Beginning to Trace the Weapons of Bashar al-Assad. C.J.Chivers at what he does best.

[tabatha]

If the photographs and witness accounts traveling out of Syria in recent days are authentic, then forces loyal to Bashar al-Assad have been firing 107-millimeter ground-to-ground rockets into populated areas. One of the duds said to be fired is in the frame at the top of this post. Its warhead is clearly visible, though its fuze appears to be missing.

These weapons are high-explosive, area-coverage weapons, typically fired from towed mobile launchers. By any reasonable standard, firing barrages of them into populated neighborhoods would constitute an indiscriminate attack. The use of this particular weapon in the conflict should not surprise anyone who has followed the war or even casually observed the Syrian military over the years. Its presence matches some of the witness accounts, aligns with the photographic and video record, and matches as well the history of Syrian arms procurement, with its long emphasis on weapons compatible with those of the former Eastern bloc.

...

As the violence intensifies, the questions will become more presssing. It will not be enough to know that a given weapon was manufactured in a given year in a given place during the Cold War. That kind of information will be interesting, at least to people like me. Much more important and of much broader use will be identifying exactly who provided it to Syria, and when. Imagine this: It would be one thing to show that a 107-millimeter rocket that hit a house in which civilians died was made in China. But what if it was shipped to Syria 25 years ago? It would be another to discover that it was shipped to Syria in recent months, after the bloody crackdown was under way.

http://cjchivers.com/post/17354339792/beginning-to-trace-the-weapons-of-bashar

[TheWraith]

1. 107mm rockets are completely "dumbfire" weapons.

They're unguided, with absolutely no way to control them other than aiming carefully. They're essentially like giant, rocket-powered mortar rounds, designed to harass large armies by spreading destruction over a wide area.

Syria is one of the known operators of Russian-made "Type 63" 107mm rockets.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

2. They are also shot at Israel

Those are the ones which reach towards Ashkelon.

I also don't see anyone asking where those were made and when.

[ellisonz]

3. Further proof making more weapons is just not the answer.

Check out "Somali Pirate Gun Locker: An Oddball Assault Rifle, at Sea" - http://atwar.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/25/somali-pirate-gun-locker-an-oddball-assault-rifle-at-sea/

People who think the answer to our problems are more arms for more people are