New head of Strategic Capabilities Office wants to focus on AI

"WASHINGTON — The Strategic Capabilities Office is under new management, and its new director intends to doubledown on the agency’s emphasis on artificial intelligence. In his first interview since taking over the office, Chris Shank, the new SCO director, made it clear he sees artificial intelligence as a sweet spot for his office. Roughly one third of SCO projects deal with autonomous systems, machine learning or AI in some way, Shank said, including long-range fires programs, cyber programs and some assorted with special forces."

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Lessons I learned from training with special forces that I use in software development - DEV Community ��‍����‍��

"Interestingly, it wasn't until after I left the Army that had the unique opportunity to train with and be taught by some of Military's best. I've trained with and been taught by Green Berets, Army Rangers, Marine Force Reconnaissance, Navy SEALs, and guys whose titles are classified. I learned a myriad of skills, like weapons and tactics, clandestine and covert operations, and small and big team teamwork. While most of the training revolved around the application of these skills and the physical and mental toughness needed to operate effectively in adverse conditions, many of the lessons from a high level view have helped me in my career as a developer. "

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France may take the lead in fighting jihadists - Sahel or high water

"BY ANY standards, the international airport of Niger’s capital is a dozy spot— unless you are a French military air-traffic controller. On the civilian side of the ramshackle airport a few planes come and go. The contrast with the military side could not be starker. Helicopters and military transport planes sit on the apron. Mirage warplanes sit ready for action. This is the aviation hub of Barkhane, France’s four-year-old counter-terrorism operation in the Sahel, which has its headquarters in Chad, and also operates across Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania and Niger."

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Training of Para SF Commando | Toughest Military Training in India | Veer by Discovery

In the 36 hours stress test during Para SF training, commandos are tested beyond their physical limits and mental fears. They are kept sleep deprived with only 2 hours of sleep. The commandos are tested with a continuous series of gruelling exercise, a simulated battle situation. And when the body starts giving up, they have to do a speed march of 10 KM with a 30 KG battle load and their personal weapons. Watch the short video...

10 Elite Special Forces of the World

Ok, don't fret just yet. Your favourite may be missing but this is just one list of the many out there...

Oxford Research Group | The Golden Age of Special Operations Forces

Oxford Research Group | The Golden Age of Special Operations Forces:

"Special Forces have long captured people’s imaginations. Books, films, videogames and news outlets propagate an image of heroism and mysticism – only added to by governments’ reticence to discuss their operations. The impact of this is that, while almost everyone knows or thinks they know what Special Forces are, few really know what they do. This article seeks to address this by giving an introduction to the operations of Special Forces, using the US Special Operations Forces (SOF) as a case study. The first section of this article will describe what SOF do, especially looking at their two core tasks in dismantling terrorist groups – direct and indirect operations – and their increasing role as the sole boots on the ground. The second section briefly describes the history of SOF, from their origins in World War Two to the Obama administration – where, attempting to balance tackling this threat with the political desire to bring troops home, they became his ‘tool of choice’. The final section touches upon three dangers with the current use of SOF: the damage to democracy, given the secrecy of SOF and prominence of their use in US operations; the overuse what is a comparably small and specifically trained part of the US force; and the problems it could present for US’s broader foreign policy goals."

Final Heroic Moments that earned John Chapman the Medal of Honor | Military.com

Video Shows Final Heroic Moments That Earned John Chapman the Medal of Honor | Military.com: 


"The U.S. Air Force has released video highlights from an overhead intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance aircraft taken on March 4, 2002 that shows the final heroic moments of Tech Sgt. John Chapman, who will receive the Medal of Honor for his bravery later this month."

FN FAL: The World's Most Successful Battle Rifle | SpecialOperations.com

FN FAL: The World's Most Successful Battle Rifle | SpecialOperations.com



Ok, and all this while the Indian Army had the cribs flowing out of its ears. Poor metallurgy, poorer cartridges and a woeful quality check relegated this wonderful weapon to a third-world vestige.

The FAL (French: Fusil Automatique Léger, English: Light Automatic Rifle) is a battle rifle designed by Belgian small arms designers Dieudonné Saive and Ernest Vervier and manufactured by FN Herstal.

An interesting read at Wiki below. The politics around a simple weapon is intriguing...

https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=FN_FAL&oldid=857303618

JSOU, Will Irwin: A Comprehensive and Proactive Approach to Unconventional Warfare

Underdeveloped and under-equipped, India's special forces in dire need of attention of defence ministry - Firstpost

"First, any SOF is only as good as its equipment. This is true of the armed forces as a whole, but is particularly applicable to the SOF. An army division, for instance, may ‘manage’ a situation by weight of sheer numbers and tight command in a given geographical area. The SOF cannot. An SOF unit can hardly do deep penetration operations if it doesn’t have the platform to get there. It cannot even do a short strike if it doesn’t have the necessary high-end weapons to strafe a terrorist hideout. Second, an SOF operation is only as good as the intelligence available. The tragedy of the Jaffna University helidrop in October 1987, when a covert operation to get the LTTE leadership failed miserably due to defective intelligence, comes to mind."

Trials On For AC Jackets For Indian Special Forces: Manohar Parrikar

Trials On For AC Jackets For Indian Special Forces: Manohar Parrikar. Though the government has not said what material the jackets would be made of and the kind of technology used, former Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar has confirmed that trials are on. The air-conditioned jackets will help soldiers keep cool during operations 

HIGHLIGHTS 

• Jackets for special force soldiers operating in hot areas for long hours 
• Government hasn't mentioned the material or technology used for jackets 
• The US army already uses AC jackets worn underneath body armour

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Government invites bids to procure 4×4 Armoured vehicles for IAF’s Garud Special Forces. – Indian Defence Research Wing

The Ministry of Defence, Government of India has invited bids to procure approximate Qty 50-60 Armoured Vehicles for IAF along with its associated equipment from Indian vendors indented to be used by Guard Special Forces which is the special forces unit of the Indian Air Force deployed to secure Airbases Around the country and also carry out offensive operations behind enemy lines .

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Why Indian special forces are way behind the US Navy seals? Defence Minister Parrikar clears emergency modernisation plan of weapons but our commandos need more | Daily Mail Online

"Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar cleared a Rs 300- crore proposal to buy critical equipment for the Indian Army's Special Forces, but sources say the elite units will continue to lag by a distance from their American and Israeli counterparts. The plan includes purchase of over 1,100 automatic assault rifles, 1,000 freefall parachutes, sniper rifles, machine guns and lightweight rocket launchers for the army's nine battalions of Special Forces troops. "

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