Breaking news story from Hadera, Israel: Two IS in Israel operatives carried out a lethal attack on police officers last night, March 27th, in northern Israel.
Military/LE
Operation Swallow 1962 & Captured Syrian Weapons
In March 1962 the Israeli Defence Forces launched a raid on Syrian positions in the village of Al-Nuqayb, on the eastern shores of the Sea of Galilee. The raid, known as Operation Swallow (מבצע סנונית) was described by the IDF as a retaliation for Syrian attacks on Israeli fishermen in the Sea of Galilee. During the operation Israeli commandos captured a selection of weapons which were subsequently displayed for the press. In this article we’ll examine the weapons captured.
The Illegal Arms Plaguing Israel
In late January, Israeli Security Forces captured four illegal arms dealers attempting to smuggle firearms in the Arab community of Israel. Israeli police recovered 53 firearms in this raid, in addition to the arrest of the arms dealers. In this article we’ll examine what was seized.
The Egyptian Helwan 920 ‘Multi-Machine Gun’
In 2020 the Egyptian ministry of military production announced the manufacture of the first ‘multi-machine gun’, the announcement came with national pride as the Multi-Machine Gun (or multi-purpose machine gun possibly depending on translation) will be completely manufactured by Egypt. The machine gun, called the Helwan 920, was shown in the previous IDEX Conferences at Dubai IDEX 2017, Egypt EDEX 2018 and Egypt EDEX 2019 as prototypes. The weapon has appeared on Egyptian government arms sites since the early 2010s.
Scoped Rifles of Saudi Forces in Yemen Pt.1
The Saudi-led intervention into Yemen has sparked considerable interest concerning the flow of arms into the conflict. One of the areas that illustrates the wide range from which Saudi-led forces source their armaments from is their selection of scoped rifles. The Saudi military’s collection of sniper, designated marksmen’s, and anti-materiel rifles in use in Yemen illustrates the vast assortment of countries from which they source their armaments from. This study draws its data and sources largely from the same extensive private image collection of open-source social media photos and videos taken by soldiers of the Royal Saudi Land Forces, the Saudi National Guard, and the Saudi Border Guard that informed Silah Report’s previous article on Saudi Kalashnikov-pattern self-loading rifles and is thus able to paint a uniquely representative picture of the weapons they use. In the first part of this article we will examine the precision and anti-materiel rifles and scopes which can be identified includng the FN SCAR-H, Canadian LRT-3 and the French PGM Hecate II.
The Croatian VHS-2 In Iraq
The VHS-2 bullpup self-loading rifle manufactured by Croatia’s HS Produkt became one of the most frequently seen rifles during the Iraqi counter-offensives against ISIS during 2015-17. The rifle regularly appeared in news reports and social media posts and became somewhat synonymous with the fighting for Fallujah and Mosul.
Iranian Small Arms in Somalia and the Horn of Africa
Since 2015 there have been at least 12 documented arms seizures off the Somalian and Yemeni coastlines by US, Saudi, and a variety of other navies. These weapons seizures range in size from 10s of rifles to hundreds of Anti-Tank Guided Missiles (ATGM) and thousands of Type 56-1 AKs.
U.S. 5th Fleet Seizure of Arms in the North Arabian Sea
On December 20, 2021, the US Navy’s 5th Fleet intercepted a stateless dhow in the North Arabian Sea carrying arms and ammunition. This was the third interception made by the 5th Fleet during 2021, of dhow carrying SALW towards Yemen with its origin likely being Iran. Notably, this is the first instance of ammunition being found by the 5th Fleet this year.
The Persian Saga – Rise of the AK-103 in Iran
For decades, the Kalashnikov self-loading rifle has been a prolific design, put to use by various actors worldwide and revered by many as a symbol of either good or evil. Iran is no exception to its sphere of influence and shows no signs of loosening its reins on the weapon, which since the days of its war against Iraq, it has kept various variant of the rifle in service. In this article, we will document the history and functionality of the most recent variant of the Kalashnikov rifle seen in Iran: the AK-103.
Indigenous Iranian Equipment: Iranian Molle Vest
Iran’s armed forces consists of a multitude of different services, including the Ground Forces, Navy, Air Force, an Air Defense Force which is responsible for providing an anti-aircraft security net, and a law enforcement branch. This structure remains somewhat similar to the Shah-era military structure, save for the Air Defense Force which became its own branch separate from the Air Force in 2008, as well as the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps which contains its own ground force, navy, and aerospace force. In addition to the IRGC’s other branches is the Quds Force, which performs asymmetrical warfare abroad, and the Basij, a paramilitary unit. These branches all have personnel equipped with various different types of tactical equipment, with many pieces acquired pre-Islamic Revolution transferring over to the newly formed Iranian Army.