Photo: Agence France-Presse

The Syrian rebels, deep into the second year of their struggle against the repressive Assad regime, don’t have the resources of a national armed forces; they have to improvise. This AFP piece gives the layout of the homemmade Shams II armored vehicle, which is a:

fully-enclosed vehicle made from light steel…about four metres (yards) in length and two metres across, mounted with a 7.62 mm machinegun controlled from inside the cabin.

The vehicle has five cameras: three at the front, one in the back and another attached to the gun.

The crew inside the cabin are fully protected, with the driver manoeuvring the vehicle by watching a screen which displays video from the cameras.

The gunner, seated next to the driver, can activate the machinegun by watching another screen and using a control stick equipped with push buttons.

That stick? A PlayStation controller.