“Bicycle helmet and training launcher: The Capability Platform exposes the lie of the chemical attack”
Technical Statement No. (7)
Sudanese Military Capabilities Platform Regarding the Narrative of the Sudanese Soldier Carrying Chemical Shells and Wearing a “Gas Protection Mask”
The Sudanese Military Capabilities Platform follows with great interest the escalation of recent media misinformation campaigns that circulated allegations of the Sudanese Armed Forces’ regular use of chemical weapons. Some of these blatant allegations were based on video clips showing a Sudanese soldier wearing a “motorcycle helmet with UV goggles” and carrying a rifle equipped with the Chinese LG2 launcher and 40mm BGJ2 shells produced by the Chinese company Norinco.
These allegations circulated through targeted media reports, including “human rights organizations” that had previously been mentioned before the American allegations and were conspicuously recirculated following the U.S. State Department’s statement.
This coincidence between targeted media and political stances reflects a frantic attempt to fabricate a false narrative serving propaganda goals and sanctions driven by political—not legal or professional—considerations, amounting merely to “catch-up propaganda.”
The Chinese Norinco LG2 launcher is a purely conventional weapon of 40mm caliber mounted under a standard rifle and uses low-velocity 40x46mm ammunition, including high-explosive (HE) grenades, anti-armor (HEAT) grenades, training grenades, and illumination grenades.
No known version of this weapon or its ammunition contains chemical materials or has been modified to carry such substances. No report or statement from the United Nations or the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) supports the existence or development of such use.
Therefore, the claim that this weapon is used to launch chemical materials is pure technical fantasy, reflecting blatant ignorance of the nature of these weapons and lacking any scientific or factual basis—merely a misleading narrative.
Using such a claim also reveals a clear confusion by its originators, as no military or technical expert would accept this naïve association between a conventional launcher and training ammunition with a banned chemical weapon.
In the same circulated footage, the Sudanese soldier wears a UV-category tactical helmet and goggles—a type commonly used with motorcycles—priced at around $12 USD on e-commerce sites. This type of helmet is made of lightweight materials such as reinforced plastic (TPU, PC, PE) and thermoplastic polyurethane and does not provide protection against corrosion or chemical weapon reactions. It is intended to protect from dust, flying gravel, wind, ultraviolet rays, fog, and shocks. This helmet does not contain any air filtration systems or airtight seals, nor is it made from materials resistant to chemical reactions, as chemical protective helmets are. Its design is open and does not provide minimal protection against toxic gases or vapors but only mechanical protection suitable for motorcycle riders.
Thus, any attempt to claim that this soldier wears chemical protective gear is a blatant falsification of reality that nullifies the argument at its root. Using this image to prove the execution of a chemical attack shows the weakness and clumsiness of this fabricated narrative, which fails the simplest professional evaluation and linking with chemical weapon use, reflecting analytical poverty and moral bankruptcy in the narratives of the opponents of the “Sudanese state.”
The Sudanese Military Capabilities Platform views this selective silence contrasted with media exaggeration of a civilian helmet and training launcher as reflecting analytical fragility, political double standards, and intellectual poverty.
The platform confirms the following:
1. The LG2 launcher and BGJ2 shells are conventional weapons with no property or capacity for chemical use.
2. The UV helmet visible in the footage does not provide any level of protection against gases or toxic substances.
3. Media narratives based on superficial footage and unqualified analyses do not even qualify as technical claims but represent naive media misinformation that will be met with a strong response.
Issued by:
Sudanese Military Capabilities Platform
May 31, 2025
