The rebel community in Syria is creating a rechargeable battery that could support anti-aircraft missiles, a development that could threaten both Syrian war aircrafts and civilian planes.

Abul al-Barra, a self-described contractor for one of the country's rebel groups, said the technology is compatible to the SA-7b missile system, a type of heat-seeking missile that was first introduced by the Soviet design bureau in the 1960s. The SA-7b blueprint has been used and altered by several countries like Pakistan, North Korea and China.

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The rebels are reportedly using the anti-aircraft missile known as Stringers or Strelas. Stringers are considered the "best-known American model," but it has a limited lifespan. Its batteries can easily be depleted, which means the group needs to find a huge power supply to sustain its firing power.

However, their current batteries can only support the firing of the shoulder-held missiles. The voltage is not enough to sustain the missiles'  lock on its target.

Al-Baraa said the rebels could overcome the challenge of having enough missiles like the SA-7s, locally known as Cobras, but they do not have enough power supply.

He also said that the battery was created to address the misuse of the Cobra guided missiles. Shooters turn the circuit and they do not pay attention to the missiles' shooting limit. When this happens, shooters would then replace it with another. 

"What you get eventually is a missile with no power unit," al-Baraa said.

Al-Baraa said that the newly developed batteries will last longer once activated and can be charged just  by using an electrical outlet.

Al-Baraa is not a member of any Syrian rebel group, but he said he collaborated with some of them, such as the Free Syrian Army.

Al-Baraa, whose real name was asked to be anonymous for the safety of his family, previously designed an improvised battery that was used in the Syrian war.

However, Small Arms Survey's missile analyst Matthew Schroeder said the battery design was "extremely worrisome."

Schroeder said that if the batteries would proliferate, missiles from the black market can be operated again and that could pose "devastating consequences."

Tagssyrian rebel, battery, new battery, battlefield