As the rebel resistance against Syria ’s government intensifies , onlooker and combatants alike are picking apart the regime ’s artillery choices . The Aviationist’sDavid Cenciottiand Bjørn Holst Jespersenbreak down Syria ’s toolsof violent counterrevolution .
Bjørn Holst Jespersen ( @bjoernen_dkon Twitter ) is a retentive time contributor of The Aviationist . He has helped me preparing the day-to-day reports about theLibya Air Warand has supply valuable depth psychology of the images of the U.S surreptitious drone enamour in Iran , to determine , using linear perspective draw techniques , both thesize and the orientation of the buildingwhere the RQ-170 was showcased .
This prison term , ground on the article he has posted on hisblog , the Danish designer has offered the readers of this website an interesting analysis of some ( if not all ) the weapons used by the Assad forces in Syria establish on the range and footage he has collected in the last two week .
240 mm mortar – either M240 or 2S4
The mental image below are screen - dumps from avideo(@Brown_Mosesmust be credited for the top dog up ) .
They seems to be stems of turgid calibre mortar round . And by compare to the sizing of the someone conduct the artillery - office they appear to be more than 200 mm .
Wikipedia has alist ofheavymortars . It is not retentive , and the only “ active ” mortar name of a calibre of this size of it is the Russian made towed 240 mm mortarM240or the later ego - propelled2S4(also 240 mm quality ) .
Image and drawing of mortar unit of ammunition formBritish Ordnance Collectors connection . image of 2S4 mortar is screen - dump from video onBitnikGr’schannel .
The racing shell ( or grenade ) is about 1.5 time long and has a weight unit of 130 kilogram with 32 kg of explosives .
Bjørn say this is the largest calibre mortar still being used worldwide . And even if it is said to have some accuracy in this context he believes it can be categorized as an “ indiscriminate artillery ” . believably aiming at terrorise the mass in the besieged sphere through general destruction .
122 mm howitzer – 2A18 (D-30)
Image credit entry : U.S. Department of State
On Feb. 10 . 2012 , the U. S. Department of State published a series of planet images showing artillery deployed by the Syrian government against unlike metropolis . The image above is one of two associate to Homs .
accord to the look-alike presented as identifying the type of artillery deployed it is a Russian 122 mm howitzer .
mortar are characterize by experience a gun muzzle speed of the missile that is slower than other cannons . They fire their projectile ( shells ) at a higher slant which throw the projectile hit at a steeper angle . This makes a Howitzer capable of hitting objective where the direct stemma of fire is occlude – in this casing – by buildings .
By face atWikipedias list of howitzersit appears that they are made in three size : 155/152.4 mm , 122 mm and 105 mm , with the 105 mm size being less vernacular .
Shell fragment
Left image is from@ArabSpringFF . line creditwiki .
The image above shows a fragment of a stabiliser - stem from an artillery unit scale . For comparison role , a drawing of an exercise of a 122 mm grenade is on the left on the same instance . But please remark : the specific weapon system it was fired has not been identified .
About artillery shells
Artillery shield are NOT just oversized rifle projectiles : as can be seen in the illustration above , they are complex object launched by a cannon using an volatile armorial bearing . For easygoing understanding they could be called cannon - bomb calorimeter .
Just to give readers a basic approximation , a distinctive shell carries an amount of mellow explosive ( possibly 25 % of total weight ) that is blow up at encroachment by a fuzee - mechanics . When the shield explodes the steel pillowcase is blow aside – fragmented – into melting hot piece of shrapnel . And the purpose of the shrapnel is to down or wound person , which it does . The blast itself will also shoot down or wound masses , but within a smaller wheel spoke compared to the shrapnel . Primarily it will cause material damage were it hits .
BM-21 Grad
agree to the photograph above , the weapons deploy here is the Russian made multiple rocket rocket launcher BM-21 . It set in motion the 122 mm so - hollo Grad missile . Here is a link toa videoshowing how it is operated .
Grad missiles are a lengthiness of a skyrocket type Russia/ Soviet Union began producing during WWII . Back then the Soviets nick - named it Katyusha which is still sometimes being used . Generally speaking , Grads are relatively powerful , cheap to produce , tight to fire , wearisome to load up and inaccurate .
Today ’s Russian Grads are about 3 meter long and weighting about 70 kilogram . They have a range of up to 40 km ( Iran has made models with range up to 75 kilometre ) . Typically they will explode and fragment on wallop ( see verbal description of shells above ) , but they can also be used to carry bunch bomb , mines or chemicals .
“ To my knowledge , discharge Grads into a city can only be key as an indiscriminate attack , ” Bjorn pronounce who also adds “ I have n’t seen any photo - documentation of Grad projectile shard find oneself inside Homs , but Katyusha rockets have been mentioned in reports .
73 mm rocket, RPG-7 and more
The range above is a screenshot from France 24 , February 22/23 . A group of Syrian opposition fighters / guardian in Homs showed some of the ordnance fragment they have collect .
Here ’s Bjorn explaination of what A , B , C , D and due east could be :
A : I ’m quite sure this part is from a munition like the one in the image below . If so ; then it ’s a 73 millimeter grenade . Here is a tie-in toa Pakistani version . I have also noticed that that the Russian madeBMP-1(an foot fighting fomite ) has a 73 mm hired gun . And since the BMP-1 have been in several picture I believe those are the single that have been displace them .
B : stabiliser from aRPG-7(Rocket Propelled Grenade , mainly used against tank car and other armored vehicle ) .
one C : do n’t know .
D : do n’t know .
E : this one has an unusual colour . It seems to me like it is some kind of tube with hole that have been crack and part flattened . The original diam of this part can not have been more than about 5 atomic number 96 . I do n’t expect to be able to i d this one , but I conceive it is from the rear - end of either a mortar shell or a small missile / rocket .
prototype credit : Pakistan Ordnance Factoriesweb site
Cluster munitions?
Screenshots from this television onsyriapioneer ’s epithelial duct
Two frames stitched together show up a series of explosions say to be from the same shell or rocket . Although some believe that clump bombs could have cause them , accord to Holst Jespersen thisvideolinked by@ArabSpringFFseems to show that the number of sub - munitions is lower and more separate than common bunch bombs .
107 mm rockets and more
Photo tweeted by@ArabSpringFFon february 8 . for recognition .
Here ’s Bjorn explaination of what A , B , C and D could be :
A : these are parts of a trench mortar bow , and judging from the images I ’ve picture it ’s a character of shell that is used very often in this conflict . In another photo , I trust I have been able to measure the size of the flipper to be more than 100 millimetre and less than 130 mm . And to my knowledge this will make it a shield for a 120 mm trench mortar . That is the largest caliber among the mordern infatery mortar in Wikipedia’slistand it could look something likethis . I have not been able to decide the specific shell - case but here isan example .
B : according to thisvideo(at about 1:02 ) this part is from a107 mm rocket .
C : these two role seems to match a 107 millimetre roquette that have been identify by New York Times diarist C. J. Chivers in thisblog situation . And here is avideoto get an theme of how it works . Andanotherthat I just could n’t resist link to .
Apart from fly in the universal direction it is channelise , this weapon has no precision , which will make it an indiscriminate artillery in this context .
D : when compare this to the one marked “ ascorbic acid ” there is no doubt this is of a large calibre . To my knowledge there are only two to choose from ( more or less ): 122 mm and 152.4 mm . And since I consider the step up to the 152.4 mm to be too large I ’m lean towards this being from some form of 122 mm calibre shell or rocket .
S-5 Rockets
The follow picture was institutionalize to The Aviationist from another rootage . It shows what look like S-5 K rocket . These rocket engine could come from the Mi-24 Hind helicopters seen pass over the area of the clashes , even if this is just conjecture since no video of aerial attack has emerged so far .Like this :
Photo : APTOPIX / AP
This article originally come out on The Aviationist , and is republish here with express permission .
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