Armament Research Services (ARES) offers a range of technical review, research, and analysis services to various media organisations. Our staff have worked with numerous media organisations and freelance journalists on a range of stories with an arms and munitions angle, as well as providing comment or interviews as required. ARES is delighted to announce our
N.R. Jenzen-Jones The seizure of former president Viktor Yanukovych’s estate in Mezhyhirya, an hour’s drive from Kiev, turned up a range of interesting arms and munitions. Nearby, a variety of ammunition was recovered from a private lake, including the cartridges shown in the image above. These are 5.66 x 39 mm rounds for the Russian made APS (Автомат
Yuri Lyamin and N.R. Jenzen-Jones One of the greatest mysteries of the Syrian military industrial complex is a 302 mm rocket system known as the Khaibar-1 (also referred to as the M302 or M-302). Information about this system is limited, largely due to the lack of primary source material and low number of useful photographs.
Armament Research Services is proud to release the first in a series of long-form ARES Research Reports. Authored by Yuri Lyamin and N.R. Jenzen-Jones, “Improvised Employment of S-5 Air-to-Surface Rockets in Land Warfare” aims to provide a brief history and technical appraisal of a battlefield phenomenon which has received little attention to date. Below are
N.R. Jenzen-Jones Recent images from the Russian seizure of the Crimean peninsula have highlighted the range of weaponry employed by Russian forces and combatants variously identified as either pro-Russian militias or private security contractors. Kater reports indicate they may have been members of Russia’s GRU special operations forces. Amongst the weapons observed is the GM-94,
N.R. Jenzen-Jones During the ongoing civil unrest in Kiev, several images have circulated showing Ukrainian security forces equipped with a range of lethal weapons, including sniper rifles. In addition to the SVD type rifles commonly seen, security forces have been documented using a license-produced copy of one of the Brügger & Thomet APR rifles (as seen
Yuri Lyamin with Michael Smallwood From Syria comes another video of interest, this time showing remnants of a cargo rocket which landed near Namar, in the southern governorate of Daraa. The video shows a component of the cargo section of a rocket, likely belonging to a 220 mm 9M27K series rocket (9M27K or 9M27K1, both
Jonathan Ferguson The demand for firearms in Libya has brought to light three handguns so far undocumented, at least in the English-speaking world. At least one of these (pictured below) is available in lethal-purpose form, though based upon a blank firing handgun and possibly also produced in that form. It is a sub-compact design, and
Yuri Lyamin with N.R. Jenzen-Jones Update 04/07/2014: It appears that 9M55K cargo rockets and 9N235 submunitions may have been employed in Ukraine. Two interesting videos have surfaced from the area around the town of Kafr Zita, in the northern part of Syria’s Hama governorate. In recent days, heavy fighting has raged between government forces and armed
Michael Smallwood The image above, a still from an upcoming VICE documentary, shows a Galil ACE Model 21 carbine reportedly in the possession of the Sudanese People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) Air Force. The ACE family is based upon the earlier Galil rifles, with updates to improve ergonomics and offer modern features and accessory mounting options.
