8 ms·

DIY Weapons of the Syrian Rebels

127 points by youngerdryas 14y ago

danso 14y ago
The Atlantic did this same feature with Libya 2 years ago http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2011/06/diy-weapons-of-the-libyan-rebels/100086/ http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2011/06/diy-weapons-of-th... Here's a great post about how an Afghan refurbished a PKM machine gun: http://atwar.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/20/afghan-gun-locker-battlefield-ingenuity-and-a-weapons-longevity/ http://atwar.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/20/afghan-gun-locker-...
CamperBob2 14y ago
Wow, these photos are awesome (#20 and #21 especially so), even if half of them are staged. So how's that gun control thing working out for Assad, I wonder?
- n3rdy 14y ago
  If they can use video and controllers like that to control the gun, what would stop them from making it wireless? I would imagine the benefit of using something like that remotely would be worth the risk of possible signal interception.
  - edraferi 14y ago
    Complexity and reliability. If the batteries die on your xbox control mid-Halo, it's just annoying. If the batteries die on your remote machine gun with the enemy literally at the gates, it's life and death. I don't think there's much need for wireless inside the tank in any case. Maybe for a remote placement turret without a vehicle mount it would be more useful.
    - n3rdy 14y ago
      I actually meant wireless so that you wouldn't have to be present inside the tank, you would control the gun remotely. You would still use wired controllers, but you would use wireless networking to control the tank close by. As long as you maintain a connection with the tank, you are safe from enemy fire, and the enemy would be shooting at an empty tank, with no way of telling what your physical location is.
      - sharpneli 14y ago
        Even more increased complexity. That would require them to make electronic controls for the steering, gas and whatnot. More parts would thus be required. In addition such a system is highly prone to jamming considering the kind of parts they have available, and the location of the controlling transmitter can be quite easily triangulated. Just wanted to point out that it's not so easy to make a wirelessly controlled tank and the benefits can be dubious.
- nayefc 14y ago
  How disgusting. Very easy for you to equate the sad situation in Syria with America's gun control gun-obsessed society issue, from the comfort and safety of your home.
  - CamperBob2 14y ago
    (Shrug) For better or worse, there seems to be a sort of genetic memory in at least some Americans that dates back to the time when we had to do something similar to gain our freedom. I'm not taking a stand either way, but considering that most of the people murdered by guns in the 20th century were killed by their own government and police forces, I can see why some people prefer not to give those entities a monopoly on the use of force. Perhaps you could open your own mind a bit to alternative points of view, and quiet that jerking knee.
    - pekk 14y ago
      Most people in the US have no intention to apply their guns to other US citizens, whether or not they were working for the postal service or issuing parking tickets. Your readiness to do so for political reasons is more similar to the readiness of Mussolini's blackshirts than to the mentality of normal beat cops or members of the highly professional, civilian-controlled US military.
      - CamperBob2 14y ago
        Again, where have I advocated the initiation of any sort of violence? You seem to have some kind of projection issue going on, or else you're confusing me with someone else.
    - nayefc 14y ago
      I think you have the wrong definition of genetic memory: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_memory_(psychology) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_memory_(psychology).
- pekk 14y ago
  Yes, because the civil war in Syria was caused by Assad's violation of the Second Amendment.
Jeremy1026 14y ago
There is something to be said about human ingenuity. With minimal tools, the ability to create these weapons and armored vehicle is something special.
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]
doctorstupid 14y ago
I'm jealous. Looks like they're having a mighty good time. Such freedom to be a man I'll probably never know. It's sad to think that the time for people to truly rebel is quickly running out.
- CamperBob2 14y ago
  You were modded down (Score: -1, Bloodlust or whatever), but you still have a good point: if the Syrian regime were as technologically well-equipped as most Western governments, this uprising would have been a very short one. We are going to be in a lot of trouble if a major Western power ever goes ape the way Germany did only one lifetime ago.
  - alexjeffrey 14y ago
    To append a relevant quote from Einstein "I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones."
  - unimpressive 14y ago
    >if the Syrian regime were as technologically well-equipped as most Western governments, this uprising would have been a very short one. What's the gap between most dictatorships and most western governments look like anyway? Is it mainly Nuclear arms?
    - CamperBob2 14y ago
      The traffic signals in one intersection a block away from my house include six cameras. I don't know what they're all for... but I'm guessing that it would be a bad idea for me to trundle my homebrew trebuchet up to that intersection and start chucking grenades around.
      - swombat 14y ago
        I would imagine that in an insurrection situation, disabling the camera network would be one of the first actions of a rebel army.
valuegram 14y ago
The "Use j/k keys or ←/→ to navigate" functionality on this page is really useful.
LatvjuAvs 14y ago
Seriously, is there anyone who buys rebels story anymore? Wasn't Libya enough? But, to open ones eyes, one must face the ugly truth.
- pooriaazimi 14y ago
  Yes, there is: (a portion of) people who try not to generalize and fall victim to logical fallacies. Even if Libyan rebels were all terrorists and Gadhafi was a good guy (I'm not saying that' what you're sating; I'm just trying to make a point), it doesn't mean Syrian rebels, or North Korean rebels (of future!), or anyone else for that matter, are also X (I'm saying X, because I'm not entirely sure what you were implying Libyan rebels were).
- bones6 14y ago
  Brutal dictator ends up with a rebellion, who'd have thought? Unfortunately the byproduct of any measure of success of a rebellion in the middle east is credited to piousness. If it weren't the case, would you really have a problem with the people overthrowing this guy?
dkhenry 14y ago
The more I see pictures like these The more I wonder how well America would have fared if the rest of the world disengaged its self from our revolution the way we are disengaging ourselves from the Syrian one. I understand you don't want to put boots on the ground, but at least give them something so they are not fighting tanks and airplanes with giant slingshots.
- stef25 14y ago
  They're probably worried that whatever weapons are donated will eventually be used agains them. Fair point considering the number of religious nut jobs currently on the side of the good guys.
- LatvjuAvs 14y ago
  Do not worry my friend, they are creative bunch, and they have came up with great tools to distribute around for civilian needs. There is no better way to say hello than leaving these in civilian buildings after leaving area, and wiring them up. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=eFd6CPR2MW4#t=40s http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v...
- vellum 14y ago
  The Saudis have started shipping them Croatian weapons, like shoulder-fired rockets. The NY Times speculates that it's being done with tacit American support. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/26/world/middleeast/in-shift-saudis-are-said-to-arm-rebels-in-syria.html http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/26/world/middleeast/in-shift-...
- InclinedPlane 14y ago
  This photo montage is a bit misleading, because it's about improvised weapons, and so doesn't show the conventional weapons the rebels do have. And they have an impressive amount. Significant quantities of small arms, RPGs, mortars, even tanks, and other weapons. There are plenty of videos on youtube of Syrian rebels taking out tanks of regime forces using ATGMs.
- trotsky 14y ago
  The more you read actual journalism about the conflict the more you'd wonder exactly how the rebels have broadly deployed encrypted frequency hopping radios, high end western .50 cal sniper rifles with spotting equipment, shoulder fired emissions seeking anti-aircraft missiles, vehicle mounted 40mm AA, and daily arial based wide area photography. And if you went as far as chatting up some folks that had recently been in syria, you might wonder why they'd say it's not uncommon to see a fair amount of guys with short blond hair and high end tactical clothing "advising" syrian rebel rear echelon types.
huhtenberg 14y ago
Beautiful photos, good lighting, great casting... what's not to like. They still missed one "rebel" in flip-flops, must've missed the memo from the Lebanon crew. Though he's technically working on a secret factory, so I guess it doesn't count. (edit) For those downvoting - you can't be in combat and wear flip-flops. Ask your favorite person who's been to the military service. If you are in flip-flops and holding a gun or throwing a grenade, then you are an actor re-enacting fighting in a staged photoshoot.
- unimpressive 14y ago
  Theres five photos of people in flip flops. With more than one in a combat position. Can we at least put some effort into the conspiracy theories? EDIT: Actually six, 14, on the right in 18, 21, 33, 34, 35.
- edraferi 14y ago
  Dude, have you ever seen footwear in the third world? There's a lot of people out there who are lucky not to be barefoot. People don't wear flip flops in combat by choice, but many don't have a choice.
- LatvjuAvs 14y ago
  No flip-flops indeed: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=izq0kqkiAoY#t=23s http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v... Usually all dead terrorists encountered in Syria do not wear flip-flops. Even live ones.
guard-of-terra 14y ago
This reminds me of: http://grossfater-m.livejournal.com/1113851.html http://grossfater-m.livejournal.com/1113851.html (Not related to any rebels, but it's claimed to be a real device)
chewxy 14y ago
I know I sound fairly like a white imperialist bearing the burden and all that, but bear with me. We (i.e. first world countries) created really fantastic consumer devices for our daily lives. #30 showed a Samsung Galaxy S3 being used as a guidance tool for a missile. Do we have a moral obligation on the carnage brought about by our devices? Yes I am aware that you can hack anything into weapons, given the breadth of human ingenuity, but does anyone else here feel a little morally obligated that these technologies are being used for targeted mass destruction? (that said, I'm really impressed by the S3 being used... as well as the pirated PS3 controller being used to control a machine gun)
- elemeno 14y ago
  From the caption, it looks like the S3 was just being used as a compass. It's a strange state of affairs when, in what's effectively a war zone, it's easier to use the compass in your phone than a real physical compass!
- edraferi 14y ago
  I also found that picture very interesting. The juxtaposition of technology is striking. It is generous to call an improvised set of rocket tubes "targeted" and the small conventional explosive payloads of those rockets falls far below the bar for "mass destruction." Technology is fundamentally neutral. Higher technology means better tools. Better tools are greater multipliers of people power. It's up the person to decide how to use the tools. Sometimes we are responsible for death via technology transfer. America's support to the Afghan Mujaheddin against the Soviet Union is a great example. There's no question that Soviet helicopters blew up as a direct result of American-supplied stingers. That particular case was a clear action by the US, and in the end a very effective one (US clearly won that round of the Cold War). The real tragedy here is that the Galaxy S3 is civilian technology. The tragedy is that part of the world conceived, designed, built and deployed that gadget to millions of people to make their lives better. Another part of the world has been thrown down to a lower level of civilization by a horrible war. They're not building the S3, they're not even using it to check their email at a coffee shop. They're bolting it onto a hobby shop of explosives to kill their fellow countrymen. If there is a moral obligation here, it's a geopolitical one, not a technological one.
benjlang 14y ago
I'm just hoping that once this conflict ends eventually all of these bombs, rockets etc. won't be used to attack other countries in the region (i.e. Israel)
- stef25 14y ago
  Incredible ...
- vellum 14y ago
  Doubt it. They're getting a lot of weapons from other countries that have just had civil wars, like Iraq and Libya. When this is over, the weapons will probably make their way to the next country undergoing an Arab Spring movement.
nasir 14y ago
Photo #20 impresses me as it can be used as a real gun controller real game play. I wonder if it is every going to be used. Seems scary
- chillax 14y ago
  (professional) Systems like that are already in use: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CROWS https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CROWS
  - nasir 14y ago
    The battle is really turning into a game!
cpursley 14y ago
Notice the trend with the revolution photojournalism? Toyota pickup trucks. There's a reason my beat-up Tacoma pickup has the nickname 'Taco Jihad' - key ingredient to uprisings.
- po 14y ago
  It has definitely become a reliable form of light cavalry. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_War http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_War http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_Hilux#Reputation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_Hilux#Reputation
  - IgorPartola 14y ago
    As discussed on HN: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1794419 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1794419
  - jt2190 14y ago
    These types of vehicles are now widely referred to as "technicals": > Africa, says [David] Kilcullen, is where the truck got its > nickname as a fighting vehicle, “the technical.” “When > [nongovernmental organizations] and the U.N. first went into > Somalia,” he says, referring to a period in the 1990s, “they > were not able to bring their own guards. So they got so-called > ‘technical assistance grants’ to hire guards and drivers on > the ground. Over time, a ‘technical’ came to mean a vehicle > owned by a guard company, and then eventually to mean a Hilux > with a heavy weapon mounted on the back.” [1] [1] http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2010/10/14/why-rebel-groups-love-the-toyota-hilux.html http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2010/10/14/why-rebel-g...
- Xylakant 14y ago
  I don't know about syria, but in large parts of southern africa (botswana, mozambique, ...) Toyota Hilux and Isuzu pickups have a large share of the car market. They're sturdy, hard to kill and every mechanic knows the cars. I literally had a mechanic rewire the engine of our Isuzu on a bush road after large parts of the wire harness ended up wrapped around the drive train. Took him like two hours but not a single look in the tech manual.
davidw 14y ago
War is a very good negative example of the fact that the economy is not zero-sum. Think if all this work - as well as that of the other side - and inventiveness were going towards productive pursuits, rather than blowing up other people and their things. Most everyone would be far better off.
- kennon 14y ago
  "Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. "This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children. The cost of one modern heavy bomber is this: a modern brick school in more than 30 cities. It is two electric power plants, each serving a town of 60,000 population. It is two fine, fully equipped hospitals. It is some fifty miles of concrete pavement. We pay for a single fighter with a half-million bushels of wheat. We pay for a single destroyer with new homes that could have housed more than 8,000 people. . . . This is not a way of life at all, in any true sense. Under the cloud of threatening war, it is humanity hanging from a cross of iron." --eisenhower, 1953 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chance_for_Peace_speech http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chance_for_Peace_speech
- ctdonath 14y ago
  In this instance, the alternative is brutal oppression. They're better off rebelling than not. ETA: Of course it'd be better if both sides went about things peacefully and democratically. To parent's point (now better understood hence ETA), the situation is the consequence of governmental leadership viewing socioeconomy as "zero-sum", and the oppressed taking extreme & desperate steps to eliminate the "zero-sum" restriction.
  - davidw 14y ago
    Most likely. Note that I also said "the other side". If both sides went about things peacefully and democratically, they'd all be better off on average.
adnam 14y ago
War propaganda now top post on HN. Edit: if you are also dismayed, use this link to find people who want to show something new to the community: http://www.hnsearch.com/search#request/all&q=%22show+hn%22&sortby=create_ts+desc&start=0 http://www.hnsearch.com/search#request/all&q=%22show+hn%...
- digitalengineer 14y ago
  Agreed. Made 'custom' for the tech crowd. Almost every image is accompanied by the words "A Free Syrian Army fighter ..." because you know, without those words we might confuse them with terrorists or guys from Palestine fighting Israel. Don't get me wrong, I strongly believe the people of Syria have a right for their own freedom, but it is striking how selective our news is. Ben Ali, the dictator from Tunis was supported by the West for 23 years, as was his neighbor the dictator from Egypt, as is Saudi Arabia, hell even Saddam was. It's not just a war over there. There's a war for your minds as well. Reminds me of the famous "incubator story" where Iraqi soldiers stole incubators from hospitals in Kuwait and left the premature babies to die on the floor. Never happened, but was crucial for the public opinion in the West. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nayirah_(testimony) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nayirah_(testimony)
  - nayefc 14y ago
    This article is proof to how controlled, biased and disgusting media in America is.
    - digitalengineer 14y ago
      Why only America? Okay, they're by far the best in media, marketing and communication, but still...
      - nayefc 14y ago
        No country or region has perfect media, but the one here in America is absolutely disgusting. I mean, are you kidding? Have you compared American media to British for example? Do you see the quality of news here? Or worse, how controlled the media is? Compare BBC or the Economist to any American outlet. Or even better, compare them to Democracy Now <-- real independent media.
yread 14y ago
For some reason you don't see a post in Atlantic glorifying palestinian rockets and mortars even though they look quite similar, I guess.
- berntb 14y ago
  Because the main use of the Palestinian weapons are to target civilians?
  - mathieuh 14y ago
    As opposed to the NATO-backed terrorists known as the FSA? The same ones who shot down a civilan aeroplane?
    - pekk 14y ago
      Is every party to any war a terrorist?
    - berntb 14y ago
      You are fully aware of that a relevant counter to my point would have been that the FSA mainly attacked civilians. A single example from such a heterogeneous mix as FSA in a civil war? Sigh... I'd continue with the lack of NATO-backing, but since your (Karma 72) account's comment history makes claims that North Korea can't be called communist (they are not true Scotsmen either, eh? :-) ) I'll just let it rest here. Bye. Edit: Clarity
      - mathieuh 14y ago
        A comment I made almost two months ago is relevant here... how? And not refuted either, just pointed out? I quite support North Korea on the grounds of their anti-imperialism. That doesn't mean I support the regime (hyperbolised Western media reports notwithstanding). Anyway: * The USA has openly joined the war [1a, 1b] * The FSA uses child soldiers [2] * The FSA executes surrendered soldiers with child soldiers [3] * The FSA bombed a university [4] * The FSA abducts innocent foreigners [5] [1a]: https://www.mail.com/int/news/world/1684058-western-efforts-syria-shifting.html https://www.mail.com/int/news/world/1684058-western-efforts-... [1b]: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/01/us-usa-syria-obama-order-idUSBRE8701OK20120801 http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/01/us-usa-syria-obama... [2]: http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/03/26/us-syria-un-idUSBRE82P0W220120326 http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/03/26/us-syria-un-idUSBRE... [3]: This would be a link to a graphic video, google it if you want [4]: This would also be a link to a graphic video [5]: http://rt.com/news/russians-kidnapped-syria-embassy-250/ http://rt.com/news/russians-kidnapped-syria-embassy-250/
senthilnayagam 14y ago
so if they fight govt hated by US it is rebels, but if they hate US they are terrorist http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/war_stories/2004/06/reagans_osama_connection.html http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/war_stories/...
- pekk 14y ago
  You clearly have an axe to grind against the US here. Terrorism conventionally refers to asymmetric warfare directed strategically against soft targets, often in peacetime. Good examples include the attacks of RAF and IRA in the 70s, Timothy McVey, the Unabomber and the WTC attack in the 90s. Syria is a war zone. It is in civil war. War has always terrorized civilians.
monochromatic 14y ago
Sort of related, guys builds a AK-pattern rifle out of a shovel: http://www.northeastshooters.com/vbulletin/build-yourself/179192-diy-shovel-ak-photo-tsunami-warning.html http://www.northeastshooters.com/vbulletin/build-yourself/17...
- sesqu 14y ago
  To be frank, he got the mechanism, the scope and the barrel from a store. What he actually built was the scaffolding, which is still nice but more like assembling or repairing an AK than building one.
  - monochromatic 14y ago
    True enough. I was still impressed though.
mauvehaus 14y ago
I suspect the fellows in the pictures could add a few new chapters to the Improvised Munitions Handbook [1] and add some refinements to the ones that are already there. The pictures of them building mortar shells and missiles are pretty interesting. I wouldn't have guessed that turning the nosecones on a lathe is the preferred way of forming them. I mean, you'd be removing a lot of material from the outside, then turning it around and removing a lot more from the inside to make room for the contents. Does anybody know if they're usually formed from sheet metal as I had always thought, or if they're actually pretty heavy-duty for improved penetration of the target? [1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TM_31-210_Improvised_Munition_Handbook https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TM_31-210_Improvised_Munition_...
- jws 14y ago
  I haven't seen mortar rounds made, but I would guess their noses are forged or formed then turned to final dimensions.† By whatever process they are made in the large military industrial complexes, these pictures show how they are made when you can't invest in custom machines, tooling, and material. You are seeing what happens when you have a bunch of bar stock in inventory and a lathe. It's the "I need a message queueing system and all I have is PHP" version of a mortar. ␄ † Alibaba will hook you up with Wotech Industrial to sell you forged mortar shell blanks for just such an operation: http://www.alibaba.com/suppliers/forged-mortar-shell-supplier.html http://www.alibaba.com/suppliers/forged-mortar-shell-supplie... Medico is a pressing company and mentions on their web page that they've made over 7 million mortar shells of various types. http://www.medicomfg.com/products.php http://www.medicomfg.com/products.php (In the second picture of the last row, the part held in fingers, that pattern you are seeing is pressed in before the metal is formed into a cup. It provides the fragmentation pattern to get the part to break into a nice even spread of the maximum number pieces that still carry lethal energy into human flesh. Probably a 25mm OCWS round. You could set them for a distance and have them airburst just after they went in a window or over a wall. Looks like the program was canceled. Maybe precision and 4 rounds per second didn't need to intersect.) 1916 video of a press forming large mortar noses: http://www.criticalpast.com/video/65675048466_manufacturing-mortar-shells_filling-shells-with-explosives http://www.criticalpast.com/video/65675048466_manufacturing-...
snake_plissken 14y ago
#9...that's a trebuchet! FAVORITE SIEGE WEAPON All TIME.
belorn 14y ago
I wonder how safe those slingshots are. Throwing heavy objects are hard, and remembering some mythbuster shows, a bit dangerous. Have the grenade bounce, fall out of the slingshot grip, or rubber-band back and you got a big problem. Is this actually in big use, and how common is "misfire"?
syrebel 14y ago
my uncle unfortunately died 2 months ago by a heli in homs, he was the coolest uncle you can have he was an artist/activist but then the situation in our town went bad because it is located near Lebanese border, he then took the decision to fight with the rebels along with 8 other uncles, which them victory!
littledot5566 14y ago
Smoking inside a mortar factory...? I cringe looking at that picture...
ChuckMcM 14y ago
I agree that on its surface it is propaganda. I also think its interesting to see how people fabricate weapons in a war zone (or not). Some of them don't seem like they would actually do what the designer hoped. In general, in this age of 'high tech' weaponry, it's amazing that rebels can go up against a modern army at all much less keep it bogged down for as long as they have. That said, in a non abstract way the material is deeply saddening.
Gotttzsche 14y ago
looks like the a-team is helping the rebels

127 points by youngerdryas 14y ago

danso 14y ago

The Atlantic did this same feature with Libya 2 years ago http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2011/06/diy-weapons-of-the-libyan-rebels/100086/ http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2011/06/diy-weapons-of-th... Here's a great post about how an Afghan refurbished a PKM machine gun: http://atwar.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/20/afghan-gun-locker-battlefield-ingenuity-and-a-weapons-longevity/ http://atwar.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/20/afghan-gun-locker-...

CamperBob2 14y ago

Wow, these photos are awesome (#20 and #21 especially so), even if half of them are staged. So how's that gun control thing working out for Assad, I wonder?

n3rdy 14y ago
If they can use video and controllers like that to control the gun, what would stop them from making it wireless? I would imagine the benefit of using something like that remotely would be worth the risk of possible signal interception.
- edraferi 14y ago
  Complexity and reliability. If the batteries die on your xbox control mid-Halo, it's just annoying. If the batteries die on your remote machine gun with the enemy literally at the gates, it's life and death. I don't think there's much need for wireless inside the tank in any case. Maybe for a remote placement turret without a vehicle mount it would be more useful.
  - n3rdy 14y ago
    I actually meant wireless so that you wouldn't have to be present inside the tank, you would control the gun remotely. You would still use wired controllers, but you would use wireless networking to control the tank close by. As long as you maintain a connection with the tank, you are safe from enemy fire, and the enemy would be shooting at an empty tank, with no way of telling what your physical location is.
    - sharpneli 14y ago
      Even more increased complexity. That would require them to make electronic controls for the steering, gas and whatnot. More parts would thus be required. In addition such a system is highly prone to jamming considering the kind of parts they have available, and the location of the controlling transmitter can be quite easily triangulated. Just wanted to point out that it's not so easy to make a wirelessly controlled tank and the benefits can be dubious.
nayefc 14y ago
How disgusting. Very easy for you to equate the sad situation in Syria with America's gun control gun-obsessed society issue, from the comfort and safety of your home.
- CamperBob2 14y ago
  (Shrug) For better or worse, there seems to be a sort of genetic memory in at least some Americans that dates back to the time when we had to do something similar to gain our freedom. I'm not taking a stand either way, but considering that most of the people murdered by guns in the 20th century were killed by their own government and police forces, I can see why some people prefer not to give those entities a monopoly on the use of force. Perhaps you could open your own mind a bit to alternative points of view, and quiet that jerking knee.
  - pekk 14y ago
    Most people in the US have no intention to apply their guns to other US citizens, whether or not they were working for the postal service or issuing parking tickets. Your readiness to do so for political reasons is more similar to the readiness of Mussolini's blackshirts than to the mentality of normal beat cops or members of the highly professional, civilian-controlled US military.
    - CamperBob2 14y ago
      Again, where have I advocated the initiation of any sort of violence? You seem to have some kind of projection issue going on, or else you're confusing me with someone else.
  - nayefc 14y ago
    I think you have the wrong definition of genetic memory: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_memory_(psychology) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_memory_(psychology).
pekk 14y ago
Yes, because the civil war in Syria was caused by Assad's violation of the Second Amendment.

Jeremy1026 14y ago

There is something to be said about human ingenuity. With minimal tools, the ability to create these weapons and armored vehicle is something special.

deleted 14y ago
[deleted]

doctorstupid 14y ago

I'm jealous. Looks like they're having a mighty good time. Such freedom to be a man I'll probably never know. It's sad to think that the time for people to truly rebel is quickly running out.

CamperBob2 14y ago
You were modded down (Score: -1, Bloodlust or whatever), but you still have a good point: if the Syrian regime were as technologically well-equipped as most Western governments, this uprising would have been a very short one. We are going to be in a lot of trouble if a major Western power ever goes ape the way Germany did only one lifetime ago.
- alexjeffrey 14y ago
  To append a relevant quote from Einstein "I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones."
- unimpressive 14y ago
  >if the Syrian regime were as technologically well-equipped as most Western governments, this uprising would have been a very short one. What's the gap between most dictatorships and most western governments look like anyway? Is it mainly Nuclear arms?
  - CamperBob2 14y ago
    The traffic signals in one intersection a block away from my house include six cameras. I don't know what they're all for... but I'm guessing that it would be a bad idea for me to trundle my homebrew trebuchet up to that intersection and start chucking grenades around.
    - swombat 14y ago
      I would imagine that in an insurrection situation, disabling the camera network would be one of the first actions of a rebel army.

valuegram 14y ago

The "Use j/k keys or ←/→ to navigate" functionality on this page is really useful.

LatvjuAvs 14y ago

Seriously, is there anyone who buys rebels story anymore? Wasn't Libya enough? But, to open ones eyes, one must face the ugly truth.

pooriaazimi 14y ago
Yes, there is: (a portion of) people who try not to generalize and fall victim to logical fallacies. Even if Libyan rebels were all terrorists and Gadhafi was a good guy (I'm not saying that' what you're sating; I'm just trying to make a point), it doesn't mean Syrian rebels, or North Korean rebels (of future!), or anyone else for that matter, are also X (I'm saying X, because I'm not entirely sure what you were implying Libyan rebels were).
bones6 14y ago
Brutal dictator ends up with a rebellion, who'd have thought? Unfortunately the byproduct of any measure of success of a rebellion in the middle east is credited to piousness. If it weren't the case, would you really have a problem with the people overthrowing this guy?

dkhenry 14y ago

The more I see pictures like these The more I wonder how well America would have fared if the rest of the world disengaged its self from our revolution the way we are disengaging ourselves from the Syrian one. I understand you don't want to put boots on the ground, but at least give them something so they are not fighting tanks and airplanes with giant slingshots.

stef25 14y ago
They're probably worried that whatever weapons are donated will eventually be used agains them. Fair point considering the number of religious nut jobs currently on the side of the good guys.
LatvjuAvs 14y ago
Do not worry my friend, they are creative bunch, and they have came up with great tools to distribute around for civilian needs. There is no better way to say hello than leaving these in civilian buildings after leaving area, and wiring them up. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=eFd6CPR2MW4#t=40s http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v...
vellum 14y ago
The Saudis have started shipping them Croatian weapons, like shoulder-fired rockets. The NY Times speculates that it's being done with tacit American support. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/26/world/middleeast/in-shift-saudis-are-said-to-arm-rebels-in-syria.html http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/26/world/middleeast/in-shift-...
InclinedPlane 14y ago
This photo montage is a bit misleading, because it's about improvised weapons, and so doesn't show the conventional weapons the rebels do have. And they have an impressive amount. Significant quantities of small arms, RPGs, mortars, even tanks, and other weapons. There are plenty of videos on youtube of Syrian rebels taking out tanks of regime forces using ATGMs.
trotsky 14y ago
The more you read actual journalism about the conflict the more you'd wonder exactly how the rebels have broadly deployed encrypted frequency hopping radios, high end western .50 cal sniper rifles with spotting equipment, shoulder fired emissions seeking anti-aircraft missiles, vehicle mounted 40mm AA, and daily arial based wide area photography. And if you went as far as chatting up some folks that had recently been in syria, you might wonder why they'd say it's not uncommon to see a fair amount of guys with short blond hair and high end tactical clothing "advising" syrian rebel rear echelon types.

huhtenberg 14y ago

Beautiful photos, good lighting, great casting... what's not to like. They still missed one "rebel" in flip-flops, must've missed the memo from the Lebanon crew. Though he's technically working on a secret factory, so I guess it doesn't count. (edit) For those downvoting - you can't be in combat and wear flip-flops. Ask your favorite person who's been to the military service. If you are in flip-flops and holding a gun or throwing a grenade, then you are an actor re-enacting fighting in a staged photoshoot.

unimpressive 14y ago
Theres five photos of people in flip flops. With more than one in a combat position. Can we at least put some effort into the conspiracy theories? EDIT: Actually six, 14, on the right in 18, 21, 33, 34, 35.
edraferi 14y ago
Dude, have you ever seen footwear in the third world? There's a lot of people out there who are lucky not to be barefoot. People don't wear flip flops in combat by choice, but many don't have a choice.
LatvjuAvs 14y ago
No flip-flops indeed: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=izq0kqkiAoY#t=23s http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v... Usually all dead terrorists encountered in Syria do not wear flip-flops. Even live ones.

guard-of-terra 14y ago

This reminds me of: http://grossfater-m.livejournal.com/1113851.html http://grossfater-m.livejournal.com/1113851.html (Not related to any rebels, but it's claimed to be a real device)

chewxy 14y ago

I know I sound fairly like a white imperialist bearing the burden and all that, but bear with me. We (i.e. first world countries) created really fantastic consumer devices for our daily lives. #30 showed a Samsung Galaxy S3 being used as a guidance tool for a missile. Do we have a moral obligation on the carnage brought about by our devices? Yes I am aware that you can hack anything into weapons, given the breadth of human ingenuity, but does anyone else here feel a little morally obligated that these technologies are being used for targeted mass destruction? (that said, I'm really impressed by the S3 being used... as well as the pirated PS3 controller being used to control a machine gun)

elemeno 14y ago
From the caption, it looks like the S3 was just being used as a compass. It's a strange state of affairs when, in what's effectively a war zone, it's easier to use the compass in your phone than a real physical compass!
edraferi 14y ago
I also found that picture very interesting. The juxtaposition of technology is striking. It is generous to call an improvised set of rocket tubes "targeted" and the small conventional explosive payloads of those rockets falls far below the bar for "mass destruction." Technology is fundamentally neutral. Higher technology means better tools. Better tools are greater multipliers of people power. It's up the person to decide how to use the tools. Sometimes we are responsible for death via technology transfer. America's support to the Afghan Mujaheddin against the Soviet Union is a great example. There's no question that Soviet helicopters blew up as a direct result of American-supplied stingers. That particular case was a clear action by the US, and in the end a very effective one (US clearly won that round of the Cold War). The real tragedy here is that the Galaxy S3 is civilian technology. The tragedy is that part of the world conceived, designed, built and deployed that gadget to millions of people to make their lives better. Another part of the world has been thrown down to a lower level of civilization by a horrible war. They're not building the S3, they're not even using it to check their email at a coffee shop. They're bolting it onto a hobby shop of explosives to kill their fellow countrymen. If there is a moral obligation here, it's a geopolitical one, not a technological one.

benjlang 14y ago

I'm just hoping that once this conflict ends eventually all of these bombs, rockets etc. won't be used to attack other countries in the region (i.e. Israel)

stef25 14y ago
Incredible ...
vellum 14y ago
Doubt it. They're getting a lot of weapons from other countries that have just had civil wars, like Iraq and Libya. When this is over, the weapons will probably make their way to the next country undergoing an Arab Spring movement.

nasir 14y ago

Photo #20 impresses me as it can be used as a real gun controller real game play. I wonder if it is every going to be used. Seems scary

chillax 14y ago
(professional) Systems like that are already in use: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CROWS https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CROWS
- nasir 14y ago
  The battle is really turning into a game!

cpursley 14y ago

Notice the trend with the revolution photojournalism? Toyota pickup trucks. There's a reason my beat-up Tacoma pickup has the nickname 'Taco Jihad' - key ingredient to uprisings.

po 14y ago
It has definitely become a reliable form of light cavalry. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_War http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_War http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_Hilux#Reputation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_Hilux#Reputation
- IgorPartola 14y ago
  As discussed on HN: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1794419 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1794419
- jt2190 14y ago
  These types of vehicles are now widely referred to as "technicals": > Africa, says [David] Kilcullen, is where the truck got its > nickname as a fighting vehicle, “the technical.” “When > [nongovernmental organizations] and the U.N. first went into > Somalia,” he says, referring to a period in the 1990s, “they > were not able to bring their own guards. So they got so-called > ‘technical assistance grants’ to hire guards and drivers on > the ground. Over time, a ‘technical’ came to mean a vehicle > owned by a guard company, and then eventually to mean a Hilux > with a heavy weapon mounted on the back.” [1] [1] http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2010/10/14/why-rebel-groups-love-the-toyota-hilux.html http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2010/10/14/why-rebel-g...
Xylakant 14y ago
I don't know about syria, but in large parts of southern africa (botswana, mozambique, ...) Toyota Hilux and Isuzu pickups have a large share of the car market. They're sturdy, hard to kill and every mechanic knows the cars. I literally had a mechanic rewire the engine of our Isuzu on a bush road after large parts of the wire harness ended up wrapped around the drive train. Took him like two hours but not a single look in the tech manual.

davidw 14y ago

War is a very good negative example of the fact that the economy is not zero-sum. Think if all this work - as well as that of the other side - and inventiveness were going towards productive pursuits, rather than blowing up other people and their things. Most everyone would be far better off.

kennon 14y ago
"Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. "This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children. The cost of one modern heavy bomber is this: a modern brick school in more than 30 cities. It is two electric power plants, each serving a town of 60,000 population. It is two fine, fully equipped hospitals. It is some fifty miles of concrete pavement. We pay for a single fighter with a half-million bushels of wheat. We pay for a single destroyer with new homes that could have housed more than 8,000 people. . . . This is not a way of life at all, in any true sense. Under the cloud of threatening war, it is humanity hanging from a cross of iron." --eisenhower, 1953 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chance_for_Peace_speech http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chance_for_Peace_speech
ctdonath 14y ago
In this instance, the alternative is brutal oppression. They're better off rebelling than not. ETA: Of course it'd be better if both sides went about things peacefully and democratically. To parent's point (now better understood hence ETA), the situation is the consequence of governmental leadership viewing socioeconomy as "zero-sum", and the oppressed taking extreme & desperate steps to eliminate the "zero-sum" restriction.
- davidw 14y ago
  Most likely. Note that I also said "the other side". If both sides went about things peacefully and democratically, they'd all be better off on average.

adnam 14y ago

War propaganda now top post on HN. Edit: if you are also dismayed, use this link to find people who want to show something new to the community: http://www.hnsearch.com/search#request/all&q=%22show+hn%22&sortby=create_ts+desc&start=0 http://www.hnsearch.com/search#request/all&q=%22show+hn%...

digitalengineer 14y ago
Agreed. Made 'custom' for the tech crowd. Almost every image is accompanied by the words "A Free Syrian Army fighter ..." because you know, without those words we might confuse them with terrorists or guys from Palestine fighting Israel. Don't get me wrong, I strongly believe the people of Syria have a right for their own freedom, but it is striking how selective our news is. Ben Ali, the dictator from Tunis was supported by the West for 23 years, as was his neighbor the dictator from Egypt, as is Saudi Arabia, hell even Saddam was. It's not just a war over there. There's a war for your minds as well. Reminds me of the famous "incubator story" where Iraqi soldiers stole incubators from hospitals in Kuwait and left the premature babies to die on the floor. Never happened, but was crucial for the public opinion in the West. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nayirah_(testimony) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nayirah_(testimony)
- nayefc 14y ago
  This article is proof to how controlled, biased and disgusting media in America is.
  - digitalengineer 14y ago
    Why only America? Okay, they're by far the best in media, marketing and communication, but still...
    - nayefc 14y ago
      No country or region has perfect media, but the one here in America is absolutely disgusting. I mean, are you kidding? Have you compared American media to British for example? Do you see the quality of news here? Or worse, how controlled the media is? Compare BBC or the Economist to any American outlet. Or even better, compare them to Democracy Now <-- real independent media.

yread 14y ago

For some reason you don't see a post in Atlantic glorifying palestinian rockets and mortars even though they look quite similar, I guess.

berntb 14y ago
Because the main use of the Palestinian weapons are to target civilians?
- mathieuh 14y ago
  As opposed to the NATO-backed terrorists known as the FSA? The same ones who shot down a civilan aeroplane?
  - pekk 14y ago
    Is every party to any war a terrorist?
  - berntb 14y ago
    You are fully aware of that a relevant counter to my point would have been that the FSA mainly attacked civilians. A single example from such a heterogeneous mix as FSA in a civil war? Sigh... I'd continue with the lack of NATO-backing, but since your (Karma 72) account's comment history makes claims that North Korea can't be called communist (they are not true Scotsmen either, eh? :-) ) I'll just let it rest here. Bye. Edit: Clarity
    - mathieuh 14y ago
      A comment I made almost two months ago is relevant here... how? And not refuted either, just pointed out? I quite support North Korea on the grounds of their anti-imperialism. That doesn't mean I support the regime (hyperbolised Western media reports notwithstanding). Anyway: * The USA has openly joined the war [1a, 1b] * The FSA uses child soldiers [2] * The FSA executes surrendered soldiers with child soldiers [3] * The FSA bombed a university [4] * The FSA abducts innocent foreigners [5] [1a]: https://www.mail.com/int/news/world/1684058-western-efforts-syria-shifting.html https://www.mail.com/int/news/world/1684058-western-efforts-... [1b]: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/01/us-usa-syria-obama-order-idUSBRE8701OK20120801 http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/01/us-usa-syria-obama... [2]: http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/03/26/us-syria-un-idUSBRE82P0W220120326 http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/03/26/us-syria-un-idUSBRE... [3]: This would be a link to a graphic video, google it if you want [4]: This would also be a link to a graphic video [5]: http://rt.com/news/russians-kidnapped-syria-embassy-250/ http://rt.com/news/russians-kidnapped-syria-embassy-250/

senthilnayagam 14y ago

so if they fight govt hated by US it is rebels, but if they hate US they are terrorist http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/war_stories/2004/06/reagans_osama_connection.html http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/war_stories/...

pekk 14y ago
You clearly have an axe to grind against the US here. Terrorism conventionally refers to asymmetric warfare directed strategically against soft targets, often in peacetime. Good examples include the attacks of RAF and IRA in the 70s, Timothy McVey, the Unabomber and the WTC attack in the 90s. Syria is a war zone. It is in civil war. War has always terrorized civilians.

monochromatic 14y ago

Sort of related, guys builds a AK-pattern rifle out of a shovel: http://www.northeastshooters.com/vbulletin/build-yourself/179192-diy-shovel-ak-photo-tsunami-warning.html http://www.northeastshooters.com/vbulletin/build-yourself/17...

sesqu 14y ago
To be frank, he got the mechanism, the scope and the barrel from a store. What he actually built was the scaffolding, which is still nice but more like assembling or repairing an AK than building one.
- monochromatic 14y ago
  True enough. I was still impressed though.

mauvehaus 14y ago

I suspect the fellows in the pictures could add a few new chapters to the Improvised Munitions Handbook [1] and add some refinements to the ones that are already there. The pictures of them building mortar shells and missiles are pretty interesting. I wouldn't have guessed that turning the nosecones on a lathe is the preferred way of forming them. I mean, you'd be removing a lot of material from the outside, then turning it around and removing a lot more from the inside to make room for the contents. Does anybody know if they're usually formed from sheet metal as I had always thought, or if they're actually pretty heavy-duty for improved penetration of the target? [1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TM_31-210_Improvised_Munition_Handbook https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TM_31-210_Improvised_Munition_...

jws 14y ago
I haven't seen mortar rounds made, but I would guess their noses are forged or formed then turned to final dimensions.† By whatever process they are made in the large military industrial complexes, these pictures show how they are made when you can't invest in custom machines, tooling, and material. You are seeing what happens when you have a bunch of bar stock in inventory and a lathe. It's the "I need a message queueing system and all I have is PHP" version of a mortar. ␄ † Alibaba will hook you up with Wotech Industrial to sell you forged mortar shell blanks for just such an operation: http://www.alibaba.com/suppliers/forged-mortar-shell-supplier.html http://www.alibaba.com/suppliers/forged-mortar-shell-supplie... Medico is a pressing company and mentions on their web page that they've made over 7 million mortar shells of various types. http://www.medicomfg.com/products.php http://www.medicomfg.com/products.php (In the second picture of the last row, the part held in fingers, that pattern you are seeing is pressed in before the metal is formed into a cup. It provides the fragmentation pattern to get the part to break into a nice even spread of the maximum number pieces that still carry lethal energy into human flesh. Probably a 25mm OCWS round. You could set them for a distance and have them airburst just after they went in a window or over a wall. Looks like the program was canceled. Maybe precision and 4 rounds per second didn't need to intersect.) 1916 video of a press forming large mortar noses: http://www.criticalpast.com/video/65675048466_manufacturing-mortar-shells_filling-shells-with-explosives http://www.criticalpast.com/video/65675048466_manufacturing-...

snake_plissken 14y ago

#9...that's a trebuchet! FAVORITE SIEGE WEAPON All TIME.

belorn 14y ago

I wonder how safe those slingshots are. Throwing heavy objects are hard, and remembering some mythbuster shows, a bit dangerous. Have the grenade bounce, fall out of the slingshot grip, or rubber-band back and you got a big problem. Is this actually in big use, and how common is "misfire"?

syrebel 14y ago

my uncle unfortunately died 2 months ago by a heli in homs, he was the coolest uncle you can have he was an artist/activist but then the situation in our town went bad because it is located near Lebanese border, he then took the decision to fight with the rebels along with 8 other uncles, which them victory!

littledot5566 14y ago

Smoking inside a mortar factory...? I cringe looking at that picture...

ChuckMcM 14y ago

I agree that on its surface it is propaganda. I also think its interesting to see how people fabricate weapons in a war zone (or not). Some of them don't seem like they would actually do what the designer hoped. In general, in this age of 'high tech' weaponry, it's amazing that rebels can go up against a modern army at all much less keep it bogged down for as long as they have. That said, in a non abstract way the material is deeply saddening.

Gotttzsche 14y ago

looks like the a-team is helping the rebels