'Craft-produced weapons pose a challenge to arms control efforts. The fourth panel of the Small Arms Survey 2020 online forum ‘Taking stock of action on the illicit small arms trade’ hosted a discussion on research findings on craft weapons, measures to address the problem, results of such actions, and recommendations for moving forward...'
'Ukraine has a grenade problem. In recent years, thousands of the inexpensive, easy-to-use weapons have found their way into the hands of criminals and other unauthorized end-users throughout the country. The wayward grenades are part of a broader problem of illicit proliferation of small arms, light weapons, and their ammunition that has plagued Ukraine since Russian-backed separatists launched their uprising in 2014.
'About half an hour before their shift was due to end, on 18 November 2005, Police Constable Sharon Beshenivsky and her colleague Police Constable Teresa Millburn responded to reports of an activated panic alarm at a travel agency in Bradford, West Yorkshire. As the two walked into the store, PC Beshenivsky was shot and killed at point-blank range.
'Small-calibre Ammunition in Libya: An Update', a new online Dispatch from the Security Assessment in North Africa (SANA) project, examines a 21 examples of small-calibre ammunition documented in Libya in 2011, 2012, and 2013, building on the results documented in Working Paper 16, The Headstamp Trail: An Assessment of Small-calibre Ammunition Found in Libya.
After Kalashnikov-pattern rifles, Fusil Automatique Léger (FAL) rifles were among the most frequently sighted firearms during the 2011 armed conflict in Libya.
The FAL rifle was originally designed and manufactured at the Fabrique Nationale d’Armes de Guerre Herstal (FN Herstal), in Belgium, and was dubbed ‘the right arm of the free world’ during the cold war. Since its release in 1954 it has undergone several modifications and was adopted by a number of countries, some of which also manufactured it under licence.
Arms and ammunition are evidence. Many weapons carry marks that, combined with their physical characteristics, reveal important information about them, including their manufacturer, age, and origin. This information, in turn, provides vital clues about the sources and flows of weapons in the area in which they were found.
Self-loading rifles were first issued in military service in 1896 and remain the primary infantry weapon for all modern military forces. They are durable weapons, with examples produced in the 1930s and 1940s still documented in modern conflict zones. Recent research suggests that some 175 million self-loading service rifles have been produced to date. This figure does not include civilian-owned rifles and is very likely an underestimate.
Emergent ammunition technologies are likely to prove key in future firearms designs. Emergent cartridge case technologies, the rise of the ‘general-purpose’ calibre, and other nascent technologies will affect the way in which firearms are designed, produced, managed in service, tactically employed, maintained, and sustained.
Recoilless Weapons—a Research Note from the Small Arms Survey—describes the technical features of this light weapon system and provides a brief history of its use and development.
A new guide offering practical advice on recording the identification characteristics of small arms and light weapons will help to ensure that all essential data is recorded accurately, so that a specialist may make a conclusive identification.