Dark Arsenal
The new Generation of weapons that ISIS is using to wage war.
01Bomblets
In 2017, ISIS ramped up its use of grenade-sized bombs that can be strapped to small hobbyist drones and dropped on unsuspecting targets. These “bomblets” are custom-made, likely using injection molding, and they can also be thrown like a hand grenade or shot out of the business end of an AK-47.
02Mortars and Mortar Tubes
ISIS engineers are repurposing steel pipes, believed to have once been oil pipes, and fashioning them into tubes to fire off explosive shells known as mortars. However, since most existing mortars are either too big or too small to fit snugly inside these pipes, ISIS has started making its own using clay molds. These ISIS-designed shells are exactly 119.5 mm in diameter—a perfect fit for the ISIS-designed mortar tubes.
03Isis-Modified Rockets
Rocket-propelled grenades like PG-7s and PG-9s have long been used by militaries around the world, but ISIS engineers take these weapons apart and reuse the diamond-shaped warheads to weaponize their own line of customized rockets. The new munitions come in three different types that vary in range from a few hundred feet to nearly half a mile, according to Spleeters. They’re tricked out with new propellant charges and stabilizing fins that can be folded down so the rockets can be launched from a tube.
04Isis-Designed Rockets
ISIS’ network of munitions factories have produced two main types of rockets: a smaller rocket about 2.5 feet in length and a longer one measuring almost 6 feet. These products are made from scratch using a combination of steel, plastic, and aluminum, and to ensure they’re compatible with the other elements of the ISIS arsenal, each one adheres to a standard weight and diameter.
