Makeshift: Free Syrian Army fighters prepare to fire an improvised rocket launcher against government troops from a position in Old Aleppo
The Economist: Improvised weapons: Hell’s kitchens
Makeshift weapons are becoming more dangerous with highly sophisticated, commercially available kit.
THE “hell cannons” of Aleppo pack a deadly punch. Cobbled together in Syria by militant groups fighting to overthrow the autocratic regime of Bashar al-Assad, they use an explosive charge at the bottom of a pipe to hurl a propane cylinder crammed with 40kg or more of explosives and shrapnel. A finned tail welded to the cylinder shields it from the launch blast and provides stability in flight. The Ahrar al-Sham brigade reckon the cannons can hit targets 1.5km away. Fuses detonate the cylinder upon impact or, using a timer, after it punches into a building. This is all the better to demolish several floors with a single strike.
Read more ....
WNU Editor: For a photo gallery of some of these weapons go here .... Syrian Rebels Go To War With The Weapons That They Have (Photo Gallery) (January 2, 2014).
"a propane cylinder crammed with 40kg or more of explosives and shrapnel" a twist on the barrel bomb.
ReplyDelete