"The Rise of Home-Made And Makeshift Weapons In War Zones" Topic

"Makeshift weapons are becoming more dangerous with highly sophisticated, commercially available kit.

THE "hell cannons" of Aleppo pack a deadly punch. Cobbled together in Syria by militant groups fighting to overthrow the autocratic regime of Bashar al-Assad, they use an explosive charge at the bottom of a pipe to hurl a propane cylinder crammed with 40kg or more of explosives and shrapnel. A finned tail welded to the cylinder shields it from the launch blast and provides stability in flight. The Ahrar al-Sham brigade reckon the cannons can hit targets 1.5km away. Fuses detonate the cylinder upon impact or, using a timer, after it punches into a building. This is all the better to demolish several floors with a single strike…."

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Amicalement
Armand

As long as the "target" is the earth itself. I can't imagine there is much accuracy in that thing

Aimed using the power of prayer.

Makeshift weapons get abandoned as soon as military weaponry is available. It is done out of desperation.

Imagine lighting the fuse on a make-shift propane mortar. What is the expected survivability of that position?

Not necessarily as useless as they may appear.
The IRA re-used empty gas canisters for their Mk-15 mortars quite successfully without any problems to themselves. You don't 'light the fuse' you fired it electrically from a safe distance.

As for accuracy you'd be surprised.

You can die just as easily from an obsidian axe or a sling-thrown stone as from a bullet.

I don't think it's stupid. Desperate times call for desperate measures, but it has got to be a low survivability position.

The mortars reported on in the article were launched by lit fuse…

Steampunk meets Star Trek meets reality.

(smile)

Amicalement
Armand