In Memoriam: Ethan Field of MENA Conflict

by

It is with great regret that we announce the passing of Ethan Field, author of MENA Conflict on Twitter. Ethan was a great source of knowledge and encouragement to those researchers in the small arms community covering the history and current use of small arms and light weapons in the Middle East. He was a dedicated father and husband, working for the government after serving in the Marine Corps in 1st LAR in Iraq, Marine Corps Base Quantico as a TBS instructor, and 2nd Battalion 9th Marines in Helmand  Province, Afghanistan.

Ethan was dedicated to the study of small arms and was fascinated by their use and mechanical operation. I loved spending time with him going over the intricacies of whatever platform we were discussing. But he had an incredibly open-mind when it came to the peoples, cultures, and languages, having studied Arabic at DLI, used it with 1st LAR, and then picking up Dari in Helmand working with the ANA-partnered troops. This is what really drew us together at the intersection of these disciplines.

I thoroughly enjoyed our discussions and hanging out, checking out nearby restaurants, military history shows, our Silah Report podcasts that he participated in, talking about local Virginia history. Being around Ethan was always easy for me, as we had so many similar experiences and diverse interests that there was always something both of us could bring up and we could talk and discuss. 

Similar to myself, the Afghan withdrawal greatly affected him. So much so that he requested to be pulled off his tasks of identification and recognition at work during the withdrawal. I don’t know what made him ultimately decide to leave this world, but the timing was certainly around the same as the anniversary of the withdrawal. I know he had retired from federal service, and I feel that might have contributed to some of his darkness as well, maybe not having a tangible mission to contribute to, but now we will never know.

We’ll miss you Brother, Semper Fidelis.

إِنَّا ِلِلَّٰهِ وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ

Ethan and I during one of our hangouts.

Egypt Developing Small Arms Partnership with the United Arab Emirates

by

The nations of Egypt and the United Arab Emirates are attempting to build a strong defense partnership centered around firearms and ammunition production. While information is still forthcoming on the details of what and how this partnership will develop, Egypt seems to have made a commitment to local production of Emirati firearms. This is a continuation of Egypt’s desire to seek less reliance on the United States and a more diverse arsenal.

Read more

Operation Swallow 1962 & Captured Syrian Weapons

by

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.

Read more

The Illegal Arms Plaguing Israel

by

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.

Read more

The Egyptian Helwan 920 ‘Multi-Machine Gun’

by

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.

Read more

Scoped Rifles of Saudi Forces in Yemen Pt.1

by

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.

Read more

Shotguns of the Middle East Gun Markets

by

When talking about the gun markets of the Middle East, military type weapons usually take center stage, but shotguns are as popular in this part of the world as anywhere else, be they for self-defense or sporting purposes. This article is intended as an overview of the range of shotguns that can be found in the region in order to get a better understanding of this lesser studied side of the weapons markets.

Read more

The Croatian VHS-2 In Iraq

by

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.

Read more