The term technical as a designation for light improvised fighting vehicles is quite the neologism (a word or term which has entered use relatively recently), which has increasingly entered common vernacular, though not yet fully accepted into mainstream military parlance of professional First World armies. The latter often speak instead of a Non-Standard Tactical Vehicle (NSTV), which quite sufficiently covers what a technical actually is. In this article we’ll examine the etymological origins of the ‘technical’.
Civil War
V22: Hydro-Dipping Small Arms in Idlib, One Craftsman’s Experience
Welcome to the 22nd episode of the Silah Report Podcast, we recently had the pleasure of speaking with a gunsmith currently living in Idlib who has a long history fighting the SAA, not as an armed militant but as a gunsmith. Before the rebel pocket in Damascus fell to the SAA, he worked on manufacturing ammunition, weaponry, and even mortars for the resistance. He also worked on hydro-dipping rebel firearms. Currently, he resides in Idlib and had a short-lived business project hydro-dipping firearms. He agreed to be interviewed and to inform us about his journey specifically in that field, given that there are hundreds of photos of Syrian rebels with painted firearms floating throughout the internet and it is quite common now to see hydro dipped AK-pattern rifles. We at Silah Report wanted to know more about the industry and the people involved in it.
The Arms Smuggling Hub of Egypt: The South
The southern region of Egypt is known for its green pastures lying on both sides of the Nile River, Abu Simbel Temple which tourists from all over the world travel to see, Lake Nasser that was formed by the Aswan High Dam, Luxor’s Karnak Temple. Valley of the Kings and so many more. Yet, there aren’t many tourists who would venture out and try to deal with the local inhabitants, who have their own unique Egyptian Arabic dialects, own unique traditions, and culture, which separates them from the dwellers of Cairo, Alexandria, and Northern Egypt.
French MAS Rifles in Syria, The Syrian Civil War
This guest article is brought to us by Bruce Marduel, taking a look at the French MAS series of bolt action and semi-automatic rifles in service throughout Syrian history, and in this case, the current Syrian Civil War.
MAS 36 is the oldest rifle is the MAS family, and even if it entered production before WWII it is still used in an impressive number of countries, including Lebanon and Syria. A MAS 36 was first visible in a 2013 picture of the Syrian Conflict, limited information is available, but it seems that MAS 36 are actually used in combat.