The German Navy Sea Battalion (German: Seebataillon) is a land formation of the Bundesmarine, formed on 1 April 2014 and consisting of approximately 1,100 sailors structured into four companies, plus support elements. Each company, led by a lieutenant commander (Korvettenkapitän, OF-3), is specialized in specific field of force protection. The specific specialist companies are – […]
Announcing the BEARCAT® Ultralight Plate Carrier from Direct Action. Named after the legendary US Navy fighter of WWII, the Bearcat is designed to be an ultralight but versatile platform – weighing only 290 grams. Reducing the amount of laminate and Cordura® fabric to the bare minimum resulted in a significant weight loss… More information coming […]
Estonian Special Operations Forces (ESTSOF) on patrol in Mali with local militia. Photo credit: Estonian Ministry of Defence. […]
As reported this morning by several European defence industry publications and blogs, the saga of the German Armed Forces search for a new rifle to replace their G-36s appears to have come to a final conclusion – in favor of Heckler & Koch. But you may be surprised to see that its the HK416 and […]
A Portuguese paratrooper poses for a photo demonstrating their new modular load carriage and armor protection system, the M18 camouflage uniform (‘multifleck’) introduced last year, and an FN SCAR-L assault rifle. The FN SCAR was adopted by the Portuguese Army last year as well. Members of Portugal’s Special Operations Forces however appear to opted for […]
One of my favorite winter Olympic sport is biathlon – the combination of cross-country skiing and target shooting. Like several other Olympic sports, biathlon had its origins in martial sports – synchronized swimming isn’t one of them however. It won’t come as any surprise of course that some European Armies still practice the art of […]
The Dutch Armed Forces are finally starting to receive new camouflage uniforms and personal equipment. But how did this come about, and what is the history of Dutch camouflage uniforms since 1945? Thanks to our friends at Dutch Defence Press we are able to bring you this exclusive English translation of an article by Major […]
Coming in cold! A Canadian Armed Forces Bell CH-146 Griffon coming in to land during a winter exercise. The Bell CH-146 Griffon is a multi-role utility helicopter of the Huey family, designed by Bell Helicopter Textron as a variant of the Bell 412EP for the Canadian Armed Forces. The CH-146 is used in a wide variety […]
Royal Marines of 45 Marine Commando are in the Norwegian Arctic being put through their paces in one of the world’s most extreme environments on Winter Deployment 21. The Cold Weather Warfare Course has three phases – survival, mobility and warfare. This creates a well-rounded winter warrior, enabling the commandos to operate effectively in this […]
In the most generic action movies, a dying soldier pulls the pin on a grenade and holds the spoon closed with his body — the idea being when the enemy finds him the resulting explosion becomes a final “f*** you.” There are other kinds of booby traps as well, though, including rifle mags. Ever heard […]