Guns of the Special Forces, 2001–2015

Leigh Neville

• Publisher: Pen & Sword Military
• Year: 2016
• ISBN:
  9781473881013
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Military & Maritime History
• Index: History

An 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

Chapter One

Combat Pistols

Overview

Along with the MP5 submachine gun and perhaps now the M4A1 carbine, pistols have always been one of the firearms that the general public instantly associates with special operations forces. The image of the commando with a suppressed pistol emerging from the shadows to silence a patrolling sentry, or the secret agent using his Walther PPK to dispatch enemies of the state, is one that has been reinforced by countless movies and books. But what’s the reality in today’s gritty counter insurgency wars?

But first, a little history. During the Second World War, a large number of pistol designs were pressed into service by the Allied and Axis SOF. The most commonly encountered in Allied hands was the famous .45ACP Colt M1911 (more commonly known as the Colt .45), the 9 × 19mm Browning GP-35 (or High Power) and a number of .38 calibre revolvers, including the legendary British Webley. Rather uniquely, the Browning GP-35 was also employed by the Germans as the Belgian Fabrique Nationale (FN) factories that manufactured the Browning were captured in 1940. The GP-35 or Pistole 640(b) in German service was issued to Waffen SS and Brandenburger special operations personnel. Along with the Pistole 640(b), the Brandenburgers also carried the standard 9 × 19mm Pistole 38 (better known as the Walther P38).

An Australian Commando from Tactical Assault Group (East) aims his 9 × 19mm Heckler & Koch USP Tactical during a hostage rescue exercise. (LAC Rodney Welch, Australian SOCOMD)

A range of specialist pistols were also developed for SOF and partisan use deep behind German lines, like the British .32ACP Welrod suppressed pistol. Officially known as the Hand Firing Device Mk1, a later version was developed in 9 × 19mm that appears to have remained available in SAS and Special Boat Service (SBS) armouries until the early 1990s. The Welrod was a true suppressed pistol, developed from the ground up as a sentry elimination or covert assassination tool. The suppressor was integral to the pistol and featured a unique bolt action that meant that apart from the sound of the firing pin, there was virtually no mechanical noise from the weapon whatsoever. The trade-off for such suppression meant that the rate of fire was markedly slowed and the operator would have been well advised to make sure his first shot was well aimed!

The diminutive .45ACP M1942 Liberator smoothbore was also designed for extremely close range shooting, firing the heavier .45ACP round from a fixed five-round magazine. The Liberator was supplied to resistance agents as a simple to use concealable self-defence weapon. Like the Welrod, each round had to be manually chambered, although extracting the spent casing was hardly straightforward. The shooter was forced to insert a writing pen, stick or similar shaped object down the barrel to push the spent cartridge casing out of the rear of the firing mechanism before another could be loaded! One can only imagine trying to accomplish that under fire!

Intriguingly, some twenty-five years later Heckler & Koch developed a far more effective pistol for stay-behind resistance groups in Europe, the H&K VP70M. The first polymer framed pistol – the forerunner to the later Glock – the VP70M was designed to be used by West German special operations and stay-behind teams should the Soviet Shock Armies ever cross the border. The VP70M even featured an attachable shoulder stock allowing fully-automatic fire. It was never widely adopted and is today better known for featuring in the science fiction film Aliens, and for having one of the heaviest trigger pulls ever featured on a pistol – a whopping 8kg – than for being used in anger.

The civilian .22LR High Standard H-D Model was developed at the behest of the wartime Office of Strategic Services (OSS) as a suppressed undercover weapon. Featuring an integral suppressor permanently affixed to the weapon, it was known in OSS service as the M/S for Military/Silent. Versions of the M/S were also produced lacking serial numbers for use in sterile or deniable operations to eliminate any links to the United States. The M/S also featured a slide lock that stopped the slide actioning, a development later seen on other specially suppressed pistols including the Navy SEAL issue 9 × 19mm Mk22 Mod0 Hush Puppy of Vietnam fame. The Israeli Mossad secret service also used suppressed .22LR Berettas for covert assassinations during the post-Munich, Wrath of God missions. With such a small underpowered round, their tactic was to get up close to the intended target and empty the magazine into the head as the only way to reliably incapacitate a target.

Vietnam saw the previously mentioned 9 × 19mm Mk22 Mod0 Hush Puppy, a modified Smith & Wesson Model 39, become the next evolution in specialist SOF pistols. Along with the slide lock, the Mk22 fired heavy subsonic 158-grain bullets known as Green Tips. It was a very quiet weapon, but one not built for longevity as the suppressor on the Hush Puppy supposedly could only handle thirty or so shots before its suppressive baffles gave out. Various suppressed .22LRs such as the Colt Woodsman were also used by SOF teams in Vietnam.

Surprisingly, revolvers saw a brief return to service during the conflict in the very specific, and highly dangerous, environment of tunnel clearing. The AAI Tunnel Rat revolver was a Smith & Wesson Model 29 firing specially designed .44 Magnum shot shells and was deployed by Special Forces operators and Tunnel Rats tasked with the job of crawling into Viet Cong tunnel systems to pursue the insurgents. The Browning GP-35 High Power was another firm favourite and continued to serve alongside the classic M1911A1 in Special Forces and CIA hands during the conflict. The High Power was never officially adopted by the Special Forces despite its widespread use and their naval counterparts, the SEALs, actually adopted the first 9 × 19mm pistol in official US military service.

The 9 × 19mm Smith & Wesson Model 39 (predecessor to the later Mk22 Mod0 Hush Puppy) was adopted by the SEALs in the 1960s alongside their .38 Special Model 15 revolvers. According to noted SEAL historian Kevin Dockery, the SEALs had apparently wanted the heavier .357 Magnum Model 19 revolver but due to a budget conscious procurement officer, ended up with the .38! Both the 9 × 19mm and the .38 accompanied the SEAL Teams to Vietnam.

Surprisingly, this was not the only time SEALs carried revolvers over automatics. SEAL Team Six soon after their formation in the late 1970s also purchased a number of stainless steel .357 Magnum Smith & Wesson Model 66s for maritime over-the-beach (OTB) use. As they could be quickly drained of water, revolvers were an early favourite with the SEALs. Automatic pistols face a far greater chance of a stoppage or, if the barrel is full of water, a more catastrophic failure that may injure the operator (today all pistols used by the SEALs and SBS for instance are OTB rated). Due to the punishing environments the SEALs operated in and the pressures of dive training on the weapons’ frames, the Model 66s had to be replaced. SEAL Team Six evaluated and purchased a new .357 Magnum revolver in 1984, this time the Model 686 in a 4-inch barrelled stainless steel model.

Post-Vietnam, the emerging threat of international terrorism caused a shift in SOF priorities. After the tragic wakeup call of the Black September hostage taking and murders at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games, combat pistols again came to the fore as an important tool in the SOF armoury. European counter terrorist teams, predictably enough, tended toward German Heckler and Koch and Swiss SIG Sauer designs. In the United States the FBI established the fledgling Hostage Rescue Team (HRT) to combat domestic terrorist incidents. Taking their cue from the British SAS they were initially equipped with customised 9 × 19mm Browning High Powers. The US Army’s counter terrorist 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment – Delta – better known to the public as Delta Force, was also established in the late 1970s. Delta was equipped with their now iconic custom .45ACP M1911A1s from its earliest days.

The famed German Border Police counter terrorist unit, Grenzschutz-gruppe 9 (GSG9), was also formed in direct response to the Munich Massacre. GSG9 initially employed the 9 × 19mm Heckler and Koch P9S and the .38 Special Smith & Wesson Model 36, a 2-inch barrelled snub-nosed revolver designed principally for concealability and an odd choice, more fitting for a television detective than a GSG9 operator. Both sidearms were first used operationally during Operation Feuerzauber, the assault on the hijacked Lufthansa airliner at Mogadishu Airport, Somalia in 1977. Inside the airliner, the little .38 Special revolver (firing non-hollowpoint, ball ammunition) was used at close range against one terrorist with the GSG9 operator forced to dump all five rounds in the cylinder into the target with no immediate effect. A second GSG9 operator had to step in to finish off the terrorist with a burst from his 9 × 19mm HK54 submachine gun.

After the operation, the .38 Special was fully replaced in GSG9 service by both the P9S and the 9 × 19mm squeeze-cocking Heckler and Koch P7 or PSP pistol. The P7 was a unique design, featuring a cocking mechanism in the pistol grip that required a firm squeeze of some 7kg to chamber a round. This meant the P7 could be safely carried with a round in the chamber with no external safety applied – a requirement from German police trials in the early 1970s. It also meant that this unique design could be fired by holding back the trigger and squeezing the cocking lever. The P7M13 with a larger magazine capacity was launched in the US and, despite some police sales, it never proved popular and was unfortunately discontinued. The P7 was also eventually replaced in GSG9 service by a custom OTB verified 9 × 19mm Glock 17 known as the P9M.

The British SAS and SBS maintained their 9 × 19mm Browning High Power pistols for many years for both their black-role counter terrorism missions and green-role wartime operations. The High Power was known for its reliability and its magazine capacity – at thirteen rounds (plus one in the chamber), the Belgian pistol had a much higher capacity than any of its peers until designs like the Beretta M92 (M9) began to appear in the mid-1980s. Twenty-round extended magazines were also produced by FN for the SAS and debuted at the Prince’s Gate operation. The High Power was a solid combat pistol design and, apart from replacement low-light sights, SAS High Powers were apparently left largely unmodified.

The Browning was finally replaced by the SIG Sauer 9 × 19mm P226 and P228 series in the late 1980s. Intriguingly, the SAS had also apparently used a factory modified, shortened version of the P226 prior to the development of the P228 called the P226K. This P226K was issued primarily for use on plain clothes counter terrorist duties in Northern Ireland. The Browning was also the issue weapon for the Canadian, New Zealand and Australian SOF for many years, along with the FBI’s Hostage Rescue Team. The HRT used their Wayne Novak custom High Powers until they switched to Les Baer customised .45ACP Para Ordnance P14s that featured a double-stack magazine of fourteen rounds. Magazine related stoppages forced the HRT to look for a single-stack .45ACP design and they later adopted the .45ACP Springfield Custom Operator. Double-stack magazines are often the cause of reliability issues in 1911 pattern pistols, an issue Delta ran into in Iraq.

A Royal Marine from 43 Commando Fleet Protection Group deploying the venerable 9 × 19mm L9A1 Browning High Power during exercises simulating opposed boarding of pirate vessels. (PH2 Class Kevin H. Tierney.)

Whatever particular model selected, the combat pistol has been traditionally viewed as a last-ditch self-defence weapon for those military personnel who had jobs other than infantry or special operations; tank or armoured vehicle crews (although when deployed they soon acquired carbines or submachine guns to supplement their sidearms), drivers, radio operators, intelligence types and the like. Pistols have also long been a status symbol for officers within the world’s militaries. It is also a distinctive badge of rank that denotes a commissioned officer. The conventional thinking regarding the issue of pistols to officers was that they did not require a rifle or carbine as they had other more important things to worry about rather than shooting at the enemy. Indeed if things had degenerated to the point an officer was using his pistol then there were bigger problems afoot! Since the Second World War, savvy infantry officers have swapped their pistols for rifles, both to improve their chances should they be involved in a surprise encounter with the enemy and to make themselves less of a target to enemy snipers who will look for the obvious signifiers such as rank slides, radio aerials or sidearms.

On today’s battlefields, the issue of the pistol is very much as a secondary back-up to the principal shoulder weapon. Should the rifle or carbine suffer a catastrophic malfunction, be taken out of the fight by a stray enemy round or blast from an IED or otherwise be rendered inoperable, the pistol is the last line of defence. A well-trained SOF operator might just hold back the enemy long enough for help to arrive or to incapacitate a close range threat to allow his primary weapon to be brought back into action. A US Navy SEAL in Fallujah was forced to engage three armed insurgents at point blank range with his SIG Sauer P226 pistol whilst being shot an incredible twenty-seven times with 7.62 × 39mm rounds. Thankfully his body armour stopped most of the rounds and the SEAL survived the encounter – the insurgents did not.

Former SEAL Mark Owen described a typical situation when a SEAL might use his sidearm in his book No Hero. Whilst conducting a building assault in Baghdad with his SEAL Team Five colleagues, he suffered a stoppage with his M4A1: ‘I got about four shots off and was halfway up the stairs when my M-4 (sic) jammed. There was no time to fix it, so I let it drop. My rifle hung across my chest as I slid my pistol out of the holster on my leg.’ His pistol, a 9 × 19mm SIG Sauer P226, kept him armed and in the fight until he could clear his carbine. Similarly, a British officer serving in southern Iraq commented: ‘I heard about one of our soldiers who was caught in a contact with a stoppage he couldn’t clear, he was apparently terrified. I made sure I always took two weapons out with me after that.’ A former US Army special operator explained ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Introduction
• Acknowledgements
• Acronyms
• Chapter 1: Combat Pistols
• Chapter 2: Submachine Guns and Personal Defence Weapons
• Chapter 3: Assault Rifles and Carbines
• Chapter 4: Battle Rifles, Special Purpose and Designated Marksman Rifles
• Chapter 5: Combat Shotguns
• Chapter 6: Sniper and Anti-Materiel Rifles
• Chapter 7: Squad Automatic Weapons and Machine Guns
• Chapter 8: Grenades, Grenade Launchers and Rockets
• Chapter 9: Conclusion and the Future
• Bibliography