Islamic State militants are reportedly developing surface-to-air missiles that can hit airliners and military jets, as well as hi-tech car bombs, in a R&D lab in Syria, according to a footage obtained by Sky News.
In video footage passed to Sky News by Free Syrian Army fighters, a surprisingly clean and well-lit workshop can be seen. It is equipped with sophisticated tool kits, and is believed to be located in the Syrian town of Raqqa, a stronghold of Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL).
A number of IS engineers and R&D team members are seen in the video. Footage shows several at work, demonstrating their hi-tech weaponry. One of them is a surface-to-air missile converted from that of a military jet and equipped with a heat-seeking warhead. It may allow a missile to hit an object as big as a passenger airliner while combating the aircraft with increased accuracy.
The IS engineers appear to have also designed a self-made thermal battery – a critical part of a heat-seeking warhead, and a technological breakthrough of the jihadist terror group. If true, Islamic State may now recommission thousands of missiles assumed by western governments to be out-fashioned through old age.
Another visible deadly weapon is a remote controlled car that can move without a driver. It can be used as a car bomb in countries where recruiting suicide bombers is difficult.
In order not to look suspicions, the car can be manned by "driver" mannequins with self-regulating thermostats to produce the heat signature of humans, according to Sky News. It allows a car bomb to evade sophisticated scanners that usually protect military and government buildings in the West.
Although the video was intercepted, according to Sky News, there will also be hundreds, if not thousands, eager to learn from it as the footage was originally intended to be used to recruit and train terrorists outside Syria.
IS militants are suspected to have penetrated Europe among the wave of refugees and asylum seekers.