A video out of Syria reportedly shows anti-Assad rebels using a PS4 controller to remotely operate a heavy machine gun.

This footage is likely from around 2016 as the weapon system looks identical to one shown in a different video from the battle for Aleppo. Remote weapon systems have proven to be effective in militaries across the world for the past couple decades. They allow the operator to engage the enemy from a relatively safe location without having to expose themselves to direct enemy fire.

The war in Syria has repeatedly shown us the resourcefulness of combatants to develop improvised weapons and technologies to face a better funded and equipped enemy. Although the effectiveness of these ingenious developments is often less than those of legitimate military hardware, they come with a much lower price tag. Necessity is the mother of all invention.