Reaching back to the far-flung and forgotten year of 2015, this literal blast from the past shows fighters on the al-Khalidiya front in Aleppo, Syria. They’re firing a construction-grade front-loader turned technical, armed with a home-made quad-barrel cannon, which may be the most fun I’ve ever had constructing a sentence.

Longtime viewers of Funker530 content will know that we try to stay objective in our assessments. Let me assure you, this is still the case: this thing is, objectively speaking, bad-ass. While 2015 may be a long time gone, as far as conflict in Syria is concerned, there was no way, having seen this, that I wasn’t going to talk about it. It is widely acknowledged that technicals are rad, and everyone likes artillery when it’s not pointed at them. This self-propelled Hell Cannon is the confluence of both, although it could be argued that it isn’t, well, technically a technical, since that term specifically refers to military hardware on civilian vehicles, and not home-grown launchers.

Be that as it may, one has to respect the literal welding of ingenuity and violence to address a need. Sometimes you have to up-armor a bulldozer, sometimes you have to festoon a front-loader with mortars. Whatever gets the job done.

 

About the Author

 

       

     

Cole Simms

     

Cole Simms is an Air Guardsman, NASA enthusiast, police officer, and security contractor with particular experience in austere environments. Outside of work, he volunteers as a Stop The Bleed instructor for area schools. He holds a Bachelor's Degree in Homeland Security and Emergency Management, and blends his knowledge and experience to write analysis for Funker530.

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