see Chemical Weapons Attacks
Human Rights Watch believes the 330 mm chemwar rocket was produced by Syria but has no evidence of who made it: The HRW investigation found the attacks were conducted using a surface-to-surface rocket system of approximately 330mm in diameter – likely Syrian-produced – and a Soviet-era 140mm surface-to-surface rocket system to deliver a nerve agent.
September 18, 2013 Nobody is apparently taking credit for the design of the "330mm" chemical warhead rocket. Syria supposedly uses real ballistic missiles to deliver its chemical weapons, not the 140mm or 330mm devices found by the UN. The 140mm is an old Russian rocket designed to be portable enough for airborne troops and normally uses the BM-14 140mmmultiple rocket launcher, fielded by the Soviet Union and used in Vietnam by the VietCong. It normally is fired in salvos of 16 rockets with four boxes of four missiles each. Iran doesn't actually have a generic 330mm rocket, it's called a Fahr-5 unguided missile. It uses 330mm launching tubes for the Fahr-5 rocket which requires a medium truck launcher and has folding fins. Technology has been transferred to Hamas before it broke relations with Iran, and diagrams looks like a shorter version was fired against Israel.
A normal rocket is a tube with a pointed nose, but this chemical weapon looks like a new beast, wrapped around a 120mm rocket which is a pretty common Chinese weapon. Fixed fins are fitted to a ring at the tail, while the "nose" is a cylindrical barrel assembly, with the whole thing designed to fired out of the same tube used to launch a Fahr-5. It would have a shorter range than a shortened 120mm rocket
See Launching 330 mm Syria Chemical Warhead Rocket
see Old US SLUFAE anti-minefield rocket looks like Syria's mystery 330mm rocket
http://killerapps.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2013/08/28/were_syria_s_nerve_gas_rockets_based_on_an_american_design
http://killerapps.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2013/08/28/were_syria_s_nerve_gas_rockets_based_on_an_american_design
video above shows what looks like the rockets found at the sites of chemcial attacks being loaded and fired by men wearing red-beret topped camoflage uniforms consistent with the Sryian Republican Guard and military police, according to the Brown Moses Blog, a running catalogue of the weapons used in the Syrian conflict. The video purports to show the rockets being fired from the Daraya district of Damascus to the northeast of the Al-Mezzeh military airfield. While last week's chemical attacks occured at night and this video is clearly shot during the daytime, Daraya sits very close to Muadhamiya, one of the Damascus suburbs affected by last week's chemcial attack. (The weapons shown in the video could be a conventional version of the suspected chemical munitions.)
These mystery rockets have been documented for weeks by Brown Moses, who first pointed out that their uniform design and assembly made it unlikely they were homemade weapons built by the Syrian rebels. That they had to be from the arsenal of the Syrian military
SLUFAEs were 5 inch-wide, Zuni rockets with a 13.5 inch-wide, 100-pound, barrel-shaped warhead filled with explosive gas mounted on the front. The whole contraption was about 8-feet long. As you can see by the image above, the rear end of SLUFAE bears an uncanny resemblance to the weapons found in Syria. The front-ends of of the mystery rockets also appear to have been large, barrel-shaped warheads
SLUFAE Prototype Minefield Breaching System | Military-Today.com
www.military-today.com › Engineering Vehicles
he SLUFAE (Surface-Launched Unit, Fuel-Air Explosive) system is a self-propelled MLRS designed primarily for standoff demolition of minefields. The project ...
SLUFAE (Surface-Launched Unit, Fuel-Air Explosive) - YouTube
www.youtube.com/watch?v...
YouTubeFeb 6, 2010 - Uploaded by jaglavaksoldierSLUFAE (Surface-Launched Unit, Fuel-Air Explosive) was a mine clearing FAE system developed by the U.S ...- www.militaryfactory.com/armor/detail.asp?armor_id=157
Aug 22, 2012 - The SLU-FAE was an ill-fated attempt at producing a mine and obstacle-breaching system for the United States Marine Corps. The SLU-FAE ... - killerapps.foreignpolicy.com/.../were_syria_s_nerve_gas...
Foreign PolicyAug 28, 2013 - The Surface Launch Unit-Fuel Air Explosive or SLUFAE (shown below), is a 1970s-vintage American weapon designed to clear minefields.
The Syrian government has denied responsibility for the attacks and has blamed opposition groups, but has presented no credible evidence to back up its claims. Human Rights Watch and arms experts monitoring the use of weapons in Syria have not documented Syrian opposition forces to be in the possession of the 140mm and 330mm rockets used in the attack or their associated launchers.
from http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/related_material/330mm_chemrocket_diagram.pdf
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| http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eIrXubJAgE |
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This is what a normal 330mm rocket looks like with short folding fins at the rear. It's a 320mm Chinese WS-1 on which the Fahr-5 was based. It looks completely different from the "potato masher" rocket which has fixed fins inside a ring at the tail.
If the core is 120mm, this is what a 120mm grad rocket looks like
An Israeli police sapper removes the tube of a 120mm Grad rocket and places it in a truck for later inspection, 17 November 2012. The rocket exploded next to a private Israeli home in a small farming community near the coastal tow on Ashdod, and was fired by Palestinian militants inside the Gaza Strip. (Credit: EPA)Brown Moses seems to have best description and a name for it
http://brown-moses.blogspot.com/2013/09/detailed-diagrams-of-unidentified.html
, 15 September 2013
Detailed Diagrams Of The Unidentified Munitions Linked To Alleged Chemical Attacks in Damascus
Over the past few weeks I have been collected detailed photographs and measurements from activists in Damascus of the UMLACA (Unidentified Munitions Linked to Alleged Chemical Attacks), hoping to piece together what is might look like. Thanks to John Ramsay, who has used those images to put together the following diagrams of what we believe the munition may look like.
The following images show close up sections of the diagram, and related photographs
We have a very good idea of what the rocket section and warhead base looks like, but for obvious reasons, the dispersal charge and fuze are harder to be sure about. There's also some debate over the function of the two ports at the base of the warhead, but generally it's agreed that at least one of the holes is a fill hole, used to fill the munition with the liquid payload. These diagrams are a work in progress, and will be updated as more information becomes available.
Any media organisations requiring DXF cad files of this munition for 3D animation or other graphics can contact me by email at brownmoses@gmail.com
More posted on the subject of the August 21st attacks can be found here, and other posts on chemical weapons and Syria, including extremely informative interviews with chemical weapon specialists, can be found here.
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| Tail Section |
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| Warhead Base |
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| Warhead Base |
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| Warhead |
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| Possible Dispersal Charge Arrangement |
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| Possible Dispersal Charge Arrangement |
Any media organisations requiring DXF cad files of this munition for 3D animation or other graphics can contact me by email at brownmoses@gmail.com
More posted on the subject of the August 21st attacks can be found here, and other posts on chemical weapons and Syria, including extremely informative interviews with chemical weapon specialists, can be found here.
The rebels do use grad rockets
http://brown-moses.blogspot.com/2013/02/first-images-of-grad-rockets-used-by.html
Recently images have been posted online showing the use of the 122mm rockets fired by the BM-21 Grad being used by groups belonging to the Syrian armed opposition, including this photograph from Jabhat al-Nusra
Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BM-21_Grad
Hamas have used small man-portable single-tube launchers for rockets in attacks against Israel, designated 122 mm 9P132/BM-21-P.[16] The 122 mm Grad rockets used in Gaza have a range of about 40 km (25 mi), and can reach the Israeli towns of Ashdod, Beer-Sheva, Ofakim, Gedera, Kiryat Gat, Ashqelon, Sderot, Rehovot, Kiryat Malachi and Gan Yavne. The Islamic Jihad also published a clip claiming device mounted used as a multi-barrel rocket launcher on vehicle used for first time in Gaza[17]
The device looks a lot like the blue-barrel tipped device in a Syrian rebel video
VIDEO PROOF - Al Qaeda backed Syrian Rebels Used Chemical ...
a video uploaded on August 23, 2013, in which Free Syrian operatives threatened to launch chemical weapons:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSSfPQ8TvrU
Aug 27, 2013 - Uploaded by VAMPIRE KILLER 2016
VIDEO PROOF - Al Qaeda backed Syrian Rebels Used Chemical Weapons ... Syrian Terrorists Received ...
shoebat:
A day later, on August 24th, a video was uploaded and featured on facebook that purports to show Syrian rebels loading what very well may be a rocket armed with some sort of chemical agent. The tip of the rocket is armed with a light blue tank or canister that very well contains a nerve agent. At the end of this video, two separate launches of these rockets can be seen:
Video shows rebels launching chemical attacks, will Obama strike Syria anyway?
August 27, 2013
New video evidence has been presented that casts doubt on Assad's government being the ones who launched chemical attacks last week.
The video shows what appears to be the Free Syrian Army mounting a rocket containing the deadly Sarin gas.
An article posted by WND's Jerome Corsi yesterday allegedly shows it was U.S. allies inSyria that are to blame for the deaths of hundreds of civilians.
WND says with the help of Walid Shoebat, they have gathered the evidence "from various Middle Eastern sources that cast doubt on Obama administration claims the Assad government is responsible for last week’s attack."
There is a video, click here to see it, that was posted on WND allegedly shows the FSA targeting a bus that drives by. Another video posted on Facebook, click here to view it, showsrebels loading a blue canister onto a rocket, supposedly nerve gas, to be used against Assad's forces. Once attached it's fired off in the direction of the Syrian Army.
frin
http://www.emptywheel.net/2013/09/16/working-thread-un-chemical-weapon-report-on-sryia-released/
The UN has finally released its report (pdf) on the analysis of both human and environmental samples relating to the chemical weapon attack in the Ghouta area of Syria on August 21. The report finds unequivocal evidence of sarin in blood, urine and environmental samples.
A total of 36 primary victims and first responders who were exposed were interviewed. Sixteen of them were from Moadamiyah and twenty were from Zamalka. Seventy eight percent of them lost consciousness, 61% had difficulty breathing and 42% had blurred vision. Thirty four of the thirty six had blood samples taken (two refused) and 15 showing the most severe symptoms submitted urine samples. The materials were sent to two separate laboratories for analysis:
Rockets that could have delivered the chemical agent were found at some sites. At least one was capable of carrying up to 50 liters of liquid. Schematic of intact rocket:
The engine end was exposed at the impact site:
The warhead:
But of course, these inspections came on August 26 in Moadamiyah and August 28 and 29 in Zamalka, so 5 to 8 days passed between the attack and the analysis. The key point to keep in mind when considering the rocket evidence is this:
People had plenty of time to move things around before the UN inspectors came onto the site. The possibility that evidence has been manipulated cannot be ruled out.
My first impressions from the report are that it is without question that the people interviewed and who submitted samples were indeed exposed to sarin. How it was delivered is another question entirely. Rockets were found in the vicinity where people were exposed and environmental samples, including from the rockets themselves, showed evidence of sarin, but it is impossible to conclude the rockets definitely delivered the sarin. It is impossible to rule out sarin being put onto the rocket debris after impact.
I’ve only skimmed the report, please consider this a working thread and share any findings in comments.
share0share0
23 thoughts on “Working Thread: UN Chemical Weapon Report on Syria Released”
- Jim, did the reports go into any detail about the type of sarin used? Was it the military-grade rather than “kitchen” sarin?
Reply1 - I’m surprised by the condition of the rockets. The inside of the front base plate looks badly corroded, looking like rust. The tail fins of the motor section also looks corroded. The rocket as a whole looks highly weathered; my first impression was of something heated by a fire or explosion, but on second thought, that seemed unnecessary to simply leak out a gas. This raises a flag in my mind because any military ordinance would be painted and stored to avoid corrosion, not only to prevent misfires and duds, but just to keep up that orderly appearance the brass like to see.Reply2
- @OmAli: That isn’t clear. They mention finding sarin and sarin breakdown products in the final appendix, where get some of the details of the chemical analysis of environmental samples. They don’t describe the “other interesting chemicals found” in terms of why they are interesting. The text also vaugely refers to “stabilizers” without saying which chemical(s) they are referring to.Reply3
- As important is the question not just of how but by whom was it delivered. At the start of the Syrian Civil War, and right after Libya, there was a lot of discussion about chemical weapons going missing or being handed over to local commanders for use. Indeed as you noted Macy this was one of the original arguments for is becoming involved, keeping this out of the hands of the Jihadis.As I understand it the U.S. Intel data does not even guarantee that the weapons were fired by government troops let alone on Assad’s orders. Nor have I seen any such discussion from the U.N. report.Reply4
- @OmAli: But of course folks are going further in discussions with WaPoThe chief U.N. weapons inspector, Ake Sellstrom, told Russia’s U.N. envoy in response to a question at the Security Council meeting that the quality of the sarin used in the attack was “higher than that of the sarin used by Saddam Hussein’s program” in Iraq, Power said. “Sellstrom also stated that weapons obtained on the site of the scene of this monstrous crime were professionally made. He said that they bore none of the characteristics of improvised weapons.”But none of that analysis appears in the report itself, nor, as far as I can tell, does any data to support that conclusion.Reply5
- how hard would it be to launch one of these? it looks like it is about 4 feet long. have i got that right? any comparisons to the march 19th attack in aleppo and whether something similar was used in that attack?
i read over at moon of alabama – “The UN report on chemical stuff used in the Damascus suburb Ghouta on August 21 finds (pdf) that Sarin has been used which was probably distributed by unguided 140mm rockets.” “unguided” doesn’t imply a level of sophistication..
http://www.moonofalabama.org/2013/09/three-current-news-items-on-syria.html#commentsReply6 - @bell: Yeah, since it’s unguided, the rocket is simply aimed by controlling the direction the nose of the rocket faces and the amount the nose is elevated above horizontal. Then, it’s just Newtonian mechanics similar to freshman physics where the force of the rocket motor is working against gravity. Complicating factors for the calculation are windspeed and the frictional drag of the rocket. Unguided in this since means there is no course correction or homing once the rocket is in flight. The math also would get a bit fuzzier if the fuel doesn’t burn evenly. Also, with a rocket of this size, the weight of the fuel also complicates the math for predicting where the rocket will land.Reply7
- The projectiles whose images are shown here are in remarkable good condition for having been allegedly launched into the air, flying several miles, and burying itself in rubble. As noted above, they should have paint on them, probably in specific combinations of colors to designate (A) it’s a chemical weapon and (B) what the active agent is. All I see is rust and dirt.More to the point, chemical weapons (particularly artillery rockets like these are made to appear to be) contain a bursting charge – a couple pounds of high explosive – connected to a (mechanical) fuze that’s designed to set off the bursting charge. The planned procedure is that the rocket lands on the fuze, the fuze functions and sets off the bursting charge and then the bursting charge explodes and ruptures the tank full of chemical agent, dispersing it in all directions. Imagine, if you will, taping an M-80 firecracker to a can of soda – soda everywhere. There is often a second fuze, sometimes connected to the rocket motor, so as to set off the bursting charge in the event the first fuze doesn’t go off.The pictures we see here are of unexploded rockets buried in rubble. There are no evident ruptures and dents and no signs of a bursting charge explosion. Indeed, it’s open to question whether there was any fuze screwed into the fuze well.So, we’re left with a couple possibilities. One is that the rockets pictured were launched with fuzes, flew, landed, buried themselves in the ground, the fuzes didn’t function, and then have been lying there, half-buried. These are called “duds”. Duds are extremely dangerous. They are malfunctioning pieces of machinery. Anything, even just the passage of time, can result in the malfunction resolving itself and the remaining step(s) to explosion taking place. If the inspectors were mucking around duds, they’re candidates for the Darwin Awards. If the rocket were to explode, they would be subject to being splashed with large quantities of nerve agent when a pinhead’s worth is enough to kill.The next possibility is that there never was a fuze inserted, but the rocket was still launched. If that’s the case, then there is a strong possibility the launch was unauthorized. Sensible military organizations would impose controls on fuzes to prevent rogue personnel from setting off these weapons. But a launched rocket would show more damage than appears here. Going up and looking at a launched-and-landed chemical rocket would remain extremely dangerous because there’s a strong possibility any agent would leak.The next possibility is that there never was a fuze inserted and the rocket was not launched but instead was buried there manually. This would account for the apparent lack of damage. It would also account for the relative freedom of coming up and looking at the rocket which the pictures indicate. An undamaged rocket buried in the ground by hand would be highly unlikely to have leaked.All these possibilities so far assume the rocket was loaded with chemical agent if/when it was fired or buried in the ground. The general mode of constructing these weapons is to make them only strong enough to withstand the forces encountered in launch and powered and gliding flight, since the intent is for them to burst open on impact. So, the agent container is generally a simple can, relatively weak and lightly constructed. If there was no chemical agent in the rocket, i.e., it was empty, it would not have flown well and would have been far more likely to have bounced and skittered along the ground rather than burying itself in the ground.On the other hand, it’s possible the rocket was filled with something other than chemical agent. If the rocket had been filled with agent previously, someone could have emptied it and replaced the agent with something inert, like water. If the rocket was empty, and intended to be filled with agent prior to firing, then someone could have just as easily filled it with something inert and used the agent elsewhere.So, we have unpainted unexploded munitions half-buried in the ground which may never have been fired at all, which may or may not have fuzes in them, and which may or may not ever have had chemical agent in them.Reply8
- I agree about being very cautious with the report data. That said, the it’s nice to finally have some data. I was initially skeptical of the shadowy reports regarding chem rockets from Syrian bases, but I think the UN report firms that case up at bit.To me, it looked like the UN was pretty conservative with their ballistic data on two of the 5 impact sites (1 and 4). It looks like they were aware of the problem of after-event disturbance. I’ve plotted the resulting tracks herehttps://twitter.com/Casual_Obs/status/379684555835604992 and here:https://twitter.com/Casual_Obs/status/379685054387326976The tracks suggest the point of origin may well have been the sprawling mil. base West of the city.Reply9
- Jim – it is never appropriate to exploit a dubious event to talk about gun control, no more than it is for the USG to try to exploit dubiously-sourced CW attacks to start a war. Carney and the rest of the WH got the message from last week’s recalls in Colorado, loud and clear.
The one thing we know about today at the Navy Yard is that someone performed criminal acts with a weapon and some interest groups might try to persuade the USG to use it as a pretext to move against people who don’t commit crimes.Reply10 - @Casual Observer: Thanks for those. Very informative.Reply11
- @scribe: So we just dig more graves in silence, huh? Bullshit. I will never stop calling out the insanity around guns in this country.Reply12
- @Jim White:
Jim don’t take it out on Carney. it’s the fucking Repubican assholes and NRA dickheadsReply13 - @scribe: Since when is public discussion and honest political expression “exploitation”?Reply14
- @scribe: Actually, the report states that some of the munitions found were painted a light gray:The ordnance identified had the following characteristics:
Color: light gray painting
Markings:
1. Black numbers on the outside: 97-179
2. Engravings on the bottom ring of the engine: r If lU 4 2S – 6 7 – 179 K
[actual letters in #2 here are in what looks like cyrillic, but i can't duplicate, so see original - JK]
Dimensions:
Length – 630 mm
Width – 140 mmI agree with Jim and others, the scene was so compromised, that while apparently one can say that Sarin gas had been present, exactly how or from whom is difficult to determine.In any case, even if it were Assad sending Sarin gas, the fact remains that Western and Gulf state intervention has already made complicated the situation. We are watching the end-product of what happens after you eliminate the only actual progressive actors in the region (which was done by both Islamic and secular Arab forces, often in concert with the CIA), leaving the population to the tender mercies of those who either sell out to one or another imperialist state, or to those who are deluded in believing that national autarchy under a repressive, conservative regime represents a stable future.Reply15 - Jim @5“Power said”. Leaves a bad taste in my mouth, just typing that ….Thank you so much for following this so closely.Reply16
- Mahalo, Jim, for this post…! But, …Report on Sryia Released… Seriously…? ;-)Reply17
- 18
- @OmAli: That is what I am looking for. There is a chemical “tag”. I’m not a chemist, nor am I in anyway proficient, but I have seen and read up on the issue.I know the UN report has been released, but haven’t had time to review it. I’ve also read reports from last week where we learned that Europe sent Chem weapons to Syria rebels. Turkey is also involved, along with Saudi Arabia. The US has sent them TONS of machinery and weapons.I know Assad is an evil man. I just don’t see him trying to kill his own people and military while fighting off extremists and US-Saudi-EU backed rebels. That would be insanity!Reply19
- Jim,Looking forward to your next working post on this!Reply20
- One critically important aspect of this story that has received virtually no attention in the MSM is whether or not there is evidence of the use of military-grade CWs. Kerry, Obama and others have spouted propaganda in the form of “signatures of Sarin”, but in reality such talk muddies, rather than clarifies the waters.I know that it is less than ideal to use anonymous “expert” sources, but one such source appeared on a thread of another excellent blog soon after the attacks, and I found his insights to be compelling. I subsequently corroborated his basic opinions with someone I know in the field, so I’m going to re-post the original comments below. I would like very much to see someone challenge the USG on this issue, as if, as is suggested below, the chemical used was a relatively crude (and easily produced) type of gas, rather than military-grade (let alone Sarin), think of the doubt that would cast on the official claims.Ole Guy September 2, 2013 at 1:32 pm #Finally someone who gets it. Great article Golem. Being in the chemical field myself for over 30 years, this was not a nerve agent attack. I have posted this on many sites. This could be a chlorine gas that you or I could make in our homes with everyday cleaning products.Military grade nerve agent is deadly. One drop can kill 40 people. As soon as the videos were being posted online I knew this was a bogus flag to try and get us back in yet another war. There are actually two types of agent, persistent and non-persistent. No matter the agent used a nerve agent in a residential area would need to be decontaminated. All fabrics collected, bagged and hauled off.As soon as I watched parents and medical personnel without chemical protective gear handling corpses and treating casualties, I knew this was not a nerve agent. You see just touching a contaminated corpse or casualty can indeed and will kill you if you happen to touch contaminated clothing. Decontamination would take weeks in the residential area. No decontamination stations set up, no decontamination going on at all. What a farce. Now the world is finally waking up to the scheme.Can you even imagine the scale of decontamination to clear up this mess? I am glad to see some people actually see through the rhetoric and use critical thinking skills.Salute Golem and the commenters here!***Golem XIV September 2, 2013 at 2:19 pm #Thank you! I did not know about the length of time for decontamination. Very useful info.PLEASE tell us more of what you know!***Ole Guy September 2, 2013 at 9:31 pm #Golem I was not on the ground there. I will tell you this after running mock up situations with chemical weapons. The easiest way to describe it is when you spray paint something. Notice how the overspray, even though you are spraying an object gets all over the place? You spray an item in a box and the surrounding areas are covered in overspray. Maybe you have noticed the overspray on your clothing especially your trousers and your shoes.Dispensing a chemical agent works in the same manner. Nerve agent is insidious as it is percutaneous (absorbed thru the skin). Anyone that became a casualty or dies from the agent will indeed have their clothing contaminated with the agent. No one in their right mind would even think of touching the contaminated people without protective clothing and a gas mask. Notice in the posted videos you see people in the same area where the so-called attack happened walking around as if nothing happened.Medical personnel treating casualties, parents hugging their dead children, People moving the dead, none of them had any protective gear. Many people would become a casualty or worse be killed touching the clothing. Remember military grade nerve agent one drop can kill 40 people, one drop!Lets look at the two types of agents. A persistent agent is gooey and waxy designed to stick to everything and you have to use a physical scraper to remove it from yourself and your clothing and then decontaminate yourself. A non-persistent agent is not sticky and gooey but it does indeed contaminate fabrics an any type of material that can indeed absorb liquids.How Nerve agent works. Pin pointed eyes is one symptom. Nerve agent when dispensed smells like new mowed grass not chlorine. What nerve agent does is block the muscles ability to absorb the chemical the body produces to control muscle functions. (I could add a long chemical term but trying to keep it simple stupid as I prefer the KISS method.) Every muscle in our body uses two chemical to contract and relax. Nerve agents block the muscle receptors to receive the chemicals to control your muscles. Real casualties if still alive would lose the ability to control their muscles and would be shaking all over as they lose control of muscle function. Sorta, kinda like having a high temperature and involuntarily shivering. Nerve agent is even worse.Decontamination is a real pain. Chemical specialists strip you of your clothing and bag and tag it. They look for any skin contamination and decontaminate that immediately. Once cleared your in for a cold shower. After the shower your in for another body inspection to make sure your clean. Your then issued new clean clothing and gas mask. Your old gas mask has its filters and harness removed and is then decontaminated, installed in a new mask carrier and made ready to issue another person or back to you. Most gas mask filters only last 12 hours or so. Depending on the protective suit. 8 to 12 hours and they must then go through decontamination and get issued another suit.All areas where the contamination or the weapons was used would indeed be cordoned off and no one would be allowed into the area. Has anyone even done that? NO.Now try to imagine going from house to house decontaminating them. Removing all fabrics and anything else that can absorb or have overspray and you will see this is a daunting task that no one seems to be doing.This appears to me to either be a mass poisoning or chlorine gas. Chlorine gas will kill you in the correct concentration as well but is not used in the military much anymore as it is pretty much useless on military. Read some cleaning supply labels sometime and it will tell you not to mix certain chemicals as it will indeed create the chlorine gas. People around the world have these accidents all the time as they do not read labels.Reply21
- The Onion gets it right….DAMASCUS—Citing the ongoing international debate over his alleged use of chemical weapons, Syrian president Bashar al-Assad reportedly subjected himself to a small dosage of sarin gas Sunday “just to see what it feels like.” “I figured it wouldn’t hurt to try a tiny little bit—but holy shit, was I wrong,” said Assad, who gingerly inhaled from a tube containing the lethal nerve agent and then proceeded to vomit into a nearby sink; experience severe eye pain, confusion, and partial paralysis; and then briefly lose consciousness. “I must’ve sniffed that stuff for, like, three seconds tops, but any more and I probably would have lost control of my entire central nervous system. I mean, can you imagine what a high dose of sarin would do to someone? Especially a child? Jesus.” Assad then abruptly told reporters he needed to end the interview
| Armament |
The Fadjr-5 has a total of four 333 mm diameter rocket launcher tubes in one layer with launcher elevation being from 0 to +57º and with a traverse of 45º left and right. The launcher tubes are mounted on a turntable with the manually operated elevating and traversing mechanism on the left side.
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| Rocket |
The Fadjr-5 uses a solid propellant 333 mm unguided rocket with fins that unfold after launch and the rockets can be launched with an ambient temperature of between -40 to +50ºC. This Fadjr-5 rocket has a maximum range of 75 km with a claimed CEP (circular error of probability) of 4% of range. The rocket is 6.485 m long and has a launch weight of 915 kg with the High Explosive (HE) warhead being fitted with an impact or proximity fuze but other types of warhead could be fitted including sub-munition and HE incendiary,HE-FRAG and smoke. . The Fadjr-5 system has a rate of fire of one rocket every four or eight seconds and replacement 333 mm Fadjr-5 rockets are packed one to a crate which weighs 1.21 tonnes. The rockets can be launched singly or in ripple fire and once the launcher has expended its rockets it would normally deploy to another position when new rockets would be loaded using a crane.
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this is what a Fahr-5 launcher normally looks like
Fajr-5 Artillery:
Fajr-3 and Fajr-5 MIRV Missiles:
Lebanon parade
This is the hamas version with folding fins
Catalog shows folding fins
Iran based it on unsuccessful China WS-1 design which is 320mm rocket, nearly 330mm
WS-1 WeiShi [Guardian]
The WeiShi [literally "Guardian", (WS) family of the multiple launch rocket systems were developed by Sichuan Aerospace Industry Corporation (SCAIC, also known as Base 062) in Chengdu, Sichuan Province. The WeiShi series includes the 302mm WS-1 (100km range), the improved 302mm WS-1B (180km range), the 122mm WS-1E (40km), and the latest 400mm WS-2 (200km range). The WS-1 series weapon system did not enter PLA service, and has not received any orders from foreign customers.
- The Chinese system WS-1 fires four 320mm caliber rockets to a range of up to 80 km. One of the largest unguided rockets worldwide, the launcher is mounted on a standard 6x6 truck as are the associated support vehicles. A digital computer system provides fire direction and positioning to give the system an accuracy of 1% of the range to the target. The WS-1 long-range 302mm artillery rocket is 4.7 meters in length, weighs approx. 524 kg and is provided with 150kg of cluster munitions to take out a variety of targets such as fortifications, infrastructure, armored vehicles, etc. The WS-1 powered by a solid rocket motor flies at Mach 4.2 and has a minimum range of 40 kilometers. A single artillery system, which utilizes an MF-4 6x6 all-terrain truck, can get ready-to-fire within 20 minutes.
- SCAIC continued the WS-1 development in the 1990s and introduced the improved WS-1B in the late 1990s. The WS-1B is an ultra long-range version introduced in the late 1990s. The WS-1B rocket can be equipped with a variety of warheads weighing 150 kg. Its 302mm rockets can engage targets at ranges between 60 and 180 kilometers flying at Mach 5.2 powered by a solid rocket motor. These rockets weigh 725 kg carrying a 150 kg warhead and are 6.37 meters in length. The WS-1B utilizes the 4-tube HF-4B 6x6 launch truck. The WS-1B mainly targeted the foreign customers and was actively marketed by Beijing-based China National Precision Machinery Corporation (CPMIEC). Again the weapon system failed to attract any buyer. Compared to the WS-1, the WS-1B features an increased range of 180km
http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/land/row/ws-1.htm
WS-1
The Chinese system WS-1 fires four 320mm caliber rockets to a range of up to 80 km. One of the largest unguided rockets worldwide, the launcher is mounted on a standard 6x6 truck as are the associated support vehicles. A digital computer system provides fire direction and positioning to give the system an accuracy of 1% of the range to the target.Specifications | |
| Diameter | 320mm |
| Length | 14.5 feet |
| Weight | 1,114 lbs |
| Range | 50 miles |
| Warhead | cluster munition |
This is what a normal 330mm rocket looks like with short folding fins at the rear. It looks completely different from the "potato masher" rocket which has fixed fins inside a ring at the tail.
Sources and Resources
JANES
CBRN Assessment
Syrian military allegedly used makeshift rockets in chemical attack
29 August 2013
The remnants of the one of the rockets that was allegedly used in the chemical attack in the Damascus area on 21 August. The warhead casing has been blown off, but the damage caused is inconsistent with the detonation of a larger high explosive charge. Source: PA Photos
There has been speculation that Syria's military used an unusual and crudely manufactured rocket in the apparent chemical weapons (CWs) attack carried out in the Damascus area on 21 August.
The remnants of this type of rocket have been seen several times in videos and photographs published on the internet earlier this year, but there has been a surge in the amount of imagery featuring the munition in the wake of 21 August incident.
The weapons are broadly similar in layout to what the US military calls improvised rocket-assisted mortars (IRAMs),in that they consist of a comparatively slender rocket motor fitted to a warhead of a far larger calibre.
,rt Report
http://rt.com/news/warheads-original-or-improvised-942/
Warheads used in Syria chemical attack ‘could be original or improvised’ – UN
The UN investigation concluded chemical weapons were used on a relatively large scale in the Ghouta area of Damascus on August 21. But, the report is unclear whether the weapons used belonged to Assad’s or rebel forces.
The UN mission concluded that there was “clear and convincing evidence that surface-to-surface rockets containing the nerve agent sarin were used in the Ein Tarma, Moadamiyah and Zamalka [neighborhoods] in the Ghouta area of Damascus.”
At the same time, the report remains unclear in terms of whom those surface-to-surface rockets belonged to – rebels or government forces.
The 38-page report was compiled by a UN expert team, which inspected Damascus at the end of last month, and collected over 30 samples from victims and the environment.
The UN team noted that they had limited time to conduct the investigation and cautions that evidence might have been “moved” or even “manipulated”, with many others visiting the sites before and during the investigation
UN was able to use ‘two out of five sites’ for trajectory evidence
Of the five impact sites investigated by the UN, only two were able to provide the “likely trajectories” of the rockets.
Evidence recovered from the first site called Moadamiyah showed that the munitions used “matches one of the variants of the [Soviet] M14 artillery rocket”. The UN noted that the warhead (not seen at the impact site) could have been “original or improvised.”
An impact point at the site was identified as a crater and “the intact rocket motor” was found coincident to it, along with small metal fragments “scattered outside of the crater”.
"There was no indication of damage around the crater having been caused by a blast or explosives,” the report stated, adding that this meant that the warhead was not at the scene of the final impact.
The report explains: “The rocket initially impacted the corner of the second floor of an adjacent apartment building to the east, with either warhead functioning or shearing off from the body … and the motor section having sufficient kinetic energy to continue along its path to its terminal location.”
The weapon was described in the report as having “light gray paint”, black numbers “97-179” on the side, and Cyrillic engravings on the bottom ring of the engine.
“The engine had 10 jet nozzles ordered in a circle at the end of the rocket with a metal electrical contact plate in the middle.”
Evidence recovered from the fourth site identified as Ein Tarma revealed that the weapon used matched a 330 mm caliber, artillery rocket, which had features “consisted with that of an unguided rocket.”
The UN experts suggested that based on the “orientation and impact craters” and other damage in the area, the rockets were fired from an unspecified area to the northwest.
The rocket engine consisted of “six stabilizer fins”, which were “equally arranged in a circle and stabilized with a metal ring.” One rocket had a number 153 sprayed in the middle of an engine tube.
The engine tube attached to the warhead had a “front metal plate with a fuse thread in the center.”
The rocket warhead appeared to have gone off prior to impacting the building, releasing its contents before going through the structure to its final location.
International reaction to the report has been mixed with Russia’s UN representative says the newly unveiled report on the chemical attack of August 21 offers no “bulletproof data or conclusions” on who ordered it.
In contrast, the US and UK say the study confirms the regime was behind the attack.
Comments (14)
Hanonymouse 17.09.2013 20:29
David Hilton 17.09.2013 18:52
http://www.pressherald.com/news/nationworld/report-unusual-rockets-found_2013-09-17.html
U.N. finds unusual rockets in Syria
U.N. inspectors conclude that weapons of a unique Syrian design were used to carry a deadly sarin gas.
By JOBY WARRICK/The Washington Post
Just before leaving Syria late last month, U.N. weapons inspectors discovered an odd-looking projectile sticking out of the dirt near the spot where hundreds of Syrians died Aug. 21. Experts who studied the device would call it a "trash can on a rocket," citing its long fuselage and fat warhead capable of carrying 15 gallons of poison.
The reference to the rocket's discovery would take up only a few lines in Monday's highly technical U.N. report confirming the use of lethal sarin gas against Syrian civilians. But the new details about one of the weapons allegedly used in the attack came closer than ever to pinning the blame on the Syrian government, diplomats and weapons experts said.
41-page U.N. report concluded that much of the sarin used in the attack was hurled east of Damascus in unusually shaped, 330mm artillery rockets, similar to the one found protruding from the soil in the Zamalka suburb. The finding is significant, weapons experts say, because the rockets appear to be of a unique Syrian design, different from any of the shells and warheads associated with other producers of chemical arms.
"The U.N. report provides solid confirmation as to the two types of rockets used in the attack, and its evidence provides even greater proof that the government was responsible," said Peter Bouckaert, emergencies program director at Human Rights Watch, which last week issued a study that also pointed to the rockets as vital clues linking the Syrian regime to the attack.
...Chemical warheads typically contain only a small amount of explosives -- enough to disperse, but not incinerate, their toxic contents -- and several of the rockets were relatively intact when U.N. investigators toured the affected neighborhoods last month.
...Researchers who have studied the weapons used during the Syrian conflict confirmed that the 330mm rockets have been used rarely, and always by government forces.Backtracks
http://derstandard.at/1379291126213/Ziemlich-sicher-dass-Regime-fuer-Chemiewaffeneinsatz-verantwortlich-ist?seite=2
On the link you will see a video in which Assad's Guard (these are the types running around there with red berets) fires exactly one of these projectiles. On the red truck and the rocket is seen in the foreground is an Iranian 330mm launcher. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y ... r_embedded Here one sees the projectile after the impact.http://ninjapundit.blogspot.de/2013/09/s ... rhead.html
Syrian 330mm Trash Can On Stick Chemical Rocket Ninjapundit Military
(not the filler port). I assume that this mystery component was removed from the rear port of the dud warhead and placed on the table prior to them removing the warhead from the motor. The guy in the video seems to be describing the mystery component, a translation would be nice. I have already described "generally" this component in other post so I wont go over that anymore.
1. The reason the mystery component in photo 2 of 13 looks different than all the other photos of the mystery component is because it was a dud. Also, notice the black tube on the table to the right of the mystery component. I believe that black tube is part of the mystery component outer assembly.
2. If the dud mystery component was installed in the nose of the referenced dud warhead it would be extremely damaged from impact, I can't even find a scratch on it.
3. Photo 3 of 13 shows the dud mystery component laying next to the dud warhead and this may be an attempt to show the components relative orientation to the warhead when its is installed in the port.
This may be challenged by those used to more orthodox solutions, but this thing isn't going at supersonic speed and they might even get away with a sonic transducer of some sort for the proximity fuse. (Small tube with little holes in.)
Orthodox solution would be a doppler-radar fuse, as the Americans fit even to 60mm mortar rounds. But a 60mm mortar round approaches the ground faster than I think this thing does, so the doppler effect might not be strong enough.
A radar altimeter fuse, as on some gravity-dropped bombs, would be a bit too large and, more especially, expensive for this.
Some kind of industrial sonic or capacitive transducer, available off the shelf, not listed as an arms component, not needing very much space or very much electrical power, would also be compatible with an approach speed that might not be very much above 300 fps.
Good observation about the sleeve on the table. That attaches the long rod which goes half way up the barrel to the non-filling port, and the cables come out of the 7 holes. It assures that no HE can come out and holds up the long detonator.
The mystery is how do those cables get attached to the nose fuze? Would they go up in the space between the motor and the tube? There is no evidence of that. I think the long detonator has an impact sensor, and after it is armed, it will go off upon impact.
The main thing would be making sure everything stayed sealed, including the electrical connections.