russian man-portable air defence system (MANPADS), the 9K333 Verba (“Pussy Willow”) has been finally issued to the Russian armed forces, having made its appearance with the Ivanovo VDV division after passing Army testing in the summer of 2011 and being confirmed for production in late 2011. The Verba is an
Yuri Lyamin Amongst various arms and munitions recovered from pro-Russian separatists by Ukrainian forces in recent days, were ZRP-2 Tropa (‘Path’) man-portable mine-clearing line charges. ЗРП stands for ‘заряд разминирования переносной’, or ‘portable mine clearance charge’. The ZRP-2 is designed to create a breach in an antipersonnel minefield under combat conditions. Some modern mines have
N.R. Jenzen-Jones Armament Research Services (ARES) was provided earlier today with images showing the remnants of several artillery rockets in Slavyansk, Ukraine. These images show the nose cones and cargo sections belonging to 220 mm 9M27K series cluster munitions. Remains of 9M27K type rockets have previously been photographed in Syria, as identified by ARES here.
Jonathan Ferguson Israel Defence Force (IDF) soldiers from the Yahalom (“Diamond”) special unit, recovered hundreds of weapons as well as quantities of ammunition and explosives during a raid in Nablus, West Bank, on 17 June. Prominently featured is an AR-15 with A1 style 20” barrel, A2 style handguards, and fitted with what appears to be a
Boris Karpa (MicroBalrog) Pro-Russian separatists in Lugansk have in their possession a 9K35 Strela-10 launch vehicle, likely captured from Ukrainian stores. In the below videos we can see the vehicle moving through Lugansk along with several BMP infantry fighting vehicles (IFV). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tk4Miv7EwU The Strela-10 (NATO reporting name: SA-13 Gopher) is a vehicle-based short-range surface-to-air missile
N.R. Jenzen-Jones Video and images circulating on social media networks and in various online forums suggest that 9M55K cargo rockets containing 9N235 fragmentation submunitions may have been used in Kramatorsk, Ukraine. Armament Research Services (ARES) has previously documented these munitions in Syria. The 9M55K rocket is fired from the the 9K58 Smerch (Смерч; ‘Tornado’) 300
N.R. Jenzen-Jones & Michael Smallwood In a statement released yesterday, the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs alleged proof of the illicit transfer of Russian produced Man-Portable Air Defence Systems (MANPADS) into the hands of pro-Russian separatist fighters in Ukraine. According to the Ministry, outer packaging for a 9M39 MANPADS missile was recovered on 6 June
N.R. Jenzen-Jones with Yuri Lyamin Ansar al-Sham (كتائب أنصار الشام; ‘Supporters of the Levant’), an Islamist militant group associated with the Islamic Front in Syria (الجبهة الإسلامية; al-Jabhat al-Islāmiyyah), have uploaded a YouTube video showing combatants firing a 2B9M automatic mortar near Mount Chalma, in Syria’s Kesab district. The 2B9M Vasilek (‘Cornflower’) is a breech-loaded, long recoil-operated
Update 4/6/14: The OSCE’s Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM) released a statement yesterday which included some observations on this attack: In Luhansk the situation remained volatile. On 2 June, shortly after 15:00 hrs, rockets hit the occupied regional administration building. Based on the SMM’s limited observation these strikes were the result of non-guided rockets shot from an
Michael Smallwood Images emerging from Ukraine following fighting in Ukraine’s Donetsk region on the 25th of May show alleged pro-Russian Ukrainian separatist fighters in possession of Russian-made MRO-A rocket launchers. The MRO is a self-contained, disposable single shot 72.5 mm rocket launcher, sharing similarities with the larger, 93 mm RPO family to provide a lighter
