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Syrian Rebels’ Latest Innovation: A Homemade Tank with a Video Game Console Remote!

Dec. 10, 2012 7:16am Sharona Schwartz

Syrian Rebels’ Latest Innovation: Homemade Tank Made of Rusty Metal Box with Video Game Console Remote

Syrian rebels’ homemade tank, the “Sham II” (Screenshot from RT)

Meet the latest innovation from Syria’s cash-strapped rebels.

Using a video game console remote, television screens and a large rusty metal box, opposition forces have engineered a rudimentary homemade tank they hope will help them conquer President Bashar Assad’s last strongholds.

An AFP reporter met the designer of the “100 percent made in Syria” contraption constructed from a car chassis as its base. Mahmud Abud of the Al-Ansar rebel brigade says it took him a month and $10,000 to design and assemble the vehicle he’s calling the Sham II.

AFP reports:

The fully-enclosed vehicle made from light steel is about four meters (yards) in length and two meters across, mounted with a 7.62 mm machine-gun controlled from inside the cabin.

The vehicle has five cameras: three at the front, one in the back and another attached to the gun.

The crew inside the cabin are fully protected, with the driver maneuvering the vehicle by watching a screen which displays video from the cameras.

The gunner, seated next to the driver, can activate the machine-gun by watching another screen and using a control stick equipped with push buttons.

The tank uses a gaming console remote to aim its gun (Screenshot from RT)

Adam Clark Estes of the Atlantic Wire describes the Sham II as “sort of rough around the edges, but it’s got impressive guts.” He writes:

Inside, it kind of looks like a man cave. A couple of flat screen TVs are mounted on opposite walls. The driver sits in front of one, controlling the vehicle with a steering wheel, and the gunner sits at the other, aiming the machine gun with a Playstation controller.

Designer Abud believes the tank can withstand up to 23mm cannon fire, but not rocket-propelled grenades or Syrian military tank fire. An earlier model rebel tank called the Sham I protected the driver from enemy fire but – unlike this enhanced version – other fighters in the vehicle were left exposed.

Rebels hope to deploy the Sham II soon to support their forces in Aleppo.

An interesting note about the name rebels chose for their new hardware. “Sham” is a name historically associated with the geographical region known as “Greater Syria.”

Middle East scholar Daniel Pipes wrote in his 1992 book Greater Syria: The History of an Ambition that until 1920, “Syria” referred to an area much larger than the Syrian Arab Republic of Bashar Assad (and prior to that of his late father Hafez Assad.) Pipes explained that region:

…stretched from the borders of Anatolia to those of Egypt, from the edge of Iraq to the Mediterranean Sea. In terms of today’s states, the Syria of old comprised Syria, Lebanon, Israel, and Jordan, plus the Gaza Strip and Alexandretta. This larger land, known since 1920 as Greater Syria, is what they dream of reclaiming.

There’s continued evidence that extremist Islamist fighters, many from outside Syria, and Al Qaeda members are among the rebel forces. Some have expressed their desire to one day conquer Israel and Europe after they’re done with Assad. Add to this the name of the new tank – the Sham II – which leaves us with the question: Is “Greater Syria” including Lebanon, Israel and Jordan what they’re really after?

Watch video from Russia Today profiling the new fighting machine:

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Comments (69)

DZ-015
Posted on December 10, 2012 at 11:53am
Now they need to paint it up like the Deathmobile from “Animal House.” Ramming Speed!

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- angry nerd
  Posted on December 10, 2012 at 4:14pm
  Syrian rednecks version of shock and awe
  
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- Mutiny
  Posted on December 10, 2012 at 5:27pm
  It looks like a dumpster on wheels.
  
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- antisocialist
  Posted on December 10, 2012 at 6:44pm
  Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell no!!
  6 years of college, down the tubes.
  
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- Wolfgang the Gray
  Posted on December 10, 2012 at 9:18pm
  They are going to have a heck of a time changing tires when someone shoots them out. Also, the front may be angled to deflect rounds, but the slab sides look vertical so just wait for the thing to pass and shoot through the sides. Also don’t forget, IEDs work for both sides. I’m interested to see how long this thing lasts on the battlefield.
  
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702TruthSeeker
Posted on December 10, 2012 at 11:51am
LMAO!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syrian_Army#Equipment

the only way this will get escalated is if they start killing their own and blame the government (i know, crazy conspiracy theory, it’s never happened before)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_flag

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erroneous
Posted on December 10, 2012 at 11:25am
I wouldn’t call myself a ballistics expert but i did work as a technologist in a ballistic door company. I can tell you that even 1/4″ mild steel will stop a 7.62 round at about 50 yards. Granted, it can only hold up to a single shot, and 1/2 mild steel will stop a .308 round.

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- Hodmokrin
  Posted on December 10, 2012 at 12:03pm
  Not full metal jacket…. I have several handgun targets that I shot with my ak from 100 yds, and it fully penetrated each time. It was carbon steel 1/4″, homemade targets.
  
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Southerner01
Posted on December 10, 2012 at 10:54am
I could take that thing out with a can of paint. Just slosh it over the cameras and they’re blind as bats. Good luck driving or shooting with remote TV screens then.

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- strewth_cobber
  Posted on December 10, 2012 at 3:01pm
  And a couple of old, well-placed fence palings with some rusty nails spiking out. Who needs modern technology when you can combat with medieval innovation?
  
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- strewth_cobber
  Posted on December 12, 2012 at 3:06am
  Maybe, a few inverted speed bumps (moat).
  
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BasketFullOfPuppies
Posted on December 10, 2012 at 10:34am
Bunch of armchair ballistics experts around here, when they don’t even know the thickness or type of steel that was used. Things like this don’t have to be pretty, to be effective, and I suspect that they know a lot more about the fire they are taking, than do those here.

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- teaisstronger
  Posted on December 10, 2012 at 10:57am
  THIS IS WHAT GLEN BECK NEEDS FOR HIS TOUR OF DETROIT
  
  Beck should have someone obtain the design plans for this vehicle and post them on his web site. I would like to build one too. I fear what is coming to the new Obamavict America. Half of Americans want to turn my neighborhood into a Detroit neighborhood. Freedom through heavily armed family cars..
  
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- Silvertruth
  Posted on December 10, 2012 at 11:06am
  That appears to be about half inch steel, even at full ballistic steel (and given the interior picture shows no additional composite armors) it wouldn’t stop a high caliber hunting rifle. It certainly will not stand up to a 23mm cannon. A .50 caliber FMJ round would turn that thing into Swiss Cheese.
  
  At best it’s an armored car, similar to WWI vehicles of the same armor class. It’s likely mild steel given the $10K pricetag. It should bounce assault rifle rounds fired from the same plane at the sloped frontal section. If any of the rounds are AP, it may still penetrate. A full size .30 caliber round in AP has a good chance of going through the flat sections.
  
  It’s a death trap to modern weapons, but it’ll keep handgun and soft ammos out. It might give the gunner enough time to nail a bad guy but I wouldn’t volunteer to be in it. It would be easier to capture a real government tank…
  
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- Southerner01
  Posted on December 10, 2012 at 1:48pm
  Tesisstronger,
  
  Design plans? You really think they had any plan other than “weld some steel into a rough tank shape”.
  
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resme
Posted on December 10, 2012 at 10:23am
LOL, 8-bit tank.

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- grimmster
  Posted on December 10, 2012 at 1:47pm
  “8 bit tank” for 2 bit people……
  
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bhosux
Posted on December 10, 2012 at 9:59am
This is the look of the future Obama Military after budget cuts. I can’t wait to see a future pic of this thing when it is full of bullet holes and smoking in a ditch. Dirka Dirka!

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- resme
  Posted on December 10, 2012 at 10:23am
  Congress passed the military cuts. Obama signed it into-law.
  
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mastice
Posted on December 10, 2012 at 9:56am
$10,000 to build?

Wow. They could have taken a couple of old rusty cars/trucks, welded armor on them, and mounted the same weapon system… for a lot less money. (and they would probably work better)

Might as well paint it red with a giant yellow bulls eye on the side. The fools who operate this thing are sitting ducks.

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- 1TrueOne55
  Posted on December 10, 2012 at 2:57pm
  Did you even read. it is a car/truck with steel plates welded to it… And as far as calling it a “TANK” is a stretch, I would loosely call it an armored death trap. Because one grenade under the belly of the vehicle would destroy it.
  I give them KUDOS for doing something, but with todays ballistics on military arms its more of a rabbit to shoot to draw fire.
  
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Skee
Posted on December 10, 2012 at 9:15am
Syrian gocery getter.
Put my kids on the video controler.
They’ll wipe out Assad’s forces in a week.

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- MCON29
  Posted on December 10, 2012 at 9:55am
  Thats funny. I was just thinking the same thing. One of those and a Drone and its over.
  
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cosmic dogma
Posted on December 10, 2012 at 9:03am
Middle Eastern “Shake and Bake”.

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- 702TruthSeeker
  Posted on December 10, 2012 at 12:08pm
  obama’s moooslim brotherhood budies! every country in the middle east fought the moooslim brotherhood in the ’80s and now we are forcing them to do it again. how quickly we forget… oh wait, who trained bin laden in the 80s? who’s giving the moooslim brotherhood rebels guns all over the middle east? maybe we’ve been on the wrong side the whole time
  
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TROONORTH
Posted on December 10, 2012 at 9:00am
Now why did I think “habachi” as soon as I saw it?

The Germans were taught all about sloping armour during the last war. They took the trick from the Russians and turned out arguably the best tank of that war; the Panther. God help the poor guys caught in this moving target. But maybe the theory is that the enemy will laugh themselves to death upon seeing it deployed. Our famous Germans referred to the Sherman as a ‘Ronson’ because it ‘always lit up on the first strike.’ That remark seems even more appropriate here.

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Gregory_Adams
Posted on December 10, 2012 at 8:59am
It’s a metal coffin. A real missile will penetrate it and boom.

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- GuruMeditation
  Posted on December 10, 2012 at 10:02am
  I would bet modest AR15 rounds would pierce it with little effort.
  
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- goahead.makemyday
  Posted on December 10, 2012 at 10:11am
  Looks like at least an inch of “steel” armor, an AR-15 or AK probably wouldn’t penetrate. Anything more probably will, besides a coordinated ambush with a squad of soldiers can take out all cameras and force them to open up to see. Once that happens just take out tires and toss in a grenade, the machine gun cant depress enough for targets along its side. Although it’s easier to just RPG it between the tires.
  
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- GuruMeditation
  Posted on December 10, 2012 at 1:13pm
  Regular FMJ .223 have no problem going through a 1/2 inch of steel.
  
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goahead.makemyday
Posted on December 10, 2012 at 8:35am
Desperation is the mother of intuition. Why con’t people here have a crazy idea, make it real, and then be successful? Oh wait I remember why, over regulation by a federal government that has crossed its limit so far back they can’t see it anymore. The greatest tool a man has for suppression of others is a government.

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Slowman101
Posted on December 10, 2012 at 8:25am
Hmmmmmmmm. I doubt all the rebels are so called “freedom fighters.” I bet they have a good share of Islamic extremists in there as well. As for their little tank being able to withstand 23 mm cannon fire, I seriously doubt it will. I am willing to bet some good ol’ .50 caliber armor piercing rounds will go right through it. While Assad is a monster, I bet after he is gone down the road what replaces him won’t be a lot better in the end. Look at Egypt. More trouble coming.

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- Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
  Posted on December 10, 2012 at 8:38am
  It’s design reminds me of the ‘tanks’ built among the Mexican drug factions for their wars.
  
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- Frederick_Douglass_Republican
  Posted on December 10, 2012 at 8:47am
  They sure aren’t freedom fighters. Once they topple Syria Islam will have a great location to launch attacks into Israel thats all.
  A 50 cal with AP projectiles will make Swiss cheese of that coffin on wheels. The ubiquitous RPG will make a toaster oven out of it.
  
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- goahead.makemyday
  Posted on December 10, 2012 at 10:16am
  RPG between the tires will flip it or just blow it up. If it flips then just wait and show them your fondness for Pineapple.
  
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- Rothbardian_in_the_Cleve
  Posted on December 10, 2012 at 11:11am
  I’d bet 7.62×51 API would cut right through that. Don’t even need the .50. Now the cool thing about it is that it is cheap (relatively) and if they could somehow get a mass of them then it could be interesting. One of these is a joke. 100? That would be formidable in some sense. When it comes to armored warfare there is no substitute for mobility, speed, and offensive capability. Modern weaponry is just too powerful for the concept of the behemoth. I move faster than you and I kill you first. That’s the recipe.
  
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Kupo
Posted on December 10, 2012 at 8:18am
And who says that video games have no practical applications?

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KidCharlemagne
Posted on December 10, 2012 at 8:10am
“Meet the latest innovation from Syria’s cash-strapped rebels.”
===========

Apparently the rebels don’t believe that they are strapped for cash:

——————-
“Our financial support is greater than other groups, and our faith makes us more effective fighters,” said Mahmoud, explaining why the group had grown so quickly. He said the financial support came from individual donors, not directly from any government.

The mujahedeen groups also appear to have clearer structures than the military councils, whose leadership is sometimes less than obvious as newer defectors of higher rank demand control from less senior officers who’ve been fighting against Assad longer.

Car bombings have also increasingly killed civilians in Damascus neighborhoods sympathetic to the government. The first operation Mahmoud’s group supported was a suicide bombing by a Libyan man against an army base north of here.
Dec. 2, 2012: “Al Qaida-linked group Syria rebels once denied now key to anti-Assad victories”

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dublinthewagons
Posted on December 10, 2012 at 8:07am
Couldn’t General Motors furnish them with Chevy Volts. They could ram the enemy and set them on fire.

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dublinthewagons
Posted on December 10, 2012 at 8:06am
SHAM WOW. Built to withstand a 23 mm rock being thrown @ 100 yards by a 12 year old Muslim child.

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- Oneirishman
  Posted on December 10, 2012 at 3:17pm
  Priceless! Sham Wow LOL
  
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sandlakebob
Posted on December 10, 2012 at 7:52am
Thanks a lot Blaze guys ! Now my son wants one of these for Christmas ……………

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jcizarter
Posted on December 10, 2012 at 7:51am
“Cash strapped rebels” too bad the USA does not keep these rebels in guns, oh wait, we do! Another thing we are paying for. The “rebels” aka Al Qaeda!

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ZAP
Posted on December 10, 2012 at 7:48am
They are over looking their resources.AN ARMORED CAMEL would work much better….

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ResistSocialism
Posted on December 10, 2012 at 7:42am
A radical Islam tank

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RJJinGadsden
Posted on December 10, 2012 at 7:36am
Bwahahahahahahaha! Nice slab sided bullet magnet. I really have to wonder if it will stop a 7.62X39 round. And, the name makes me think of Woolly Bully.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZJiGu6Gz8E

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- RepubliCorp
  Posted on December 10, 2012 at 8:36am
  The spalling would kill the people inside even if stopped a bullet
  
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TRILO
Posted on December 10, 2012 at 7:34am
And we are to believe that a bunch of your run of the mill “rebels” came up with this idea? More like CIA operatives from the US are behind this. Let us not forget the information that the “rebels” were testing WMD’s on animals and killing unarmed prisoners. I thought it was only the Assad regime that we needed to worry about?

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ArmedAndReallyPissed
Posted on December 10, 2012 at 7:27am
Pretty hi-tech for a bunch of stone throwers. Gee, they surely didn’t get any outside help did they ?

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- RepubliCorp
  Posted on December 10, 2012 at 8:30am
  nerve underestimate the enemy
  
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- goahead.makemyday
  Posted on December 10, 2012 at 10:23am
  Never underestimate a fully prepared opponent, tactics can overcome bravery, it is a dead man who rushes in, half the battle is fought before the first shot, “INCOMING!” All great things to consider before a battle.
  
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