By Stijn Mitzer and Joost Oliemans

The YPG is well known for operating a large fleet of Do-It-Yourself (DIY) armoured fighting vehicles (AFVs) and other up-armoured battle monstrosities throughout the Northern Syrian theatre of conflict. Having performed these upgrades on a range of armoured fighting and support vehicles in the past years, the YPG has now begun fabricating its own true armour by introducing a new type of armoured personnel carrier (APC), designated the BMB (either you get it, or you don't) in this article.

By Stijn Mitzer and Joost Oliemans

Transnistria, officially known as the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (PMR), is a breakaway state in Eastern Europe that has remained in the shadows ever since its self-proclaimed independence as a Soviet republic in 1990 and subsequent violent breakaway from Moldova in 1992. Despite having ended armed conflict that same year, the situation in Transnistria remains extremely complicated, with the the breakaway state wishing to join Russia (which maintains a local peacekeeping mission) while continuing to remain heavily reliant on Moldova for exporting the limited produce its economy outputs. Nevertheless, Transnistria functions as a de-facto state with its own military and even air arm.

By Stijn Mitzer and Joost Oliemans

The Islamic State's rise to the status of one of the most sophisticated designated terrorist groups ever to exist has been accompanied by an unprecedented level of ingenuity, especially considering the fact that most of their sites and weaponry were quickly targeted by Air Forces operating over the conflicted battlespaces of Syria and Iraq. In an attempt to address this threat the Islamic State resorted to desperate measures such as using conventional artillery as makeshift anti-aircraft guns, relying on the remote chance of achieving a direct hit on enemy aircraft flying high in the sky to bring them down.