The Syrian Qassam Part I: The Lion's of Allah Sham Freedom Missile Dimensions

Overview: Initial Media and Study Questions

Browsing forums on DIY opposition weaponry, I noticed an interesting post on the "long-range" "Sham Freedom Missile," bearing the Lions of Allah brigade insignia. 

Note: The Lions of Allah brigade has changed its insignia, while its Twitter account appears long neglected.

The image source claims impressive capabilities:

• 100% made in Syria
• Effective range: 7 km
• Strikes targets with 80% accuracy
• 500 missiles ready to use 

But is the Sham Freedom missile a working weapon? If so, are its capabilities accurately reported? What can we assess about its ultimate battlefield utility?

I. Estimating Missile Dimensions: Length, Diameter, Tail FinsA quick YouTube search yields a number of interesting videos from the Lions of Allah channel. To estimate missile operational capabilities, let’s start by approximating missile dimensions in the latest uploaded video. 

1. Launching the Sham Freedom Missile Against the Chief of Staff Building in Damascus 2013 11 27

At 1:18, we see the missile laid against the steel launch frame. What appears to be an impact fuse pin is removed with a pair of pliers.

If we assume the launch frame is constructed of 2" or 50.8 mm square steel tubing, we can approximate missile diameter, nose cone, body length, and tail fin dimensions.

Opening the image and measuring pixels in Google Sketch, we arrive at:

  Nose Cone Length: (97686639/14772108) * 50.8 = ~ 335.93 mm

 
Diameter: (3911/1315) * 50.8 = ~ 151.086 mm

Using the same technique for the only full length shot of the missile against the steel launch frame, we may approximate missile length at:

Missile Body Length: (26670/593) * 50.8 = ~ 2284.71 mm

Using the same techniques to measure the missile tail fin depicted at 1:12, we may estimate height, root, and tip chord dimensions at:

Height: (3040/938) * 50.8 = ~ 164.63 mm
Root Chord: (11344/938) * 50.8 = ~ 614.36 mm
Tip Chord: (4574/938) * 50.8 = ~ 24.77 mm 

To recap, our final estimated missile dimensions are as follows:

• Nose Cone Length: ~ 335.93 mm
• Diameter: ~ 151.086 mm
• Body Length: (2284.71 - 335.93) = ~ 1948.78 mm
• Tail Fin: ~ 164.63 mm H; ~ 614.36 mm RC; ~ 247.77 mm TC

Sham Freedom missile dimensions are therefore broadly comparable to the Palestinian Qassam II.

Finally, since launch angle may affect range, let's open Paint Brush to draw a measurable triangle against the missile launch frame:

Since we know the pixel measure of each side, we can use the Law of Cosines to determine the missile launch angle:

c^2 = a^2 + b^2 - 2ab cos C

Hypotenuse: a = 8800
Short leg: b = 4780
Long leg: c = 7509 

7509^2 = 8800^2 + 4780^2 - 2(8800 * 4780) cos C

56385081 = 77440000 + 22848400 - (84128000) cos C

56385081 = 100288400 - 84128000 cos C

0 = 43903319 - 84128000 cos C 

84128000 cos C = 43903319

cos C = 43903319/84128000

C = cos^-1 (43903319/84128000)

Fire Angle = 58.54

To verify our measures, let's open the frame in ImageJ, which features a handy angle measure tool. We're within a degree.

With these basic, yet plausible dimensions estimates, falling in the neighborhood of a Qassam II.

In Part II, we'll jump to the OpenRocket software package to simulate the flight and approximate range of the Sham Freedom missile.