Syrian Rebels Build Tank With Gamepad Controller

[Andy Chalk]

Syrian Rebels Build Tank With Gamepad Controller

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Syrian rebels have built an armored car sporting a machine gun controlled by an old-time PlayStation gamepad.

The Sham II is a home-made armored car designed and built by the Al-Ansar brigade of rebels operating just outside the Syrian city of Aleppo. It's built on an automobile chassis but is fully enclosed in 2.5 centimeter armor plating, with four external cameras, three at the front and one at the rear, providing visibility to the driver. Its sting comes by way of a 7.62mm machine gun, apparently a Russian PKM, in a top-mounted turret with a camera of its own, controlled by an old-fashioned PlayStation controller.

The vehicle is operated by a crew of two, driver and gunner, and took more than a month to design and build at a cost roughly $10,000, not including the gun. The armor is reportedly heavy enough to stop a 23mm shell, but won't hold up against tank fire or an RPG. The PS1 controller, which appears to actually be an aftermarket device, can be seen moving the turret left and right and even zooming in and out, although it doesn't actually fire in the video.

It is, on the surface, a testament to both the desperation and the ingenuity of Syrian rebels, but is it real? The name, Sham II, might suggest to English ears that it's a hoax, but it's actually a reference to ash-Shām, the ancient Arabic name for Syria. And while taking such a fundamentally combat-unworthy machine into battle might strike you or me as suicidal, desperate times sometimes really do call for desperate measures.

The Sham II is expected to be deployed in the region of Aleppo as part of the Saad Benmoaz battalion of the Al-Ansar brigade.

Sources: Russia Today [http://www.afp.com/fr/news/topstories/754908/]



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[Coach Morrison]

This really doesn't help the argument that video games don't cause violence.

But being serious I hope this actually helps the rebels.

 

[wrightguy0]

if anything it'll be a great vehicle for post apocalypse

 

[1337mokro]

Fight the good fight. The UN most certainly isn't going to unless you miraculously discover oil somewhere in Syria.

Now this car would not stand a chance against a tank it is certainly a step upwards to giving the rebels some form of anti-infantry vehicles that can maneuver through city streets.

 

[mad825]

From the looks of things, that's going to shit in combat. Aiming must be a major ***** the way in which the camera is mounted along the iron sight.

 

[Xan Krieger]

ShamWOW is more like it, also why the 2? There was another one of these? All that said though now war is even more like a video game.

 

[NinjaSocks333]

That is the most ghetto APC i have ever seen. In fact, its the ONLY ghetto APC i have ever seen. i hope they tested that armor before the strapped it on.

 

[Hero in a half shell]

Holy crap, Someone made the Badonkadonk for actual warfare!

I'll bet those Amazon bombing reviewers are quaking in their three wolf t-shirts right now!

 

[synobal]

Just like playing Call of Duty: Duct Tape Ops.

 

[Bob_Marley42]

While it may "stop" a 23mm round, that is to say prevent it from penetrating, if it doesn't have effective spall liners everyone inside is still going to get very dead very quickly when it comes under fire. But if it is proof against small arms, good for them.

 

[Siege_TF]

At least the Badonkadonk has some angling on it. The Sham II's vertical surfaces make me cringe.

 

[thiosk]

I hope for their sake they keep it for street fighting and stay away from any enemy vehicles.

 

[J Tyran]

While it may "stop" a 23mm round, that is to say prevent it from penetrating, if it doesn't have effective spall liners everyone inside is still going to get very dead very quickly when it comes under fire. But if it is proof against small arms, good for them.

I call bullshit on the whole stopping a 23mm cannon round, not unless they are at least 600m away and it hits the plate at an angle at 75° or more. Under those conditions it likely wont penetrate but as you correctly point out unless it has an inner spall liner the interior will be filled with sparks and shrapnel anyway.

 

[Owen Robertson]

This really doesn't help the argument that video games don't cause violence.

But being serious I hope this actually helps the rebels.

I was just thinking that. Or maybe it's proof that Will Smith Causes violence?! Like in Men in Black II? Ahh nevermind...


OT: That thing looks like it'll confound the enemy long enough for a sniper to shoot them in the confounded face.

 

[Owen Robertson]

Fight the good fight. The UN most certainly isn't going to unless you miraculously discover oil somewhere in Syria.

Now this car would not stand a chance against a tank it is certainly a step upwards to giving the rebels some form of anti-infantry vehicles that can maneuver through city streets.

You are accusing the U.N. of the United Sates crimes. The U.N. has no army, only a peacekeeping force, and even then it's one or more countries armies under the command of someone with orders to not fight. While the United Nations is a farce and utterly useless, I will not stand by while you accuse them for being shit because of something they didn't do. Shit on the United States for the Middle East like the rest of the world unfairly does. Don't shit on the U.N. for anything other than Kosovo or Rwanda.

 

[1337mokro]

Fight the good fight. The UN most certainly isn't going to unless you miraculously discover oil somewhere in Syria.

Now this car would not stand a chance against a tank it is certainly a step upwards to giving the rebels some form of anti-infantry vehicles that can maneuver through city streets.

You are accusing the U.N. of the United Sates crimes. The U.N. has no army, only a peacekeeping force, and even then it's one or more countries armies under the command of someone with orders to not fight. While the United Nations is a farce and utterly useless, I will not stand by while you accuse them for being shit because of something they didn't do. Shit on the United States for the Middle East like the rest of the world unfairly does. Don't shit on the U.N. for anything other than Kosovo or Rwanda.

I blame the UN for being a dictatorship of Russia, China, France, America and the UK, based on outdated ancient legislation based on the outcome of WW2. An organization that supposedly represents all the nations on the world and does so to further peace and prosperity should NOT be rules by 5 states who can decide whenever they want to veto military action against dictators. Either everyone has a right to veto, or nobody has a right to veto.

See Israel as a prime subject for Abuse of veto by America. In Syria however the case is slightly different as of course the Russian and Chinese dictatorships are scared that one day they to might be toppled if they continue to support these rebellions against dictatorships. So yes China and Russia veto to safe their own hides, America does it because Assad is their buddy, much like Mubarak and many other dictators who help them keep the status quo.