By Simon Chambers (former British Parachute Regiment) When I first arrived in Iraq I was amazed at the variety of weapons available to anyone who wanted to purchase them. Every contracting company was rushing to snap up the better conditioned weapons before the bad guys got them. There were stories...

Posted on 15/04/2009 by Strikehold Nice cover shot of a German Paratrooper from Fallschirmjaegerbataillon 313′s Sniper Platoon getting ready to reach out and touch somebody.  These guys take “Front-and-Centre!” in the main article.Also in this issue: GSG9 “in detail” Personal equipment for CSAR and SERE pilots and crew Weapon Profile: ...

Blackanthem Military NewsAL ASAD, Iraq – Training took to the air as Iraqi Special Operations Forces turned their focus to helicopter operations, April 1 in Al Asad, Iraq, in order to increase their capabilities in the region.”Al Anbar borders three different countries and the borders are as far as 500...

After I posted the story about the new Singapore Armed Forces pixilated camouflage combat uniform a couple of days ago, a reader from Hungary reported that he’d seen a couple of photos on militaryphotos.net of a desert version of the uniform being worn in Afghanistan.After a bit of snooping around,...

Some of you may not be that familiar with the small city-state of Singapore, so some background information might be useful…According to entries on Wikipedia:  The Republic of Singapore, is an island city-state located at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, lying 137 kilometres (85 mi) north of the equator, south...

Throughout the Cold War Sweden resolutely followed a policy of international independence and armed neutrality.  But unlike Switzerland – which depended primarily on its difficult terrain for defence, and purchased much of its military equipment from Western countries – Sweden took a more self-sufficient approach.  In the great open spaces...

I just discovered a very interesting blog called “New Wars”.  Now, whilst I don’t agree with some of the author’s fundamental thinking – seems to be too much of the Rumsfeld-Wolfowitz “more hi-tech, less boots” approach to me – nonetheless, he has some interesting posts. Like most, he’s been closely following the...

I just discovered a very interesting blog called “New Wars”.  Now, whilst I don’t agree with some of the author’s fundamental thinking – seems to be too much of the Rumsfeld-Wolfowitz “more hi-tech, less boots” approach to me – nonetheless, he has some interesting posts.Like most, he’s been closely following the Maersk...

As you’ve probably seen in the papers (or online) today, the French yesterday launched a raid to free another private yacht and its occupants from the clutches of Somali pirates.  According to the BBC, this is the third time in recent months that the French have acted to rescue their...

The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is the world’s largest standing army, and incorporates the Chinese air, naval and nuclear forces as well as the ground forces.  The total number of personnel in the PLA is currently about 2.25 million troops on active duty, plus a reserve force of more...