Tag: light weapons

Introducing the ARES Arms & Munitions Classification System (ARCS)

ARES is delighted to announce the first public release of the ARES Arms & Munitions Classification System, a new handbook designed to increase clarity and precision in how arms and munitions are defined and classified. The culmination of several years’ work by ARES and external specialists, ARCS offers a series of clear, technically focused definitions

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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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Russian GM-94 thermobaric grenade launcher documented in Ukraine (2022)

N.R. Jenzen-Jones & Charlie Randall Images and videos recently posted to Twitter and other social media platforms, purporting to show arms captured from Chechen ‘special forces’ and Russian National Guard (Rosgvardiya) troops in Ukraine, include the Russian GM-94 grenade launcher. Previously identified in Crimea during the Russian invasion of 2014, the GM-94 is a pump-action

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Arms Captured by the Taliban during their Conquest of Afghanistan

Mick F. Overview In May 2021, the Taliban began their annual spring offensive into Afghan Government-controlled territory. In previous annual campaigns—despite regularly inflicting a significant number of casualties against Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) and achieving some territorial gains—the Taliban were unable to topple the Afghan Government. The 2021 campaign was different. Following an agreement

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

Jack Shanley & Mick F. 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 sixth in a series of monthly updates to ARES Research Note 11: Analysing the Online Arms Trade in Opposition-controlled Syria. Readers should refer

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Analysing the Online Arms Trade in Opposition-controlled Syria: June 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 fifth 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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Analysing the Online Arms Trade in Opposition-controlled Syria: May 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 fourth 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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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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Weapons used by Sinaloa Cartel sicarios in Culiacán, Mexico

The ARES Team Editor’s Note: Readers should be aware that an unusually large number of false posts have been associated with the incident in Culiacán. These include images and video from movies, TV shows, and various other incidents in Mexico and elsewhere around the world, presented as being from this incident. Numerous sources have also presented images

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Ukrainian UAG-40 automatic grenade launcher

Kristóf Nagy The automatic, belt-fed UAG-40 grenade launcher is one of the many domestic arms developments to come out of Ukraine in recent years. It was developed and is currently manufactured by Kusnja na Rybalskomu, a shipyard and major arms manufacturer in Kiev, located on the banks of the Dnieper River. Kusnja na Rybalskomu, known

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