A fighter on the front lines is pictured with a Browning machine gun.
Correction: The article initially described the machine gun as a M2 Browning, but it is a 1919 Browning. The article has been updated to note this change.
The Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP), an al Qaeda-affiliated Uighur jihadist group, has released photos from the fighting in the Al Ghab plain in northwest Syria.
In one of the pictures, a Browning 1919 machine gun can be seen set up near the front lines of the fighting. It is unclear how the jihadist group obtained the weapon, but it may have been taken during fighting between the jihadists and US-support rebel groups. Al Nusrah Front, an official branch of al Qaeda, turned on two US-backed rebel groups in northern Syria last year.
However, the weapon also could have been provided by US-supported groups that are allied with the TIP and Al Nusrah. Rebel groups supplied by the US are fighting alongside jihadists in the area.
The Uighur al Qaeda group also claims to have captured a downed Syrian reconnaissance drone, which can be seen below.
For more information on the TIP’s role in the current fighting in northwestern Syria, see Threat Matrix report, Turkistan Islamic Party shows fighters on frontlines in northwestern Syria.
TIP photo showing the captured drone:
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8 Comments
that is not a M2 Browning ( which is .50 caliber, it is more like a Browning
Model 1917 in .30 caliber ( 30.06 ) last used by the US military in the late 1950s
Sorry MOdel 1919 ,1917 was water cooled variant
The ‘captured drone’ is a little DJI Phantom 3 Professional available from store.dji.com for USD $1,259. It’s range is only 3.1 miles from the controller (unobstructed line of sight) and is armed with a camera. Max speed is only 16m/sec if there is no wind so an Islamist with a few rocks could bring one down.
The headline would have you believe its a sophisticated military drone in the hands of these jihadists and this is a story of great technical interest and fears
This is a run of the mill commercially hobbyist available drone available to anyone with a credit card
I believe that is the camera dangling on the bottom
The drone is incomplete – notice several props of the quadcopter are missing
Secondly there is no controller related to the device
Supposing the new holders could buy the right props online and have them delivered they will need the controller device
Of course the Browning looks tight,…but the “drone” looks like it came from radio shack.
Yes the drone appears to be a standard Phantom Drone model
Typically the stripes are a red colour
In this case they are a gold or orange
Perhaps its sun fade or customization for better camouflage
Early models were approx $ 1000 US and had 8 minutes or less flying time with camera on
The current model with camera ( Phantom 3) has approx 28 minutes flying time
Phantom 3 Standard
Special Price: USD $699
Link is provided to the manufacture’s website itself for pricing proof source
Actually, it is a Browning M2 .50cal. There are several indicators of this. First is the size of the cartridges hanging from the feed port. These are clearly .50BMG and not .30-06 or 8mm. The spade grips are common to the .50cal series Brownings, but not in its smaller cousins. Additionally, the front and rear sights are those of the 50cal family. The .30 caliber versions featured a rear leaf site and a folding front site. The size of the buffer (the cylinder located between the spade grips) indicates of that this is an M2 .50 and not an M3.
Actually the markings ( and color of gold rather than older Phantom drone standard trim) indicate this is the most current version of the Phantom 3 – the Phantom “3” Drone
These drones can use an iPhone iPad or Android devices as controllers for flight and FPV (First Person View) video stream for surveillance or scouting. Flight time 20 – 30 minutes approx :
Full Specs:
Weight (Including Battery And Propellers)
1280 g
Diagonal Size (Including Propellers)
590 mm
Max Ascent Speed
5 m/s
Max Descent Speed
3 m/s
Hover Accuracy
Vertical: +/- 0.1 m (when Vision Positioning is active) or +/- 0.5 m
Horizontal: +/- 1.5 m
Max Speed
16 m/s (ATTI mode, no wind)
Max Service Ceiling Above Sea Level
6000 m (Software altitude limit: 120 m above takeoff point)
Operating Temperature
0°C to 40°C
GPS Mode
GPS/GLONASS
Camera
Sensor
Sony EXMOR 1/2.3” Effective pixels: 12.4 M (total pixels: 12.76 M)
Lens
FOV 94° 20 mm (35 mm format equivalent) f/2.8, focus at ∞
ISO Range
100-3200 (video) 100-1600 (photo)
Shutter Speed
8s -1/8000s
Image Max Size
4000 x 3000
Still Photography Modes
Single Shot
Burst Shooting: 3/5/7 shots
Auto Exposure Bracketing (AEB): 3/5
Bracketed Frames at 0.7EV Bias
Time-lapse
Video Recording Modes
Phantom 3 Professional
UHD: 4096x2160p 24/25, 3840x2160p 24/25/30
FHD: 1920x1080p 24/25/30/48/50/60
HD: 1280x720p 24/25/30/48/50/60
Phantom 3 Advanced
2.7K: 2704 x1520p 24/25/30 (29.97)
FHD: 1920x1080p 24/25/30/48/50/60
HD: 1280x720p 24/25/30/48/50/60
Supported SD Card Types
Micro SD
Max capacity: 64 GB. Class 10 or UHS-1 rating required
Max Bitrate Of Video Storage
Phantom 3 Professional
60 Mbps
Phantom 3 Advanced
40 Mbps
Supported File Formats
FAT32/exFAT
Photo: JPEG, DNG
Video: MP4, MOV (MPEG-4 AVC/H.264)
Operating Temperature
0°C to 40°C
Gimbal
Controllable Range
Pitch -90° to +30°
Stabilization
3-axis (pitch, roll, yaw)
Vision Positioning
Max Velocity
Less than 8 m/s (when 2 m above ground)
Altitude Range
50 cm-300 cm
Operating Range
50 cm-300 cm
Operating Environment
Surface with clear pattern and adequate lighting (Lux > 15)
Remote Controller
Operating Frequency
2.400 GHz-2.483 GHz
Max Distance
Up to 5 km or 3.1 miles (unobstructed, free of interference) when FCC compliant
Up to 3.5 km or 2.1 miles (unobstructed, free of interference) when CE compliant
Video Output Port
USB
Operating Temperature
0°C- 40°C
Battery
6000 mAh LiPo 2S
Mobile Device Holder
For tablet or phone
Receiver Sensitivity (1%PER)
-101 dBm ±2 dBm
Transmitter Power (EIRP)
FCC: 20 dBm
CE: 16 dBm
Working Voltage
1.2 A @7.4 V
Battery Charger
Voltage
17.4 V
Rated Power
Phantom 3 Professional
100 W
Phantom 3 Advanced
57 W
Intelligent Flight Battery
Capacity
4480 mAh
Voltage
15.2 V
Battery Type
LiPo 4S
Energy
68 Wh
Net Weight
365 g
Max Flight Time
Approximately 23 minutes
Operating Temperature
-10°C to 40°C
Max Charging Power
100 W
App / Live View
Mobile App
DJI GO
EIRP
100mW
Power Spectral Density
6.9mW/MHz
Live View Working Frequency
2.4GHz ISM
Live View Quality
720P @ 30fps (depending on conditions and mobile device)
Latency
220ms (depending on conditions and mobile device)
Required Operating Systems
iOS 8.0 or later
Android 4.1.2 or later
Recommended Devices
iOS: iPhone 5s, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPad Air, iPad Air Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad mini 2, iPad mini 2 Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Air 2, iPad Air 2 Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad mini 3, and iPad mini 3 Wi-Fi + Cellular. This app is optimized for iPhone 5s, iPhone 6, and iPhone 6 Plus
Android: Samsung tabs 705c, Samsung S6, Samsung S5, Samsung NOTE4, Samsung NOTE3, Google Nexus 9, Google Nexus 7 II, Ascend Mate7, Nubia Z7 mini, SONY Z3 EXPERIA, MI 3, MI PAD
*Support for additional Android devices available as testing and development