Posts tagged missiles

February 20, 2013

New MANPADS Sightings in Syria

Arms spotters today noticed the appearance of what looks like the Chinese FN-6 series of heat-seeking shoulder fired missile in Syria. The system, which appears complete, was in the hands of an anti-government fighter. Another sign that the MANPADSs threat to the Syrian Air Force escalates, and that the regional security worries grow. For links and hat-tips to those who keep an eye out for these things, go here for the Brown Moses fast-post. For more background, try there or there.

Filed under syria manpads war missiles missile

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November 16, 2012

Missiles pound Gaza neighbourhoods

BBC cameraman reflects on strikes which killed his infant son as other Palestinians face similar attacks.

Among Gazans, fear of a full-scale ground invasion is replaced with periods of optimism [Safa Joudeh/Al Jazeera]

Gaza City - Gaza’s usually bustling streets are almost completely deserted, as a series of explosions rock the city, punctuated by the distant swish of rockets being launched from various locations across the Strip.

Hamas security forces, whose presence is usually intensified during a state of alert, were nowhere to be seen during recent Israeli attacks, and policemen have abandoned their posts in all but a few areas.

Outside his three-story apartment building in Tel el-Hawa, a residential neighbourhood ravaged by Israel in its 2008-09 offensive against Gaza, Operation Cast Lead, Ammar El Banna, inspected the shattered windows and dented body of his car.

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August 17, 2012

Syrian rebels step up efforts to get anti-aircraft missiles

U.S. Army soldiers with a Stinger missile launcher.

ALEPPO, Syria - Syrian rebels are redoubling their efforts to acquire portable anti-aircraft missiles following government airstrikes on cities and towns in the north of the country.

In the latest such strike, a Syrian Air Force jet bombed the rebel-held town of Azaz near the Turkish border, killing at least 50 people and wounding more than 100.

Rebel commanders and activists say their buyers are now scouring the arms black markets in the region to get the shoulder-fired missiles that can counter the government airstrikes.

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December 16, 2011

The hunt for Libyan missiles: 5,000-plus secured so far, official says

By LEE FERRAN | Dec. 12, 2011

American and Libyan explosive disposal teams have rounded up more than 5,000 powerful shoulder-fired missiles that went missing in the chaos of the Libyan uprising and “thousands more” have already been destroyed in previous NATO bombing runs, a top U.S. official said over the weekend.

Andrew Shapiro, assistant secretary of state for political and military affairs, made the assertion Sunday during a one-day visit to Libya during which he witnessed the safe detonation of dozens of the weapons.

The U.S. State Department planned to put 50 weapon specialist teams on the ground in Libya and to invest at least $10 million in its race to secure as many of the shoulder-fired missiles, called MANPADS, as possible can before they can fall into the hands of terrorist groups. Though Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi had an estimated 20,000 missiles before the uprising began, a State Department official told ABC News today the teams on the ground are “still working to assess” how many stray missiles could still be out there.

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September 28, 2011

Libya: Thousands of Surface-to-Air Missiles Unaccounted For

The White House announced today it planned to expand a program to secure and destroy Libya’s huge stockpile of dangerous surface-to-air missiles, following an ABC News report that large numbers of them continue to be stolen from unguarded military warehouses.

Currently the U.S. State Department has one official on the ground in Libya, as well as five contractors who specialize in “explosive ordinance disposal”, all working with the rebel Transitional National Council to find the looted missiles, White House spokesperson Jay Carney told reporters.