Special Forces Equipment.

The term Special Forces is liberally applied, the only thing that all definitions seemingly have in common being that special forces are special. Their combat roles and functions can be many, some of them age-old while others have emerged from more recent military developments. Roles can vary from small raiding parties to observation details delving deep behind enemy lines to search for targets to be attacked by artillery or strike aircraft.

Special Operations can also include small groups tasked with the elimination of important enemy personnel or weapon systems, while others may be bent on little more than creating havoc and confusion in behind-the-line echelon areas. Involved in just about every type of special forces combat activity are the venerable skills of `intelligence gathering and observation', transmitting findings back to commanders who can use the resultant data to the best effect.

Just as varied these days are the methods special forces use to travel (or insert themselves) to wherever they are tasked to operate. As always, they can proceed on foot, by sea or small craft, on some form of motor vehicle or by aircraft or helicopters, not to mention the use of parachutes. Some even travel underwater or ascend sheer cliffs. No doubt many more adventurous methods of travel could be involved and more will be devised as time progresses, but once they reach their operational area, special forces usually have to remain concealed and passive, while retaining the ability to hit hard if they have to, and then move out as rapidly as they came.

To achieve so many disparate functions, while all the time knowing that the unexpected may happen (and probably will), special forces have to be just what their name describes -- special. Their many combat roles are not ones that most soldiers can readily assume without a great deal of prior preparation, for special forces require special training. Many would consider that training is the key to the special force environment (once the difficult problem of personnel selection has been made), with the accent on rapid decision-making and effective task execution, the need to operate independently when necessary, and the fostering of a controlled, aggressive streak that enhances the fighting power of the special forces individual to well beyond the usual norm.

Special forces require special equipment, the subject of this survey. While many items of everyday in-service equipment can serve very well in special force situations, many others may not. This may be for any number of reasons, from durability or difficulties in operating or handling to inherent reliability doubts. Under ordinary operational conditions the usual run of imperfections may not be significant, but once special forces go into action they can rarely expect much in the line of combat support (armour, artillery and air strikes, etc) that conventional field forces can anticipate. They will almost always be on their own with only what they can carry. They usually operate in small numbers, and they will always be vulnerable to enemy reactions.

This alone makes special forces equipment unique to the role. Every item carried, worn or utilised by special forces personnel has to perform to one criteria level only, that of the maximum possible combat value and reliability for the minimum amount of bother. If any particular item of hardware does not meet those performance levels it can become a potential liability when it matters most. This can lead to some commonplace items assuming price tickets way above what the casual onlooker might expect, but in special forces situations such costs have to be accepted (within limits).

On the other side of the coin, many items of special forces equipment will have little utility on a conventional battlefield during routine military operations. Items such as high speed special forces vehicles may have an inherent fascination that can turn the head of any observer, but such vehicles can have few attractions once full-scale combat arises. Apart from their speed and agility, they provide no worthwhile level of protection for their crews. Special forces have to accept such shortcomings for they have little option. They have to travel light and fast and the high speed, crosscountry vehicle is the best mobile platform that can accomplish this. Similar comments can be made regarding many other items of special forces equipment, especially the more expensive items.

Selection is another all-important aspect of special forces equipment. Quite apart from the routine task of selecting the best tool for a certain job, emerging technologies and materials have to be constantly surveyed to determine which equipment or techniques might become available in the near future. Special forces units will always tend to favour anything lighter, more compact and easier or quicker to utilise, for they have to do the carrying and use the items in action. Even if a particular weapon or piece of equipment might appear to be sufficient for a task, special forces will always be on the lookout for something that can do the same but better -- in their eyes.

Cutting Edge of Technology

For this reason special forces equipment is often at the cutting edge of technology. From this it comes as no surprise that special forces are often issued with weapons and equipment that, at first, often seem to have no obviously defined combat role. The instance of the anti-materiel rifle is one relatively recent case in point. When the first large calibre rifles were revealed to the gaze of an incredulous public they seemed to have no clear military purpose other than the gratification of military gun nuts. It took time before it was generally appreciated that anti-materiel rifles could knock out high value enemy weapon systems and vehicles at ranges of well over a kilometre, making them ideal instruments for many special forces missions. While still being retained as anti-materiel weapons by special forces, the deployment of large calibre rifles has now spread into many other spheres of military activity. But the special forces were there first, as they have been with many electronic devices such as miniature land navigation systems and handheld frequency-hopping radios.

It also has to be appreciated that the provision of special forces equipment is no longer an esoteric aspect of the defence scene but an inherent and growing part. Numerous concerns have sprung up to meet the demands of what seems to be an expanding market. Special forces have proliferated well away from the major powers that were once the main homes of such units. It seems that every nation with any pretence at a military establishment has to contain a special forces unit -- the recent example of Fiji springs to mind for the wrong reasons. While most of these recently formed units are contained within military structures, many police forces seem to have them for reasons of their own. Multi-rolled para-military special force units are not unknown. The SAS, Seals, Spetsnaz and GSG9 are no longer the only special forces for youngsters to aspire to.

Glamour?

But a cautionary word to round off these introductory notes is necessary to put the following contents into perspective. The term special forces sounds attractive to many who do not appreciate what the tasks concerned can involve. Just because the very name of special forces sounds glamorous and action-packed, it does not follow that they are all populated by elite individuals, although such an assumption often does wonders for unit morale. The personnel involved will usually admit that their military role is special but that is as far as it goes. They tend to regard themselves as force members with special but not necessarily precisely defined military tasks. To aid them in their work, they require special equipment, some of it very special, but in the last resort, and as with all other military equipment, the hardware is only a means to an end. It has to be used by specially trained personnel.

Good Reading

If books like Sir Peter de la Billiere's Storm Command and Looking for Trouble paperbacks were purchased by any reader when they were first published in, respectively, 1992 and 1994 by Harper Collins, chances are that their spines will by now be well cracked and their covers over-tired from the unpreventable re-reading and the constant grabbing of them for reference purposes. These are two `not put-downables' that read like novels, only that they tell true stories, the first one of the Special Air Service's infiltrations behind Iraqi lines while the second, more autobiographical, provides an account of SAS operations from the service's resurrection in the early 1950s through to the Gulf War.