10 Improvised Weapons Made By Syrian Rebels

Necessity is the mother of destruction.

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Syrian rebels have developed all sorts of crazy weapons to fight against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. They have fashioned weapons from PlayStation controllers, rope, fertilizer, and the explosive material of unexploded bombs. That taste for DIY weaponry could end–or at least slow down–now that the European Union is ending an arms embargo that stanched the flow of weapons to Syrian rebels. The lifted embargo is expected to give rebels access to better weapons. Here, we look back at 10 of the Syrian rebels’ most intriguing home-grown weapons.

Pipe bomb
Union of Aleppo
Bomb slingshot
Ash Sert
Makeshift Tank
Russia Today
The Hell Cannon
Ahrar Al-Shamal Battalions, via Brown Moses
Grenade Launcher
Brigade Ghouta, via Brown Moses
Catapults
Shabab Alhuda Troops
A Partial Tank
Omawi News, via Brown Moses
Mortar Truck
Military.com
Machine Gun Robot
best photo slide
A Wireless Machine Gun
FreeMySyria1
 
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Kelsey D. Atherton Avatar

Kelsey D. Atherton

Contributor, Tech

Kelsey D. Atherton is a military technology journalist who has contributed to Popular Science since 2013. He covers uncrewed robotics and other drones, communications systems, the nuclear enterprise, and the technologies that go into planning, waging, and mitigating war.