With help from Iran, Syria is first Arab majority country that makes heavy sniper rifles

[Yongpeng Sun-Tastaufen]

Golan S-01, a reverse engineered Sayyad 2 supplied by Iran, which is in turn an illegally reverse engineered copy of Steyr HS .50 Iran bought from Austria in the 2000s.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1140568967196684288

https://twitter.com/x/status/1142942240416784385

 

[Yongpeng Sun-Tastaufen]

@500 @vostok @Falcon29

 

[Hassan Al-Somal]

I remember watching a video that showed a similar weapon in the Palestinian Territories, especially in Gaza. So perhaps it was smuggled or produced there but the design could be the same.

 

[Yongpeng Sun-Tastaufen]

I remember watching a similar weapon in the Palestinian Territories, especially Gaza. So perhaps it was smuggled or produced there but the design could be the same.

That is Chinese M99. Bought by Qatar to arm Hamas. It was previously seen in Syria used by rebels to take over Damascus.

https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2013/06/05/chinese-m99-12-7mm-anti-material-rifles-syria/

 

[Hassan Al-Somal]

That is Chinese M99. Bought by Qatar to arm Hamas. It was previously seen in Syria used by rebels to take over Damascus.

https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2013/06/05/chinese-m99-12-7mm-anti-material-rifles-syria/

According to this tweet that is attributed to Muslim Brotherhood (MB) in Egypt (Not sure if they represent the real MB as I understand they were outlawed by the Sisi-Led government), the sniper rifle was locally produced in Gaza 100%. That means the charge that it was provided by Qatar to Hamas is most likely false.

https://twitter.com/x/status/496021540807639040

In this article in Washington Post (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...thing-but-expert-says/?utm_term=.697ac2069334), they're claiming the sniper rifle used by Hamas to be "Austrian-made."

“ 'Hamas’ claim to have indigenously manufactured this rifle is totally false — from what is visible on the video, it’s clearly an Austrian Steyr HS.50 rifle,' Charles Lister, a visiting fellow at Brookings Doha Center who tracks weapons use in the region, said in an e-mail."

So since the first victim of the war is the truth, we may never know who provided it; and with absence of proof showing the the origins of the sniper rifle in Gaza, one would have to accept the Hamas version that it was locally produced in Gaza. It is up to Hamas' detractors to show proof that the sniper rifle came from other sources.

 

[Yongpeng Sun-Tastaufen]

According to this tweet that is attributed to Muslim Brotherhood (MB) in Egypt (Not sure if they represent the real MB as I understand they were outlawed by the Sisi-Led government), the sniper rifle was locally produced in Gaza 100%. That means the charge that it was provided by Qatar to Hamas is most likely false.

https://twitter.com/x/status/496021540807639040

In this article in Washington Post (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...thing-but-expert-says/?utm_term=.697ac2069334), they're claiming the sniper rifle used by Hamas to be "Austrian-made."

“ 'Hamas’ claim to have indigenously manufactured this rifle is totally false — from what is visible on the video, it’s clearly an Austrian Steyr HS.50 rifle,' Charles Lister, a visiting fellow at Brookings Doha Center who tracks weapons use in the region, said in an e-mail."

So since the first victim of the war is the truth, we may never know who provided it; and with absence of proof showing the the origins of the sniper rifle in Gaza, one would have to accept the Hamas version that it was locally produced in Gaza. It is up to Hamas' detractors to show proof that the sniper rifle came from other sources.

14.5 mm is either locally designed or from Iran. Only Iran makes 14.5 mm sniper rifles.

 

[Yongpeng Sun-Tastaufen]

These rifles are apparently chambered for 12.7 by 108 mm instead of 12.7 by 99 mm as is the case of the original Steyr HS .50

@Nein @500 @pakistanipower @vostok @Yaseen1 @Hack-Hook @ArabianEmpires&Caliphates @Falcon29 @mete @zectech @GIANTsasquatch

https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog...ceiving-hs-50-patterned-anti-materiel-rifles/