By Stijn Mitzer and Joost Oliemans

On the 5th of October 2014, the Free Syrian Army captured the highly secretive, joint, Russian-Syrian Центр С - المركز س 'Center C or Center S' SIGINT (Signals Intelligence) facility (logo on top) operated by the Russian Osnaz GRU radio electronic intelligence agency (logo on the right) and the Syrian intelligence agencies (logo on the left).

 

In a series of photos coming out of Tripoli, Libya, it appears that forces belonging to Libya's National Salvation Government (more commonly known as Libya Dawn) are now using highly sophisticated guided missile weaponry in the ground-to-ground role. The missile used was taken from a weapon depot near Ghardabiya airbase, near Sirte. The missile, a Kh-29T, normally uses TV-guidance to reach its intended target. In Libyan service, the Kh-29T was solely used on the Su-24 delivered from the Soviet Union in the late 80s.

 

By Joost Oliemans and Stijn Mitzer

 

Even though a lot of categories of equipment of the Korean People's Army are known quite well due to satellite imagery and propaganda videos, the rare aspect of the Korean People's Navy (KPN) is often overlooked. Considering the scarcity of footage and high-quality satellite footage of KPN naval ships, this is hardly surprising. However, as is illustrated by the sheer amount of ships being produced over the years, the Korean People's Navy still does play an important role in the current day North Korean military.

Several new developments in North Korean armaments can be witnessed amongst the recent flow of propaganda released by Pyongyang after Kim Jong Un's ascension to power. One such development is what appears to be a new magazine model for the North Korean copy of the AK-74, the Type 88. This new magazine uses a staggered helix design, which allows for a high number of 5.45 x 39 mm cartridges to be carried without the notable increases in size and unwieldiness that characterise many other high capacity magazines.