#Iraq

Created during the Iran-Iraq War, the Tabuk Sniper is one of those oddballs of historical firearms. Although referred to as a “Sniper” rifle, it really never was one to begin with. Chambered in 7.62x39mm, the rifle was intended as a squad or platoon support weapon to compliment the RPK within Saddam’s army. It is essentially based on the Yugo M76 but not chambered in 8mm Mauser, built of course by Yugoslavian engineers cooperating with Iraq.

Essentially Yugoslavian 7.62x39mm M70B1 rifles, the Tabuk series of small arms were produced in Iraq, with the help of Yugoslavian engineers in the late 1970s, just in time for the Iran-Iraq conflict that endured for an agonizing decade afterward. There were different iterations of the Tabuk, the standard rifle with wood stock, an underfolder, an RPK variant, a “Krink” version with a 12-inch barrel, and finally the Tabuk Sniper, but we’ll leave that topic for next week when we can devote an entire episode to it.

Like many Vets these days, Steve Russell was very frustrated that he or any of the soldiers under his command couldn’t actually bring back captured rifles from their campaigns overseas, unlike previous generations of American infantrymen. So if you can’t bring back rifles, maybe the next best step is to make them? This is exactly what Steve did with Two River Arms, a company in Oklahoma City that makes excellent copies of Iraqi Tabuks from Yugo M72 parts kits, complete with Iraqi markings in Arabic and all. The niche that this company fills is extremely unique and small for that matter, very unlike most any Kalashnikov producing companies in the AK business. They are uniquely tied into the conflicts of our era that directly connects the small arms from those conflicts.

A recent photograph has been posted on th e Kurdish forum Kurdistan Sky Scrapers depicting a Peshmerga fighter with a Beretta Defense Technology 5.56x45mm NATO ARX 160A2 with a 12 inch barrel instead of a standard 16 inch. The rifle sports factory sights, and has an Aimpoint CompM3 (or at least an imitation) mounted on the 12 o’clock picatinny rail. Attached to the rifle is a black two point sling. The Peshmerga fighter does not have the standard issue 30 round STANG magazine inserted, although supplies of such magazines should be close at hand due to the overwhelming use of M16A2s in the region, coming through Iraqi markets and official U.S. supply lines.

The war in Syria and Iraq has seen the development of a whole range of scratchbuilt and improvised weapons that are as ingenious as they are destructive. Recently, a kind of serially-produced rocket launcher has come to light as part of Da’ish (ISIS) propaganda, which appears to demonstrate a capability to serially produce clandestine weapons of a fairly high degree of sophistication. The weapon, a multipurpose missile launcher with a high explosive warhead, is unassuming and appears roughly equivalent to the US AT4, though cruder. It is a simple tube with almost no fittings or sights, a carrying/support handle, and a safety pin securing a fold-out firing grip.

The State Department and Department of Defense have announced a planned sale of almost $300 million of defense materials through the Republic of Iraq to the Kurdistan Regional Government’s Ministry of Peshmerga. The article specifically states that the deal is to equip two infantry battalions and two supporting artillery battalions of Peshmerga troops. Although this isn’t a U.S. Army T/O complete Brigade Combat Team (Or U.S. Marine equivalent Battalion Landing Team), the equipment numbers marry up perfectly with similar amounts in the U.S. Army, practically stripping this Peshmerga unit of anything other than Infantry and supporting artillery assets. Case in point is the amount of Colt M16A4s (Colt mentioned as being one of the suppliers) being ordered with a number of 4,400 rifles. A T/O complete U.S. Army Brigade Combat Team has an authorized strength of 4,413 soldiers, essentially on the dot of what the Peshmerga one will be. In addition the M16A4s, the planned order also specifies 46 .50 BMG M2s, and 186 M240B medium machine guns as far as small arms are concerned. I’m sure there are handgun allotments, possibly Glock 19s thrown in but too insignificant to be mentioned in the article. Of course, a number of armored vehicles and 105mm howitzers are within the bounds of the sale as well.

In a recent announcement, the U.S. Government has released a 7 million dollar award modification notice for Colt Defense’s over 35 million dollar contract to provide M4 and M4A1s in the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program. This modification notice specifically mentions the countries of Georgia, Lebanon, Iraq, Slovakia, Pakistan, and Bahrain.This latest modification tacks on another 7 million dollars for the additional countries, specifically mentioning the number of 8,730 M4/M4A1 carbines. The numbers bring this to around $800 per carbine, but we assume the actual cost per rifle is much lower with the extra cost being taken on by other equipment.

Much of the recent discourse regarding the future of infantry combat has centered around the long engagement distances encountered during the Afghan campaign, and the rise of designated marksmen as key elements in the infantry squad. However, arguably more important than the long-range ambushes of the Taliban were the urban engagements in both that campaign and the operations in Iraq. It seems the highest echelons of the US Army agree, as Chief of Staff General Mark Milley commented recently about the future urbanization of the battlefield (via Military.com):

Defense Blog has published evidence that Iraqi security forces are using a counter drone gun to aid in the fight against the so-called Islamic State’s many hobby drones that are either acting as forward observers for the terrorist group or weaponized themselves by dropping grenades upon unsuspecting Iraqi forces from the air. Every month since the attack on Mosul began we’ve seen these drone attacks skyrocket compared to what they were previously.

A number of AR15s that have been turning up in Iraq appear to be counterfeit products but are in the markets and treated as legitimate production versions of the rifle companies the producers are seeking to counterfeit. Some of them are very small differences, only being distinguished by the wrong roll mark or incorrect engraving. Others are blatantly obvious through the combination of several companies on a single lower. As an example, the largest indication that we are seeing is an AR15 with a 14.5 inch barrel, Burst selector, and with both Colt markings above the serial number and FN Herstal markings above the selector switch. Although both companies have been making M4s and M4A1s for the U.S. Military, neither of these companies have ever actually combined forces and produced a joint rifle. We’ll post the glaring examples we have seen so far down below. There are far more examples that are borderline counterfeit, but I don’t want to post them because I just don’t have the in-depth Colt roll mark knowledge to be able to discern whether or not it is genuine.

Recent social media activity has indicated at least one Chinese 7.62x39mm Type 74 for sale through the online gun markets of Baghdad. At a casual first glance the light machine gun appears to be an RPK. But upon closer inspection one will notice the oddly shaped carry handle, the SKS-like bolt, uncovered upper receiver, and pistol grip. In fact the Type 81 series of small arms is much more of a modern SKS in an assault rifle issued role than a Chinese take on the Kalashnikov. For more information on the Type 81 and other Chinese LMG designs, Small Arms Defense Journal has an excellent article published on the subject.

This image was captured by U.S. Army soldiers on post outside Mosul, Iraq and ran in Stripes. A seemingly very uninteresting image apart from the Drone Defender propped up against the concrete wall. Due to Daesh’s increasingly lethal use of drones not just for surveillance/forward observation capabilities but also dropping lethal payloads on Iraqi forces, it appears the the U.S. Army has taken this threat very seriously and is deploying purchased Drone Defenders, mounted on an AR lower receiver. I suspect that warfare is slowly going to take a huge step in the drone direction, not just for conventional usage, but also with irregular asymmetrical usage by such terrorist and insurgent groups worldwide. This is mostly due to the ease of purchase and manufacturing of drones, which also ties into the world wide proliferation of cheaper and higher quality electronic equipment. Daesh’s use of drones would have been unheard of among previous insurgent groups a decade ago, but not it is of enough concern that the U.S. Army is employing these Drone Defenders among soldiers standing post.

I challenge you to watch the above video, and tell me the majority of the tactics, gear, people, and location couldn’t have been easily mistaken for a large training center in the United States, such as Gunsite, Blackwater. The Erbil Training Center (ETC) claims to be the largest training facility within Iraq, and autonomous Kurdistan (northern Iraq). ETC boosts numerous short and long distance ranges, a CQB maneuver house, rappel tower, in addition to a wide variety of other establishments and shooting facilities. The Center appears to be much more specialized within the PSD and special operations capacity training than strict infantry material, or what the majority of the Peshmerga is engaged in when it comes to fighting Daesh. Indeed, with previous videos of Kurdish “SF” groups, I can recognize some of the background at this facility.

Converting handguns into a carbine like form is nothing new, going back at least to the Civil War with various attempts at installing a stock and longer barrel on revolvers in use at the time. Command Arms Accessories has been brining to market their Roni kit for several years now, but is there any actual use of it outside of recreational conversions? Examples from Iraq and India have shown the conversion kit in active usage by some soldiers within the Iraqi Army, and the National Socialist Council of Nagaland, a separatist group in India. I can’t find the photograph that showed an Iraqi soldier with the Roni, but instead found one of a soldier in an Iraqi uniform shooting it at a shooting range. In addition I’ve shown a number of Ronis that have appeared on the Iraqi small arms market, some outfitted to Glock 17s, and others to what appears to be a Walther P99 handgun.

Al-Hashd Al-Sha’abi translates to “Popular Mobilization Forces” and is an Iraqi Government sponsored umbrella group composed of people’s militia, to augment Iraqi Military forces in the fight against the so called Islamic State. Photographs of the remote firing device first came out in September of this year, and were spread on a number of Iranian and French news sources. The Iranian connection to many of the Shi’a militias in Al-Hashd Al-Sha’abi is very strong, and is possibly why the photographs are showing up overwhelmingly in Iranian sources.