Tracking trafficked weapons using CAR’s StoryMap
CAR shows the movement of illicit weapons to Nigeria's herder-farmer conflict. (Image: Conflict Armament Research)
Conflict Armament Research has been awarded the 2021 Map Creator Customer Award by Esri UK for its creation of a StoryMap approach to visually communicate its findings and inform UN and EU policymakers.
CAR investigates illicit weapons supplies into conflict zones.
CAR published its first StoryMap using Esri’s ArcGIS Online in February 2020 to report on Nigeria’s herder-farmer conflict, which has mainly involved the nation’s Christian and Muslim Fulani rural populations.
The map was derived from evidence collected through its first field study on the trafficking of weapons and ammunition to armed groups in Northern Nigeria.
CAR extracted this data from spreadsheets and used it to create a story, explored through three case studies, of how these groups were being armed.
Using Esri’s terrain map CAR can show the movements of weapons from Turkey, the Ivory Coast and Libya.
CAR uses ArcGIS capabilities for its database on diverted weapons and ammunition into conflict zones.
CAR has also created iTrace to aid national arms export control agencies in identifying diversion risks prior to export.
iTrace automatically quantifies diversion risks and profiles the sources of diversion nationally, regionally, and globally.
More from Defence Notes
-
“Engage with the operational problem”: how software innovation can boost UK defence
In Conversation… Shephard’s Andrew White talks to Zafer Şen, CEO and co-founder of OBSS, about the future of command-and-control software in the age of artificial intelligence, and his company’s ambitions in the UK defence market.
-
“Capital follows confidence” as defence courts private money
Outside investment and the direction in which venture money flows may reveal what defence will buy years before formal programmes begin.
-
Canada’s new military drone marketplace targets rapid acquisition pipeline
The Department of National Defence expects initial contracts to deliver thousands of uncrewed systems, but has yet to establish the quantities, capability mix or deadline behind Ottawa’s promised tenfold expansion.
-
Ukraine turns legacy Kongsberg land turrets into semi-autonomous USV weapons
The company told Shephard that Ukraine is operating modified Protector weapon stations originally supplied for armoured vehicles, with human operators authorising engagements from hundreds of kilometres away.
-
UK urged to prioritise sea, air and space over heavy armour
A report from the Council on Geostrategy argues the UK should move away from a traditional balanced force and shift investment to naval, air and space capabilities, backed by a larger fleet of attack submarines and deeper AUKUS integration.