In April of 2023 Finland officially became NATO’s 31st member – ending a journey away from full neutrality that began in 1991 when Finland joined the European Union. However, although Finland’s economic neutrality was already a thing of the past, militarily the country had been officially neutral since 1949. Besides having the longest shared border […]
Category: International Forces
Friday Foto
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Who Dares Wins: The Final Option
Three helicopters swoop menacingly into view, black-clad figures standing on the skids. As the TV news crews swing their cameras around, the choppers hover over the large embassy building while the men rappel swiftly onto the roof. Those same men descend the building’s face a moment later. Grenades blow out windows and the men disappear […]
Friday Foto
“You have reached your destination.” Philippine Marines secure a beach landing after inserting from a UH-60 Blackhawk during a bilateral amphibious landing during Balikatan 22 at Claveria, Philippines, March 31, 2022. Balikatan is an annual exercise between the Armed Forces of the Philippines and U.S. military designed to strengthen bilateral interoperability, capabilities, trust, and cooperation […]
European Combat Uniform Programs
Its been a while since we’ve written about new developments on the combat uniforms front in Europe, and a few interesting things have been going on in recent months and weeks… Nordic Combat Uniform Project The NCU project has been a joint effort by Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Finland to develop a common full spectrum […]
IWI Launches 7.62X51mm ACE Sniper S.A Rifle
IWI – Israel Weapon Industry – a member of the SK Group and a worldwide leader in combat-proven small arms – announces the launch of the Ace Sniper S.A Rifle. Based on the reliable, proven platform of the known Galil-Ace, the semi-automatic rifle with its advanced ergonomics design provides the user with the greatest accuracy […]
Saturday Snapshot
US Special Operations Forces in Europe training with members of Italy’s ‘Folgore’ parachute regiment. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Whitney Hughes […]
Bundeswehr Exercise Deep Infil 2021
The free-fallers of Airland Brigade 1 of the German Bundeswehr have been in Portugal practicing tactical parachute jumping with combat equipment. Day and night, an A400M and two M28 Skytrucks have been bringing the soldiers of the the free-fallers of Airland Brigade 1 in Portugal are practicing tactical parachute jumping with combat equipment. Day and […]
South African Pattern 83 Battle Jacket
The South African Defence Forces Pattern 83 Battle Jacket is one of the all time classic web gear designs of the 20th Century – and was in its day quite revolutionary too. Virtually all other individual load carrying rigs of the time were based on the same basic belt-and-braces approach that had been used since […]
Searching For A WWII LRDG Patrol In Modern Tunisia
I recently came across this exciting adventure tale that was published in Land Rover Monthly last year. As my own Grandfather served with the British Army’s Light Car Patrol in the Libyan Desert in WWI (a predecessor of the LRDG in some ways), I found it particularly interesting. The article tells the story of […]