One of the most remarkable mechanized campaigns of recent years pitted the brutal and heavily armed jihadis of Islamic State against an improvised force belonging to the Kurdish YPG (later the SDF). While some Kurdish vehicles were originally from Syrian Army stocks or captured from ISIS, many others were extraordinary homemade AFVs based on truck or digger mechanicals, or duskas, the Kurds' version of the technical. Before US air power was sent to Syria, these were the Kurds' most powerful and mobile weapons.
Co-written by a British volunteer who fought with the Kurds and an academic expert on armoured warfare, this study explains how the Kurds built and used their AFVs in the war against 'Daesh', and identifies as far as possible which vehicles took part in major battles, such as Kobane, Manbij and Raqqa. With detailed new artwork depicting the Kurds' range of armour and many previously unpublished photos, this is an original and fascinating look at modern improvised mechanized warfare.
INTRODUCTION
THE ROLE OF ARMOURED FORCES IN SYRIA
ARMED GROUPS IN THE SYRIAN CIVIL WAR
The YPG/YPJ
The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria
The Syrian Democratic Forces
IMPROVISED ARMOURED FIGHTING VEHICLES
Improvised tanks
Improvised armoured cars
Improvised armoured support vehicles
Improvised armoured personnel carriers
AFV SOURCES: SYRIAN ARMY, ISIS AND COALITION SUPPLIED
Soviet armour
BRDM-2 scout vehicles
Armoured personnel carriers
M1117 armoured security vehicle
The US Army Humvee
Other US-supplied wheeled vehicles
'TECHNICALS'
12.7mm heavy machine guns
14.5mm KPV
23mm cannon
57mm recoilless rifles and multiple rocket launchers
UNIT STRUCTURE AND TACTICS
THE YPG/SDF WAR AGAINST ISIS
Initial ISIS attacks (2013-14)
The battle of Kobanę (15 September 2014-26 January 2015)
The al-Hasakah offensives (21 February-17 March 2015 and 6 May-31 May 2015)
The Tell Abyad offensive (31 May-10 July 2015)
The battle of Sarrin (18 June-27 July 2015)
The battle of al-Hasakah (23 June-1 August 2015)
The al-Hawl offensive (31 October-30 November 2015)
Tishrin Dam (23-30 December 2015)
The al-Shaddadi offensive (16-24 February 2016)
The Manbij offensive (31 May-21 August 2016)
The Raqqa campaign (6 November 2016-20 October 2017)
Setbacks and victory over ISIS (2017-19)
CONCLUSION
BIBLIOGRAPHY
INDEX
