Engineering : Syrian rebels' home-made tank - with a PS3 controller to fire machine gun

Home-made tank ... Syrian rebels built armoured vehicle

RESOURCEFUL Syrian rebels are preparing to battle tyrant Bashar Asad using a home-made tank - with a machine gun that can be fired using a PS3-style controller. Based around a car's chassis, the armoured vehicle is around four metres long and two metres wide, and is said to have taken a month to put together.

Built by the Al-Ansar rebel brigade in the Aleppo region of northwest Syria, the vehicle has a 7.62-mm machine gun mounted on it.

HOME-MADE armoured vehicle built from the chassis of a car has machinegun with console controller

And a gunner seated inside can activate the weapon using a control pad similar to that of the Sony gaming console, while watching the action using a camera. Four other cameras fitted around the tank allow a driver to steer from inside the safety of the the inch-thick armour, which is said to be able to withstand 23-mm cannon fire. Designer Mahmud Abud said: “This is my brother, a trained engineer, who got the idea.

"We got a car, left its diesel motor on the chassis and built the engine."

Console controller ... PS3 equipment is used to fire tank's machine gun

The vehicle, dubbed Sham II after an ancient name for Syria, is soon to join the action in the war-torn city of Aleppo. Rebels fighting to overthrow murderous President Assad have made significant gains in recent days, but concern is mounting that the regime may soon use chemical weapons.British Foreign Secretary William Hague confirmed last weekend he had seen some evidence that Assad plans to deploy a devastating arsenal.

Driver ... crew use cameras mounted outside to see where to go

He told a press conference: "We and the US, as I said in Parliament this week, have seen some evidence of that and that is why we have issued strong warnings about it. "We have done so directly to the Syrian regime."

Ready for battle ... Syrian tank