The Hoplite

Analysing the Online Arms Trade in Opposition-controlled Syria: April 2021 update

Jack Shanley & Mick F. Introduction The conflict in Syria fuels a diverse trade in arms and munitions. Many transactions are conducted online, providing an opportunity for remote analysis. This article is the third in a series of monthly updates to ARES Research Note 11: Analysing the Online Arms Trade in Opposition-controlled Syria. Readers should

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Emergent Explosives: Additive Manufacturing of Energetic Materials

Graeme Rice Additive Manufacturing (AM) describes the process of creating a three-dimensional object by building up a series of successive layers of material(s) over time. This method of manufacture has become increasingly popular across a wide range of industries, and 3D printers are now used by hobbyists at the enthusiast level, and by multinational aerospace

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Analysing the Online Arms Trade in Opposition-controlled Syria: March 2021 update

Jack Shanley & Mick F. Introduction The conflict in Syria fuels a diverse trade in arms and munitions. Many transactions are performed online, providing an opportunity for remote analysis. This article is the second in a series of monthly updates to ARES Research Note 11: Analysing the Online Arms Trade in Opposition-controlled Syria. Readers should

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Ordnance Society announces National Artillery Survey

The Ordnance Society has recently announced an exciting new project to identify and track extant breech-loading and quick-firing artillery in the United Kingdom. This ‘National Artillery Survey’ aims to establish and maintain a database of these guns in museums, private collections, or on public display. At present, no such national summary of such guns exists.

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Analysing the Online Arms Trade in Opposition-controlled Syria: February 2021 update

Jack Shanley & Mick F. Introduction      The conflict in Syria fuels a diverse trade in arms and munitions. Many transactions are performed online, providing an opportunity for remote analysis. This article is the first in a series of monthly updates to ARES Research Note 11: Analysing the Online Arms Trade in Opposition-controlled Syria. Readers

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ARES releases Research Note 11, examining online arms sales in Syria

Research Note 11, Analysing the Online Arms Trade in Opposition-controlled Syria, provides ‘first-look’ analysis of more than 800 trades of small arms, light weapons, munitions, and blank-firing weapons conducted during a three-month period between 1 November 2020 and 31 January 2021. This short note is intended as the first step in an ongoing hybrid publications

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Military use of Ballistic Shields: Part 2, 1919–present day

Patrick Senft Editor’s note: This is the second part of Mr. Senft’s research article examining the military use of ballistic shields. Part 1, covering the period ca. 1500–1918, can be found here. Second World War During the interbellum period, ballistic shields returned to being something of a novelty. Experimentation continued, with some military units and

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Variations in Early AR-15/M16 Rifle Buttstocks

Chuck Madurski A surprising—albeit subtle—variety of fixed polymer buttstocks were used on early AR-15/M16-series rifles. There are five basic types, although it does not appear that these ever received unique manufacturer’s designations. Collectors today know them as the Type A through Type E. These stocks were fitted to the Colt Models 601 through 604, and

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Military use of Ballistic Shields: Part 1, ca. 1500–1918

Patrick Senft Editor’s note: This is the first instalment of a two-part series from ARES Research Assistant Patrick Senft, examining the history of ballistic shields in warfare. The second part of Mr. Senft’s research will be published in the near future, and will bring the story from the interbellum period up to present day, as

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NATO Fragment Simulating Projectiles (FSPs)

With the continuous development of artillery and as fragmenting artillery projectiles became the norm, fragments propelled by an explosive detonation became the most common cause of injury on the battlefield. During the asymmetric conflicts of the last decades, the widespread use of improvised explosive devices (IEDs)—frequently designed with primary fragmentation in mind and typically generating

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