In addition to weapons collected from government stocks, MANPADS have been brought into Syria from outside. According to Charles Lister of the Brookings Institution, MANPADS have been imported to the Syrian opposition in at least three waves. Once in 2012, once 2013 and once in late 2015. If one holds the reports of past Gulf support to be accurate, it is plausible that the introduction of these new weapons platforms in 2015 was the military response Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey alluded to in their public statements this last Autumn. The narrative that the opposition needs better access to “more advanced” weapons systems continues to this day in the public statements of Gulf officials.