Getting it done.

In many ways, and apart from the actual duties that are being assigned to them, all the individual special forces around the world can be considered as equipment testers. This because they are usually formed of small groups of individuals entrusted with extreme missions and who end up knowing and trusting one another to much higher levels than in any other force.

Tracing back the history of today's special forces--or commandos as they were once upon a time known--leads one into the foggy nights of the middle ages when small groups of specially trained men surreptitiously climbed up fort walls to secure ropes for the morning attack. There was no night combat then. Some may even argue that the Romans already had special elite forces. Closer to us though, it was revealed that Germany had formed specially formed 'storm troops' to attack the British positions in France during World War One. However, whichever way we look at them, the key to the success of special groups, apart from training, is their ability to be extremely flexible and relatively autonomous with a high potential for initiative. Their flexibility is largely owed to their small sizes.

Commandos, though, are more generally considered to have seen the light of day during World War Two in the British armed forces, when Winston Churchill formed the Special Operations Executives, often referred to as SOE. Their duty was typically focused on infiltration and sabotage. Then shortly after, in 1942, came the Special Operations section of the US Office of Strategic Services; France eventually formed its own groups to fight alongside the British SAS commandoes in Africa and in the Middle East.

Today the need for special forces is even more acute, as they are of paramount importance for the discrete penetration and destabilisation of an enemy before any large-scale operation can be carried out by regular forces. They also proved invaluable in counter-operations involving piracy and highjacking.

This supplement is intended to provide an update on the equipment special forces use in air, land and sea operations in four separate sections. It thus complements the previous supplements on the subject already published by Armada International.

Eric H. Biass

Editor-in-Chief