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About

The Open Source Munitions Portal is a tool for researchers, journalists and practitioners trying to learn more about munitions and their use and impact in conflicts. It was launched in November 2023.

The portal has a number of functions. The hundreds of verified images in the archive serve as a searchable reference library of munitions. Clicking on any image brings up further details – including, where possible, a munition category, the munition ID, some details about where and when it was documented and the original source of the image.

The resources page provides visual and written explainers of key munition categories, as well as a full glossary of terms.

The portal was devised and created by non-profit civilian harm watchdog Airwars and Armament Research Services (ARES), a technical intelligence consultancy specialised in munitions, and designed and developed by Rectangle. The project was supported by the Google News Initiative and the Reva and David Logan Foundation.

The portal contains images from a variety of currently and formerly active conflict zones, as well as conflict-affected areas, from across the globe. It contains a variety of different types of munitions, produced by various manufacturers around the world. Wherever possible, key technical features relevant to classification are recorded.

Methodology

While all images were reviewed by munitions experts, all identifications through the tool will always be tentative – rather than exact. Munition development and delivery remains a rapidly evolving field where munitions are regularly adapted and deployed in ways that munitions experts and affected communities cannot fully know.

All the images collected undergo a series of checks and verifications processes before being included in the OSMP.

  1. Each image is checked by a team member from Airwars or ARES, ensuring to be of sufficient quality to allow at least classification 1 of the munition to take place.
  2. Then, it is formally assessed by an ARES reviewer. At this stage, classification is either made or confirmed, and additional information is added or reviewed. Images are also reviewed for key signs of staging or disinformation, and will be discarded if such indicators are identified. A tentative identification 2 of the munitions model will also be made, if possible.
  3. A second reviewer from ARES assesses the image. At this stage, munition identification (where made) will be confirmed and removed, and all other information will be reviewed — ensuring that a minimum of two trained personnel have reviewed it for technical accuracy. If necessary, images may then be referred to a technical expert.
  4. As necessary, additional ARES technical specialists review entries which require particular expertise. All analyst notes — brief observations, explanations, or comments provide further context to an image — are also reviewed at this step. Entries are then marked as ‘reviewed’.
  5. Entries marked as ‘reviewed’ are prepared for publication by Airwars, and related allegations regarding civilian harm and other external links may be added at this stage.

Contribute

If you are interested in sharing material with us to be verified and added to the archive, please use the following form. For collaborations, please contact us at osmp@airwars.org.

Many of the images in this portal have been sourced from social media and republished under fair use. If you own a particular image and wish for it to be taken down, please email osmp@airwars.org

This tool was designed to be of use for as many open source researcher as possible. As such, we are always looking to develop and improve. If you have particular constructive feedback, we would love to hear from you. Please email osmp@airwars.org

 

  1. The classification of munitions consists of sorting them according to their physical characteristics. In the context of the OSMP, this involves determining which categories a munition fits into: e.g. artillery gun projectile, mortar projectile, rocket/missile, … ↑
  2. Identification is more specific than classification, involving determining the make, model, and/or series of a given munition. ↑