These days Turkish-designed naval vessels ships operate with navies all around the globe as Turkey is rapidly on the way towards attaining near self-sufficiency in the naval sector. As part of this ambitious strive, Turkish shipyards have an ever expanding portfolio of naval ships on offer. When in 2013 Turkey launched a tender for a new class of fast attack craft (FAC) to replace the ones currently in Turkish Navy service, it could make a selection out of close to 30 domestic designs, showing that the scope of the country's naval design craze can hardly be overstated. [1] [2]

By Stijn Mitzer and Joost Oliemans
  

That Turkish-made unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAVs) and Israeli-designed loitering munitions enabled Azerbaijan its striking victory during the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh War is well established. Less well known is that in addition to Bayraktar TB2 UCAVs and Israeli-designed loitering munitions, Azerbaijan operates a large fleet of Israeli-made surveillance UAVs that by the virtue of their capabilities rank amongst the most advanced in the world. The synergy between this extensive arsenal of UAVs, loitering munitions and UCAVs has meanwhile propelled Azerbaijan to the world's top in terms of unmanned aerial capabilities.

Yurdumuzu dünyanın en mamur ve en medeni memleketleri seviyesine çıkaracağız - We shall raise our country to the level of the most prosperous and civilized nations of the world. (By Mustafa Kemal Atatürk)

The deployment of Emirati unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAVs) on the side of the Ethiopian government has been speculated on ever since the beginning of conflict with the rebellious Tigray Region in November 2020. Nonetheless, the oft-repeated claim that several Chinese-made Wing Loong UCAVs operated out of Assab air base in Eritrea to undertake combat missions over Tigray has never been supported by evidence that points towards such a deployment. However, new information received by the authors' from an aircraft mechanic working at Harar Media air base appears to finally disclose the presence of Emirati Wing Loong Is UCAVs over Ethiopia. [1]

 

Many of our readers are certain to be familiar with the French tradition of adorning their armoured fighting vehicles (AFVs) with the names and dates of important battles fought by the French Armed Forces. Nowadays, this tradition is mainly showcased during parades, but the markings are often retained even after the conclusion of the parade, sometimes even seen during combat deployments of the vehicles.

Much has been written and discussed about the quality of Chinese-made unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). While some argue that Chinese drones have proven cost-effective alternatives to American UAVs, others have pointed out the drones' high crash rates and reliability issues when compared to their Israeli, U.S. and Turkish counterparts. Despite these issues, Chinese UAVs remain highly popular on the market today. This is likely not the least due to the fact that there are few strings attached to Chinese arms sales, enabling countries like the United Arab Emirates to deploy its Chinese-made UCAVs over areas where it wouldn't be allowed to operate its U.S.-produced drones.

Armenia and Azerbaijan on Tuesday the 16th of November 2021 clashed along their border a year after the war over Nagorno-Karabakh came to an uneasy peace, trading accusations regarding which side initiating the clashes. Armenia admitted that thirteen of its soldiers had been captured by Azerbaijan, that 18 were still missing and that six Armenian soldiers were killed in action during the latest clashes, adding that its army had also lost control of two military positions. [1] [2] [3] [4] On its part, Armenia claimed the destruction of five Azerbaijani AFVs and five vehicles. [5] According to Armenian Prime Minister Pashinyan, Azeri forces succeeded in taking control of a total of 41 square kilometers of Armenian territory since May 2021. [6]

Throughout its modern history Armenia has frequently come up with ingenious weapons designs in an attempt to provide its military with new combat capabilities at relatively little cost. One such project, a remote weapon system designed for use in trenches, has already been covered in an earlier article on this website. Another relatively little-known project entailed the design of a short-range thermobaric multiple rocket launcher (MRL) that utilises twelve RPG-7 launchers installed on a towed-trailer or truck.

Much like the remote weapon station, this contraption too was likely designed with trench warfare against Azerbaijani forces around Nagorno-Karabakh in mind. Known as the N-2, the MRL was designed and produced by the Garni-ler arms company likely somewhere during the 1990s or 2000s. [1] The launcher uses twelve TBG-7V thermobaric rockets (or its Armenian copy the TB-1), although any warhead that can be fired from a regular RPG-7 can be used in theory. The twelve rockets are fired remotely either in single shots or several rockets at a time.

 

A number of attacks on Turkish patrols in northern Syria have brought Turkey and YPG forces to the brink of war. In response to the latest attack, which saw the death of one Turkish soldier, President Erdogan vowed to clear northern Syria from the YPG. [1] In order to achieve this, YPG (Yekîneyên Parastina Gel – People's Protection Units, itself the primary faction in the Syrian Democratic Forces alliance) forces would either have to leave the border region voluntarily or take up arms and fight the Free Syrian Army and Turkish military. In the latter case, the YPG's armour is undoubtedly set to play a role as the faction's primary fire-support platforms. This article attempts to catalogue the YPG's fleet of AFVs and other heavy weaponry and explain how its armoured force came to be.

 

 

A video uploaded on the 26th of October 2021 depicts a meanwhile all too familiar sight for those following armed conflicts: A Bayraktar TB2 striking an unsuspecting foe on the ground. [1] The difference to past drone strikes carried out by the TB2 is that this one took place in Eastern Ukraine, the first strike to have occurred here since the delivery of TB2s to Ukraine in 2019. Less novel was the target of the drone strike: A 122mm D-30 howitzer operated by separatist forces. The successful destruction of the howitzer marked the 56th D-30 to have been destroyed by TB2s over Nagorno-Karabakh, Syria and now Ukraine. [2]

 

The goal of this list is to comprehensively catalogue Mali's current and past inventory of (armoured fighting) vehicles and heavy weaponry. Historically a major recipient of Soviet military aid, frequent arms deliveries in the 1970s and 1980s turned Mali into one of the strongest militaries in western Africa, operating advanced equipment such as dedicated tank destroyers, S-125 SAM systems and MiG-21bis jet fighters. The 1990s and 2000s saw the Malian Army retiring much of this equipment amid a changed security situation and resulting decrease in its defence expenditure.

 

Like most other African militaries, the Malian Army's combat effectiveness in the late 2000s and early 2010s was extremely low, a fact that prevented it from dealing with the 2012 Tuareg insurgency and the subsequent rise of Al-Qaeda, ultimately forcing France to intervene to prevent a hostile takeover of Mali and throwing the rest of the region into turmoil. In the years since, the Malian military has been rebuild with the help of the European Union (EU), with Soviet heavy weaponry making place for modern MRAPs and infantry mobility vehicles. 

Nonetheless, Mali continues to operate equipment like the T-54 and PT-76, albeit in much small numbers than before. Interestingly, the Malian Army appears to have returned several other Soviet-era AFVs back to operational condition in recent years, although these appear to spend most of their time collecting dust in barracks with little training being undertaken as they are of little use in fighting the ongoing insurgency. Nonetheless, the ultimate result is an exotic inventory of equipment that could surprise many seasoned analyst for its sheer diversity.