Arms Identification – German Missiles In The Hands Of The Islamic State -- Bellingcat
After the captured of Tabqa airbase in Syria by the Islamic State last week a number of photographs were posted online showing the weapons captured at the airbase. These included many weapons seen elsewhere in the conflict, from ZU-23-2 anti-aircraft cannons to Konkurs ATGMs.
Today, a new video released by the Islamic State shows more of the airbase, and the equipment captured. Again, much of what is shown are weapons seen elsewhere in the conflict, but 6 minutes into the video something not yet seen in the conflict is shown.
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My Comment: As I have said many times before .... the Islamic State now has weapons and resources that Al Qaeda could only dream about.
3 comments:
I fully respect Eliot's works and his contribution to the whole Syrian Civil War, but did we seen any actual missile or just the cases/boxes of them? Because all I seen in the video was just some missile cases, and the closer cups of them were all removed and at least the one in the left-top corner just seems to be empty. These missiles are in active service in the SAF and Tabqa AB was a place of Gazella helicopters, so they could be empty as well. Even if these cases are filled with usable missiles, IS do not have the needed equipment to use it, and I don't expect they will get it ever. A Koncurs or any other ATGM has the same value as this weapon has, the only difference is the place of origin. Call me a pessimist for how I see this article, but there were way more important things in the video.
This other thing is the real proof for the captured radars (EW, the chines long range, FOF and height). Even if IS probably could not use it for a long time, but the fact those were leaved behind should mean something. When Brigade base 80 fallen last year near to Aleppo, SAA also left the radars at there, but they were damanged already. Early in this year I seen some report and video footages that IS captured an unknown amount of KUB SAM vehicles, reportedly with no radars. Now the strange thing is that some of the currently captured radars could work together with the KUBs. The experianced crew is still missing (does it missing?) but who know how much time does it take to learn the use of them. The Gekko SAM vehicle which were captured in the area of Dara city were reportedly used in the war by rebels so if they could learn the use of it in a remote pocket of resistance (true, it's taken some month), why would IS could not.
An additional note for the radars. SAA had a lot of SAM bases and radar sites around Aleppo, but when the rebels attacked the city, those bases also fallen. I remember I seen footages that some groups of rebels transporting the captured SAM rockets to unknown places. Those were mainly S-75, but in a very large number. The radars that had been captured, some of them also compatible with S-75. Even if it's old, but if it's can shoot down a U-2 plane, I think I said enough.
Thank you again for your input mlacix. Your comments are always a must read.
Good call mlacix.
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