Guns of the Special Forces, 2001–2015An in-depth look at the weaponry employed by Special Forces units around the world following the September 11th attacks. In the years since 9/11, Special Forces of many nations have been in almost constant action in covert, high risk operations around the globe. These include the two long conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, fighting nationalist insurgents and jihadist terrorists, as well as other lesser-known operations. The weapons used by SF are a constant source of interest and speculation, as are SF training, methods and vehicles. The armories of these elite units have developed rapidly to meet their demands and the ever more sophisticated threat. They include for example suppressed piston-driven carbines, programmable grenade launchers that airburst behind hidden enemy, and sniper rifles of extreme accuracy and range. This highly researched book gives the reader a privileged insight into this secret world, exploring the custom-built weapons that operators carry on capture/kill missions in the 21st Century. Praise for Guns of Special Forces “A cut above most of the books that purport to review special ops weapons. Its limitation to the War on Terror years allows coverage of the many weapon developments that have taken place as special operations units have been constantly deployed and in action over the last decade and a half.” —SWAT Magazine |
Contents
Submachine Guns and Personal Defence Weapons | |
Assault Rifles and Carbines | |
Battle Rifles Special Purpose and Designated Marksman Rifles | |
Combat Shotguns | |
Sniper and AntiMateriel Rifles | |
Squad Automatic Weapons and Machine Guns | |
Grenades Grenade Launchers and Rockets | |
Conclusion and the Future Bibliography | |
Common terms and phrases
300 Blackout 300 Winchester Magnum 338 Lapua Magnum accuracy adopted Afghanistan Aimpoint ammunition Army Rangers Army Special Forces assault rifle Australian automatic ballistic battle rifle Beretta bipod body armour British SAS carbine carried chambered Commando compact counter terrorist CQBR Delta deployed Designated Marksman developed DEVGRU Elcan Specter enemy engage EOTech equipped fire German Glock Glock 19 Green Beret grenade launcher grip GSG9 Heckler & Koch Heckler and Koch hostage rescue incapacitation infra-red insurgents Iraq issue JSOC laser machine gun magazine marksman rifle MARSOC metres mission Mod0 models Modular mounted MP5K Navy SEALs Picatinny rail pistol platform red dot red dot sight reliable replaced requirement SASR Sauer SCAR SEAL Team semi-automatic shooting short barrel shot shotgun sidearm sight small arms sniper rifle SOCOM SOF units SOPMOD special operations standard submachine gun suppressed suppressor SureFire Tactical target UK Special Forces variant velocity weapon light whilst