13-05-2016, 10:53
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חבר מתאריך: 13.11.04
הודעות: 16,823
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A New MANPADS Appears in Syria: The “QW MANPADS”/Misagh-1
https://www.bellingcat.com/news/men.../05/10/draft-1/
Syria is a hotbed of weapons proliferation. While a variety of weapon systems have been proliferated in Syria, MANPADS proliferation in particular is a significant concern for the international community. These systems are user-friendly, easy to transport and capable of taking down civilian aircraft. It’s clear the presence of MANPADS in unstable countries like Syria weakens international security. By far, the majority of MANPADS proliferated in Syria are simply captured from the Syrian government stores by non-state actors. However, there have been transfers of MANPADS into Syria by foreign governments in the past. The appearance of Chinese FN-6 MANPADS with rebels in Syria was linked to Sudan, and the appearance of the HT-16PGJ MANPADS in Syria can be blamed on North Korea.
On March 27, 2016, a former Liwa al-Tawheed fighter in Aleppo Governorate uploaded a photo with three QW (Unkown Variant)/Misagh-1 MANPADS tubes (Misagh-1 is the Iranian copy of the QW-1). The fighter confirmed that they captured these systems from the Syrian government. While it is possible that he was lying to throw us off, for the purpose of this article we shall assume he was truthful. Given this assumption the most likely source for these MANPADS is none other than Iran.
Given the close relationship between Iran and Syria, it would not be surprising if Iran transferred the system to the Syrian government. Iran has attempted to proliferate the QW/Misagh-1 system to non-state actors in the past. Iran transferred the QW/Misagh-1 to the Iraqi Shia militia Kata’ib Hezbollah during the American occupation of Iraq. While it is technically possible that Iraqi Shia militias took the system into Syria, it is not logical as there is no hostile air force in Syria for Shia militias to engage.
It is also possible that Iran simply bought the QW from China and transferred the system to Syria. The line between the Misagh-1 and QW is unclear and it is quite easy to mistake on system as the other. It is unclear if the Misagh-1 is at all different from the QW-1 in capabilities as well. Ultimately, more than just open source intelligence is needed to get to the bottom of this.
While MANPADS proliferation in Syria has been an ongoing concern for some time, the proliferation of yet another MANPADS variant into the hands of non-state actors should be a concern for the international community. While the author of this post does not have the resources to further investigate this topic, we are happy to work with journalists or the intelligence community to investigate this matter further. |
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