Francop weapons seizure – What is in the boxes?

[William F. Owen]

Oh, I don't disagree. However, it does raise the question why if Iran was going to the bother of shipping hundreds of tons of material to Hizbullah, it didn't ship anything that would have more strategic or military effect (such as couple of dozen MANPADS, or rockets capable of hitting Tel Aviv).

The general opinion is that the overland smuggling routes have limited capacity, so you don't want to bulk out on 700 x 122mm rockets. In contrast you can pack an AT-14 firing post in the boot of a car.

Higher value items will have more discreet routes.

[JJackson]

David thanks for finding the pics.

Are Hezbollah known to have artillery that would use the 106mm shell? I would have thought that was fairly hard to hide and if you used it Israeli air power would quickly take it out of play.

[Rex Brynen]

David thanks for finding the pics.

Are Hezbollah known to have artillery that would use the 106mm shell? I would have thought that was fairly hard to hide and if you used it Israeli air power would quickly take it out of play.

The "106mm" shells would have likely been ammunition for the M-40 recoilless rifle (which is actually 105mm, but commonly referred to as 106mm). The M-40 was used by Iran, LAF, the Lebanese Forces, and the IDF and has likely ended up in Hizbullah use one way or the other. Spain also uses them, which may explain the Spanish on the boxes.

(Hizbullah also likely uses B-11 107mm recoilless, but that doesn't explain the shipping markings.)

Because of their relative portability and accuracy, Hizbullah frequently used recoilless rifles (of various calibres) for direct fire support against SLA outposts prior to the IDF withdrawal from south Lebanon in 2000.

On a sidenote, this is my all-time favourite recoilless rifle employment (by the French, in Indochina and Algeria)

[davidbfpo]

Are Hezbollah known to have artillery that would use the 106mm shell? I would have thought that was fairly hard to hide and if you used it Israeli air power would quickly take it out of play.

Yes, there are numerous open source references to Hezbollah using 106mm guns and rockets. As late as May 2009 (?) during clashes with the Druze. I also note the Lebanese Army used the 106mm.

davidbfpo