Syrian Rebels Now Have a Tank Powered by a Playstation Controller
By Adam Clark Estes | The Atlantic Wire – 12 hrs ago

As Syria's rebels work to overthrow the tank-equipped Assad regime, they've learned that it helps to have tanks of their own. They deserve bonus points for integrating video game technology. This is no exaggeration. Have a look at the opposition forces' "100 percent made in Syria" armored vehicle, the Sham II.



Named for ancient Syria and assembled out of spare parts over the course of a month, the Sham II sort of rough around the edges, but it's got impressive guts. It rides on the chassis of an old diesel car and is fully encased in light steel that's rusted from the elements. Five cameras are mounted around the tanks outside, and there's a machine gun mounted on a turning turret. Inside, it kind of looks like a man cave. A couple of flat screen TVs are mounted on opposite walls. The driver sits in front of one, controlling the vehicle with a steering wheel, and the gunner sits at the other, aiming the machine gun with a Playstation controller.

Sham II is heading up to the devastated city of Aleppo to join the combat forces there. Meanwhile, rebel forces continue to close in on Damascus and Assad's shrinking regime. Diplomats have already begun to speculate about what the Syrian president's next move would be. We do know that Assad has been exploring the option of seeking political asylum in the Middle East or in Latin American. However, it looks more likely that Assad and his cronies will retreat to the Alawite-controlled mountains on Syria's Mediterranean coast. The only other alternative -- chemical weapons attack notwithstanding -- would be for Assad to stay in the palace and fight to the end. And can you imagine standing helpless as a fierce machine like Sham II roared up the palace steps? Run, Bashar. Run.

BISHQATIN, Syria - From a distance it looks rather like a big rusty metal box but closer inspection reveals the latest achievement of Syrian rebels: a home-made armoured vehicle waiting to be deployed.
Sham II, named after ancient Syria, is built from the chassis of a car and touted by rebels as “100 percent made in Syria.” It required a “month of work” for the design, assembly and development of the vehicle, says its designer Mahmud Abud from the Al-Ansar rebel brigade in the Aleppo region of northwest Syria. The fully-enclosed vehicle made from light steel is about four metres (yards) in length and two metres across, mounted with a 7.62 mm machinegun controlled from inside the cabin.
The vehicle has five cameras: three at the front, one in the back and another attached to the gun.
The crew inside the cabin are fully protected, with the driver manoeuvring the vehicle by watching a screen which displays video from the cameras. The gunner, seated next to the driver, can activate the machinegun by watching another screen and using a control stick equipped with push buttons. Pictures taken by an AFP photographer show at least two crew members comfortably sitting inside the cabin. The metal walls are 2.5 centimetres thick and said to be able to resist up to 23 mm cannon fire. The vehicle, however, can not withstand a rocket-propelled grenade or tank fire.
“This is my brother, a trained engineer, who got the idea. We got a car, left its diesel motor on the chassis and built the engine,” says Abud, based in a rebel command centre in Bishqatin, near the flashpoint city of Aleppo.
“Not including from the gun, the vehicle costs about $10,000,” he said.
Sham II, as the name suggests, is an enhanced version of its predecessor. The earlier model shielded the driver but the rest of the crew were exposed to enemy fire.
Sham I has already been deployed in combat while Sham II is soon to join the fray in Aleppo as part of the Saad Benmoaz battalion of the Al-Ansar brigade, says Abud

 Avatar 720 wrote:
Next week on Scrapheap Challenge: Syria, our teams will try and build a working fighter jet from the remains of two Coke cans, a toaster, some corrugated card and a tricycle!

Palindrome wrote:
It will do alright against small arms. Of course anything bigger will wreck it but to be honest its better than nothing and it beats anything that the A team built.

 Shadowseer_Kim wrote:
To all the haters, it's more tank than you own.

 Ouze wrote:

 Captain Fantastic wrote:
Looks like a dumpster on top of a dune buggy.

 Desert_thunder_heart wrote:
Credit where credit is due they have managed to make it, and as Ratbarf said this could actually help them. I mean if they can get it down a thin alley where the T-72s can't go they could take out the govt. infantry.

 WarOne wrote:

 Desert_thunder_heart wrote:
Credit where credit is due they have managed to make it, and as Ratbarf said this could actually help them. I mean if they can get it down a thin alley where the T-72s can't go they could take out the govt. infantry.

Either way, it will mean the death of at least two people...most likely the occupants.

 AustonT wrote:

 WarOne wrote:

 Desert_thunder_heart wrote:
Credit where credit is due they have managed to make it, and as Ratbarf said this could actually help them. I mean if they can get it down a thin alley where the T-72s can't go they could take out the govt. infantry.

Either way, it will mean the death of at least two people...most likely the occupants.

an excellent point. What is the purpose of making it remote control...if you have to be inside it?