Website: www.combatandsurvival.

com

Editor: Bob Morrison

Designer: Jack Perry
Senior Correspondents:
Carl Schulze & Yves Debay
Firearms Tester: Greg Roberts
Gear Tester: Mike Gormley
Survival Expert: Robin S Broom
Security Consultant: David Rubens
Webmaster: Daryl Crowther
Advertisement Sales Director:
Moira Spencer
Tel: 01484 435011
Email: moira@maionline.co.uk

Distributed by
Warners Group Publications PLC
The Maltings, West Street, Bourne PE10 9PH
Print by Acorn Colourprint Ltd:
Loscoe Close, Normanton, WF6 1TW

Subscriptions and Back Issue Orders to:

COMBAT & SURVIVAL Magazine
P16 British Forces THE CHESHIRES P16
which is published by:-
Bob Morrison joins 1st Battalion The Mercian Regiment on final
MAI Publications, Revenue Chambers,
work-up for Afghanistan
St. Peter’s Street, Huddersfield, HD1 1DL
Tel: (01484) 435011
P25 Firearms SPECIALIST AMMO Pt.2 Fax: (01484) 422177
Greg Roberts behind the scenes discovering how ammunition
used by SF and SWAT is made ISSN: 0955-9841
To Subscribe or order a digital edition visit
P32 Working Knives www.combatandsurvival.com
ORANGE VARIATIONS Advertising: moira@maionline.co.uk
Bob Morrison reviews a range of simple blades for the survivalist
and outdoorsman P25 Editorial: combatandsurvival@hotmail.com
©Copyright here and abroad of all material is held
P34 Footwear Review Karrimor SF by the publishers. No reproduction is permitted
One of the two new Cold Wet Weather combat boot types just whatsoever without prior consent in writing.
ordered by UK MoD IMPORTANT: All individual combat and personal
survival activities involve risk of injury to oneself and
P36 Frontline Report 2 others and great care must be taken carrying out any
such activities. Expert guidance should be sought and
CHOPPER SUPPORT equipment checked for reliability before any activities
described here in are carried out. The publishers
Al Venter comes out of retirement to interview legendary cannot accept any responsibility for any injury, death,
P32
helicopter pilot Neall Ellis loss or damage which may result.
ARTICLES AND PHOTOGRAPHS
P44 Firearms 2 L110A1 Minimi will be welcomed and considered for publication.
Bob Morrison looks at the 5.56mm Minimi as it racks up ten Submission of such shall be considered a warranty
that they are original and do not infringe on the
years of frontline UK service copyright of others. Unsuitable material can only be
returned if you include a S.A.E. Loss or damage is not
P50 Marching Ammo 17 the responsibility of COMBAT & SURVIVAL.

24-HOUR ORP DISCLAIMER: The publishers make no

representations, endorsements, guarantees or
Bob Morrison taste tests the 2012 version of the British individual warranties concerning the products and/or services
one-day field ration advertised within this magazine. We expressly disclaim
P35 any and all liability relating to or arising from the sale,
manufacture, distribution, use or misuse of such.
P58 Gormley’s Gear P53
TRIED & TESTED
Mike Gormley trials hiking boots,
eating irons, water heater and a 'life-
proof' mobile

P62 Kit & Camo

P44
Czech Vz 63
R takes a detailed look at
the intriguing Cold War
era 'Needles' pattern
combat jacket

P66
Security
Reputations P58
David Rubens
ponders just how
easy it is to lose that Nov 2012 Cover Image:
one valuable but often Bob Morrison
intangible asset © M.A.I. Publications 2012
P05: Comms
P22, 42 & 56: Reviews
P68: Games
Forum Supported by Combat & Survival

Combat & Survival | 03


The Afghan government relies heavily on
civilian helicopter crews to keep the
country running
First of all this month I have
been told by Lieutenant Colonel
Matthew Tresidder that I have
to eat a massive slice of
humble pie for suggesting on
these pages that UK MoD were
unlikely to buy combat boots
from my personal favourites,
Alt-Berg of Yorkshire. Okay 'Big
Matt', I was wrong. Sorry. It has
now been confirmed that Alt-
Berg's Defender model is going
to be one of the four full grain
leather boots being procured to
keep UK forces remarkably well
shod for the next few years. See
pages 34 and 42 for more boot
news.
T
he second half of this month has
been a bit of a roller-coaster, as not
only were we in limbo while we
awaited news from Kabul of precisely
who had been lost in the 18th
September suicide bomb attack on a
minibus full of South African helicopter
aircrew and ground crew, but I also
feared (thankfully wrongly) that a drinking
buddy might have been one of those lost
when a light aircraft heading for Lukla
airfield, which serves Everest Base
Camp, crashed shortly after take-off from
Kathmandu on the 28th. These days 24-
hour news coverage alerts us to
tragedies near instantly, but inevitably it
takes a day or two for relatives of those
killed or missing to be informed so we
are all kept on tenterhooks until the
official announcement is made.
Our senior citizen reporter, Al J Venter,
recently came out of retirement to
interview the legendary helicopter pilot
Neall 'Nellis' Ellis on the part he and his
colleagues from ACS/BalmOral were
playing in Afghanistan where they were
working contract on behalf of the Afghan
Government flying much-needed
supplies and personnel, mostly NGO and
government officials, to more remote
towns where road transport was not an
option. Sadly it was this very team which
a female suicide bomber attacked, as
they were on their way by minibus to start
another day working for the Afghan
people, supposedly in revenge for some
third rate internet movie clip which the
mullahs had declared as being
blasphemous. Now I may be a simple
man, but none of the various holy
scriptures I have read have said anything
about condoning the slaughter of
innocents in revenge for the perceived
wrongdoing of others so I cannot fathom
out why some religious leaders seem to
think this sort of thing is acceptable.
The eight South African employees of the
aviation company who lost their lives,
alongside four equally innocent Afghans,
on that fateful morning in Kabul were:
Jenny Margaret Ayris, Brandon Quinn
Booth, Johan Frederick Bouchaud,
Fraser Angus Carey, Johannes Judenis
Humphries, Johan Abraham van
Huyssteen, Steven Leong and Christian
Johannes Justus Pretorius. Nellis, Al's
good friend of many years and many
African wars, was fortunately not on the
minibus that day but it was over 48 hours
before we knew for sure. Let the planned
two-part feature which starts on page 35
of this issue serve as an obituary to
those who gave their lives working for the
good of a deeply troubled Afghanistan.
September was another bad month for
British operational fatalities amongst
those serving in Afghanistan with eight
soldiers failing to return to their loved
ones, though not all died as a result of
enemy action. No matter what the cause
of death, the thoughts of the C&S Team
are with their families, colleagues and
friends at this sad time.
On Friday 7th September Guardsman
Karl Whittle, from the 1st Battalion of the
Grenadier Guards, lost his battle for life
at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital
Birmingham where he had been brought
after sustaining gunshot wounds when
his checkpoint was attacked by
insurgents in the Nahr-e Saraj district of
Helmand Province on 14th August. Two
days later, on Sunday 9th, Sergeant Lee
Paul Davidson of the Light Dragoons was
fatally wounded when the Ridgback he
was travelling in on a patrol with the
Afghan Uniform Police struck an
improvised explosive device in Nahr-e
Saraj district.
Lance Corporal Duane Groom, from 1st
Battalion of the Grenadier Guards, was
also killed in action when his vehicle
struck an improvised explosive device in
the Nahr-e Saraj district on Friday 14th
September. A day later Sergeant Gareth
Thursby and Private Thomas Wroe, both
of 3rd Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment,
were shot and fatally wounded by a
rogue Afghan Local Policeman at
Checkpoint Tora, also in the Nahr-e Saraj
district.
Sergeant Jonathan Eric Kups, from the
Royal Electrical and Mechanical
Engineers, died at Camp Bastion, on
Friday 21st September but his death was
not as a result of enemy action. On the
same day Captain James Anthony
Townley from the Corps of Royal
Engineers died in Camp Bastion from
wounds sustained whilst serving at
Forward Operating Base Shawqat.
Finally, on Monday 24 September
Captain Carl Manley of the Royal Marines
died at Bagram Air Force Base from what
are believed to be natural causes.
On this page of C&S we only print a brief
Roll of Honour for British Forces who die
on operations, 390 to date from enemy
action and 43 from accident or illness,
but it must not be forgotten that many
other nations are participating on ISAF
duties in Afghanistan. The Americans
provide around two thirds of the non-
Afghan troops serving with ISAF so it
should be little surprise that they bear the
brunt of the fatalities. On the last day of
September the US death toll hit the
dreaded 2000 mark. Our thoughts are
also with their loved ones.
Combat & Survival 05

The Brunei based 2nd
Battalion of The Royal Gurkha
Rifles is the only permanent
acclimatised and jungle
warfare trained element of the
British Army, but despite this 2
RGR was deployed with the
British ISAF contingent to
Afghanistan in 2011. Under
Operation HERRICK 14 the
battalion did not deploy as an
integral unit but was split up,
with its companies assigned
to different tasks. A Company
and B Company, for example,
were employed as ground
holding companies assigned to
the 1st Battalion of The Rifles
in Nar-e Saraj (South) and 45
Commando Royal Marines in
Nad Ali South. The remaining
elements of the battalion were
tasked with mentoring,
including running the Police
From the roof of a small building a sniper team from
the 2nd Battalion of The Royal Gurkha Rifles provides
overwatch for a patrol operating in an area that had
seen recent insurgent activity
1
1: On OpSec
(Operational
Security) grounds
UK MoD prefers
Mentoring Advisory Group and that C&S does not
the Regional Training Centre of identify its elite
the Afghan National Police. snipers so their
When C&S twice visited 2 RGR faces have been
in Afghanistan in June 2011 and blurred
August 2011 we managed to throughout this
spend some time with the article
battalion's elite snipers.
ON THE HUNT 2: A 2 RGR sniper
team awaits the
11th August 2011, Check Point order to move -
Abpashak East, Nar-e Saraj (South), the shooter is
Province Helmand. Hidden behind the armed with the
sandbagged walls of the checkpoint a L115A3 Long
sniper team from 2 RGR monitors the
Range Rifle while 2
fields and treelines to the east, with
special interest being paid by the two
the spotter
carries the
team members to an abandoned and
partly destroyed compound. It is from the L129A1
vicinity of these ruins that the checkpoint Sharpshooter Rifle
had been attacked several times in
recent days by insurgents using small
arms fire and 40mm grenades launched
from underslung grenade launchers.
Combat & Survival 09
 3

The sniper team's position is covered by

3: During a patrol camouflage netting so that their covert
a sniper team of 2 presence is not given away in advance.
RGR has taken up a With night already falling the shooter and
position on a river spotter employ thermal imaging
bank - the spotter equipment, the L115A3 Long Range Rifle
is positioned to the of the shooter being fitted with the clip-
right and slightly on Sniper Thermal Imaging Capability
behind the shooter (STIC) attachment. A couple of weeks
before CP Abpashak East, at that time
to best observe only manned by members of the Afghan
the trace of the Uniformed Police (AUP), had been
4 bullet overrun by the Taliban. However the CP
was instantly retaken by the Gurkhas of
4: The Schmidt & A (Amboor) Company, 2 RGR when they
Bender 5-25x56 arrived on the scene shortly afterwards.
PM II LP scope
fitted to the Time passes slowly. Occasionally the
L115A3 Long members of the sniper team suck a little
Range Rifle though water from their Camelbaks, but
otherwise they remain nearly motionless.
intended for 1,500 Their aim is it to teach the Taliban a
metre maximum lesson tonight and by doing so provide
engagements is the mixed checkpoint team, consisting of
actually accurate Gurkhas and AUP members, with some
out to 2,000 freedom.
metres
Around 23:00 hours it becomes clear
that the hopes of the snipers will not be
fulfilled. The Taliban are up for something
different tonight, as the sound of rifle and
machinegun fire heard to the south

10 Combat & Survival


The L115A3 Long Range Rifle has a Schmidt
& Bender PM II LP scope, 5-round
magazine, a sound suppressor, a foldable
stock, Harris bi-pod and MIL-STD 1913
Picatinny rail
indicates that another checkpoint,
somewhere in the area of responsibility
of another unit, is being attacked. But
the snipers remain focused. The night
is not over yet and the Taliban might still
be in the mood to fire some shots at CP
Abpashak East.
And if the snipers will not be successful
tonight, then they will be in position
again tomorrow night. In addition to
being a very good shot it takes a lot of
patience to be a good sniper.
SUPERB SHOTS
It is well known that most Gurkhas are
good shots and their snipers most
certainly are; something the Gurkhas
prove regularly during the annual Army
Operational Shooting Competition, held
on the Bisley ranges. During the 2012
competition, the team of 2 RGR, only a
half year after the battalion returned
from Afghanistan, won almost 90% of
the competition's infantry trophies;
including the Inter Unit Operational
Shooting, Inter Unit Combat Rifle
Match, Inter Unit Combat Rifle and
Machine Gun Match and Inter Unit
Pistol Match.
5
5: This 2 RGR 6 7
sniper has
attached a
ballistic data
chart to the stock
of his 338 Lapua
Magnum L115A3
Long Range Rifle -
note also the tape
to camouflage
rifle and sight
6: During their
HERRICK 14
Afghanistan
deployment the
Gurkha snipers
wore Personal
Clothing System
kit in MTP and
matching body In the Army 100 members of the 2 RGR other daily routines, including at remote
team came 5th, 9th, 10th and 11th. This checkpoints, for example, cooking the
armour, pouches,
said it is no wonder that the Gurkha traditional Gurkha Curry.
daysacks etc. snipers, and in particular the snipers of 2
RGR, are said to be amongst the best of Mission length varied as well. In some
7: The PLRF10 the British Army. instances a sniper team might be
Pocket Laser deployed only for a couple of hours,
Range Finder MISSIONS providing overwatch for a patrol, while
weights 620g and other times it might stay for several days,
can be employed As a matter of operational security the or even weeks, at a checkpoint
to measure snipers of 2 RGR were not able to speak supporting the troops employed there.
ranges up to a a lot about their missions while we were Asked about the difficulties encountered
with them. However, it can be said that while operating in Helmand Province.
distance of
under Operation HERRICK 14 they mostly even the jungle acclimatised Gurkha
2,500m - the deployed alongside with their comrades snipers admitted that the biggest
system features a of the rifle companies, supporting them challenge for them was the summer
x6 magnification with accurate fire well beyond the range heat. Another problem was the ever
and offers an of the standard infantry rifles. present IED threat.
accuracy of
+/- 2m The types of missions performed by the
snipers varied a lot in nature and ranged L115A3 LONG RANGE RIFLE
from defensive to offensive ones; for
example including the gathering of The standard sniper rifle employed by
reconnaissance or providing overwatch the Gurkha snipers of 2 RGR is the .338
for patrols and cordon and search Lapua Magnum L115A3 Long Range
operations. When not employed in the Rifle, manufactured by Accuracy
sniper role the Gurkha snipers were International Limited. This weapon
deployed as riflemen, doing sentry duty in replaced the older 7.62x51mm L96A1
CPs, going out on patrols and sharing all Sniper Rifle, which was also
Combat & Survival 11

8 ACOG 6x48 optical sight the rifle
manufactured by Accuracy International,
a couple of years ago. For operations at
night and in low visibility the Sniper
Thermal Imaging Capability (STIC)
attachment is installed in front of the
scope of the weapon.
The L115A3 features a Schmidt &
Bender 5-25x56 PM II LP scope and can
be fitted with a suppressor. In the
capable hands of Gurkha snipers the
weapon can be employed to engage
targets out to a range of 1,500 metres,
with high accuracy. The snipers also
mentioned that a good shot can hit
targets well beyond this mark with the
weapon.
12 Combat & Survival
The Long Range Rifle measures
1,200mm long and weighs 8.9kg, with
scope fitted. The weapon features a
stock made of polymer, the butt of which
can be folded up to reduce its length.
The butt stock can be adjusted in length
by the use of spacers and feature a
cheekpiece which is adjustable in height.
The magazine of the weapon can hold
five rounds. It is issued complete with a
tactical sound suppressor and a Harris
bipod.
L129A1
SHARPSHOOTER RIFLE
In Afghanistan the spotters of the Gurkha
A selection of the kit
carried by 2 RGR
snipers during
missions in
Afghanistan including:
L115A3 Long Range
Rifle with three spare
magazines; Camelbak;
Personal Role Radio;
PLRF10 Pocket Laser
Range Finder; Sniper
Thermal Imaging
Capability; HMNVS
MK2 clip-on
monocular night
vision system; Kukri;
cable binders;
L109A1 Hand
Grenade Anti-
Personnel; 45-litre
Patrol Pack in MTP;
weapon cleaning kit;
map; Silva compass;
medical equipment
and Mk7 GS Combat
Helmet
sniper teams carried the 7.62x51mm
NATO L129A1 Sharpshooter Rifle
fitted with a Trijicon ACOG 6x48
optical sight. The L129A1 features a
retractable butt stock and is 924mm
long. Together with the Trijicon
weights 6.2kg. The weapon is fitted
with a Harris bipod and uses 20-
round magazines. The upper and
lower receiver of the weapon are
made of 7075-T6 aluminium.
The L129A1 Sharpshooter Rifle can
be employed to engage targets out
to a range of 800 metres. The
advantage of the semi-automatic
rifle is that, if required, a second
round can be fired in quick
succession to the first; for example
instantly if the first round is observed
to miss its target or when an enemy
has to be pinned down in position.
Dependent on the mission, the
shooter might also carry a 5.56x45m
SA80A2 TES assault rifle in addition
to his 338 Lapua Magnum L115A3
8: If required the Long Range Rifle. During patrols this
.338 Lapua allows him to function as a rifleman.
Magnum L115A3 Usually the members of the sniper
Long Range Rifle team also each carry a couple of the
can be fitted with L109A1 Hand Grenade Anti-
a tactical Personnel and, of course, their Kukri
suppressor to knife; a fearsome close quarter
significantly weapon when used by skilled
hands.
reduce the noise
signature of the
Clothing and Protective Equipment
weapon helping
During their 2011 Afghanistan
conceal the team's deployment the Gurkha snipers
location wore Personal Clothing System kit in
the latest Multi Terrain Pattern.
Protective equipment worn during
 9

9: A patrol from A operations included the Mk7 GS Combat 10

(Amboor) Helmet, Osprey Mk 4 Combat Body
Company 2 RGR Armour (in light fighting order, with Hard
near one of their Armour Plates fitted) and Tier One pelvic
protection.
checkpoints -
Gurkha sniper Attached to their Osprey Mk 4 Body
teams provided Armour the Gurkhas carried issue
overwatch pouches such as; the First Aid Pouch,
supporting them the Commanders Pouch, the
with accurate fire Sharpshooter 3-Magazine Pouch, the
well beyond the Smoke Grenade Pouch, SA80 2
range of the Magazine Pouch, Smoke Grenade Pouch
standard rifles and so on. These were used to store
everything needed close to hand,
ranging from navigation equipment and
10: A 2 RGR
magazines to a first aid kit (that includes
Gurkha (not a a tourniquet) and an emergency ration.
sniper) armed The HMNVS MK2 clip on monocular
with a 7.62mm night vision system is usually also carried
L129A1 in one of the pockets. Also attached to
Sharpshooter Rifle the sniper's Osprey Mk 4 Body Armour is
11
of the type used by the Personal Role Radio (PRR) and in
elite sniper team most cases the Kukri knife.
spotter
The rest of the kit needed is usually
carried by sniper team members in their
11: As the threat
45 Litre Infantry Day Sack, now also
level in issued in Multi Terrain Pattern. For longer
Afghanistan is operations the much larger PLCE Bergen
quite high even might be employed. Kit taken along
snipers wear body included; a Desert DPM Basha, PLRF10
armour and helmet Pocket Laser Range Finder, Camelbak
- these days and bottled water, cable binders, a
usually Osprey camouflage net, a light sleeping bag,
Mk.4 and Mk.7 GS rations (often Gurkha style including a
respectively bag of rice, instant noodles and so on),
spare clothing, spare ammunition,
cleaning equipment for the sniper rifle
and so on.

Combat & Survival 13


Exercise PASHTUN DAWN, held
on UK training areas but
focussed mostly on and over
Salisbury Plain, is the final
brigade-level work-up for
troops prior to their
deployment to Afghanistan to
take over the TFH (Task Force
Helmand) mission. At the end
of summer C&S attended the
4th Mechanized Brigade media
day on The Plain for the
formal briefing (see last
month) then the following
week, after the mainstream
press had lost interest, we
joined the 1st Battalion of the
Mercian Regiment, The
Cheshires, to watch them
honing their skills and drills
as they prepared for the
hectic closing phase of their
MST (Mission Specific
Training).
U
nder the watchful eyes of
OPTAG and the Directing
Staff, The Cheshires were
tested in the most realistic
16 Combat & Survival
Fire Support Group team photo at the
end of a patrol - helmet scrim is back in
fashion for Helmand
scenarios possible wearing Laser
Simulation equipment, though on
OpSec grounds we are unable to go
into precise TTPs (Tactics,
Techniques & Procedures). One
thing we can say, however, is that in
late 2012 pre-Helmand training is
very different from that we witnessed
just two or three years ago, as focus
has changed to reflect both the
forthcoming planned drawdown of
UK combat forces in 2014 and the 2
increased responsibility that Afghan 1: A multiple from
Security Forces are taking for their 7 Platoon
own country. repeatedly
practises contact
The units comprising 4 Brigade, plus drills just prior to
most of those augmenting it to form the final exercises
TFH on Op HERRICK 17, rotated phase
through MST in waves this summer
and we were able to join The
Cheshires on the last of these, where
2: Clearly
around two thousand personnel focussed Minimi
forming two mixed battlegroups gunner extracts
worked alongside Gurkha and tapping the last
Afghan role-players acting as 'Green kneeling man on
Force' security personnel, civilian the back as he
Helmandis and even insurgents. Our passes him
battalion was headquartered at
Forward Operating Base (FOB)
Noshaq, divided into individual
Advisory Team Enabling Companies
 3 Afghan and UK officers working in
partnership and also instructs British
troops on the cultural differences to
give them a better awareness and
understanding of the background and
thinking of the national soldiers and
policemen they will be so closely
working alongside. With Taliban tactics
constantly evolving to find ways
around the increased protective
measures adopted by ISAF forces, the
thorny issue of 'Green on Blue' attacks
is high on the agenda and anything
the CULAD can do to foster better
understanding between warriors from
completely different backgrounds and
cultures can pay dividends in the field.

In preparation for HERRICK 17 The

Cheshires' CULAD spent a year

4 5

3: Contact left! The 6

multiple lays down
heavy return fire
and extracts in
leapfrogging pairs
7
4: TESEX simulation
equipment was fitted
as the final exercise
phase would be
played out for real
5: "Let’s do that
again, but next time
..." - an NCO explains
how the contact
drills can be
improved
6: The CULAD learning about both Afghanis as a
(Cultural Advisor) people and their language, and during
who is fluent in our visit we watched him both liaising
Pashto works closely with his Afghan opposite number and
(ATEC), alongside Afghan National has taken him well away from the UK. with an Afghan major then overwatching to pick up on any
Security Forces role-players and a translation confusion during a joint
civvy Stabilisation Unit DTA (District To give some idea how emphasis has Commanders' briefing where the
changed over the years, one of the 7: Three Jackals
Transition Advisor) team who were also battalion CO and his Afghan
exercising pre-deployment; including, key members of the battalion is now from the Fire equivalent addressed officers and
coincidentally, an old ex-soldier turned the CULAD (Cultural Advisor) - what Support Group patrol senior NCOs just prior to
NGO mate from the UN Mission in the many of our NATO allies refer to as around the Forward commencement of a combined
Former Yugoslavia who we haven't the Cultural SME (Subject Matter Operating Base operation. Although English is the
bumped into for fifteen years as his job Expert) - who both liaises between common language for NATO troops

Combat & Survival 17

8

9
10

8: The training
fleet consists of
older Jackal 1
models but the FSG
will use Jackal 2
in Helmand
9: Both the heavily
armoured Mastiff 11
(lead vehicle) and
Ridgback were
used for infantry
patrols

10: Primary
Jackal armament
12 is either the .50cal
HMG (lead vehicle) deploying on ISAF duties, and many
or the 40mm LAGL Afghan senior officers are multi-
(left) lingual, most of the junior officers,
troops and policemen that UK
Forces work alongside in the field
11: Ridgback is the speak either Pashto or Dari.
smaller 4x4 sibling
of Mastiff - it While the battalion and company HQ
replaced the CAV staff were making final preparations
'Snatch' Land for the forthcoming operation, down
Rover at platoon level the sergeants were
running their men through their drills
12: Secondary for one last time before deploying
into the field. We watched 7 Platoon
Jackal armament
practising Contact Drills, the Fire
is a 7.62mm GPMG Support Group undertaking outer
mounted in front of perimeter patrols in their Jackals,
the vehicle and 1 Platoon stowing their Mastiffs
commander and ensuring everything was in
place for a rapid response when

18 Combat & Survival

 13

13: The Husky is

often used by
British troops
mentoring Afghan
National Army
personnel

14: Husky has a

well protected crew
compartment plus a
small open cargo
bed at the rear
15: The 6x6 Mastiff
is currently the
primary armoured
personnel carrier
deployed in Helmand
16: Although more
manoeuvrable than 14 15
Mastiff, Ridgback is
still bulky and will
be replaced in some
roles by Foxhound
LPPV
17: Civilian agencies
also participated -
this Discovery
belongs to the
District Transition
Advisor's team
16 they were ordered out onto the some extent this tradition is carried
ground for the final exercise. Only through to the present; though
the Directing Staff knew for sure what amalgamation at regiment level allows
they guys were likely to face, and cross-posting between battalions and
The Cheshires were pretty confident broader career path advancement.
that the devious minds of the OPTAG Indeed their CO for their last Op
trainers would have devised HERRICK deployment was originally a
something unexpected. 3rd Battalion Stafford selected from
the now wider Mercian Regiment pool
Today The Cheshires are part of the of senior officers.
four-battalion Mercian Regiment,
created in 2007 by their Raised on the Wirral in 1689 by the
amalgamation with The Staffords and Duke of Norfolk, renamed the 22nd
the Worcestershire and Sherwood Regiment of Foot in 1751 and later
Foresters plus Territorial Army renamed the 22nd (Cheshire)
formations, though under the latest Regiment, prior to amalgamation in
round of defence cuts the third 2007 The Cheshires were one of only
regular battalion (The Staffords) is five infantry battalions able to claim an
17 sadly being disbanded. Mercia was independent history dating all the way
one of the Anglo-Saxon era back to the accession of William and
kingdoms of England, corresponding Mary or before. The other four were
roughly with what today would be The Royal Scots (formed in 1633), the
considered the Midlands, originally Green Howards (formed in 1688) and,
stretching in a broad truncated also from 1689, the Royal Welch and
triangle from the Welsh borders to the Kings Own Scottish Borderers.
the Wash but which later expanded
to include East Anglia, Kent, Sussex The regiment's first campaign was in
and eventually Wessex too. Ireland, including The Battle of the
Boyne in 1690, then in the 18th
As is to be expected from their old
Century it was garrisoned first in
name, the 1st Battalion of the
Jamaica and then on Menorca, before
Mercians traditionally recruited from
recrossing the Atlantic to first play a
the county of Cheshire and
major part in the conquest of Canada
neighbouring Merseyside, and to
and then campaign against American

Combat & Survival 19

 18

18: Some of the

CO's TAC group -
they act as his
close protection
team - on their
return to the FOB

19: The battalion

colonel and his
officers liaise with
the Afghan kandak
commander and his
interpreter
20: Some of 1
Platoon help us
field test a
prototype private
19

Images © Bob Morrison: Military Scene

20 21

colonists. The 19th Century found The

Cheshires fighting with distinction
repeatedly on the Indian sub-
continent, and the 20th saw them first
deployed to South Africa, then
participating in The Great War with
almost forty battalions being raised,
followed by 17 years in India during
the inter-war years, before World War
Two participation in the British
Expeditionary Force, the North African
Campaign, Sicily, Normandy, Anzio
and the Rhine Crossing.
Post-WWII the Regular battalions of
The Cheshires served in Palestine,
Egypt, UNFICYP, Malaya, Singapore,
Hong Kong, Bahrain, Belize, Berlin,
Germany, and Northern Ireland, where
they undertook three residential tours
and six roulements on Operation
BANNER. In the nineties, under former
colonel and present MP 'Bosnia Bob'
Stewart, they played a defining role in
the Balkans as a Warrior-borne
peacekeeping battalion under UN
command.
They integrated with The Woofers and
The Staffords in 2007 as the three-
battalion Mercian Regiment, though
the 3rd Battalion (Staffords) will shortly
be disbanded under the latest round
of defence cuts. From April to October
2010, as 1 MERCIAN and also as part
of 4th Mechanized Brigade, The
Cheshires deployed to Helmand on
Operation HERRICK 12.
Based in Catterick in North Yorkshire,
1 MERCIAN is one of eighteen infantry
battalions tasked in the Light Role, as
is its sister battalion 2 MERCIAN
(Worcestershire & Sherwood
Foresters). As such its troops expect
to deploy with only minimal transport
and operate mostly on foot; in
Afghanistan this would mean
patrolling from a FOB (forward
operating base) most of the time but
occasionally being transported on
missions by vehicles such as Mastiff
and Warthog or flown forward by C-
147 Chinook transport helicopters.
The battalion, which theoretically
numbers around 650 personnel but
will have specialists attached when
on operations, is equipped with a full
range of small arms ranging from
SA80A2 assault rifles through to
heavy machineguns, plus mortars
and anti-armour weapons, not to
mention an inventory of state-of-the
art communications and surveillance
equipment. Five companies make up
the bulk of the formation, split into
three roughly 100-strong Rifle
Companies, a Support Company and
a Headquarters Company. The
22
Support Company consists of a purchase
Reconnaissance Platoon, a Mortar lightweight
Platoon, an Anti-Tank Platoon individual stretcher
(JAVELIN), a Fire Support Platoon and a
Sniper Platoon. The Headquarters 21: Pashto-
company consists of the battalion HQ
plus administrative staff, a
speaking Gurkhas
Communications and Information
acting as Afghan
Systems Platoon, a Motor Transport Army personnel
Platoon and Logistics assets. requested BARMA
training before a
As this feature goes to press many of patrol
the batttalion are already in-theatre and
preparing to take over from units who 22: Inside the
deployed last April on HERRICK 16. If battalion's Aid Post
feasible, we hope that Carl will be able
to spend some time with The Cheshires
- next month Carl
and 4 Brigade later in their deployment, will be covering a
once he has covered German and US medical training
troops on his forthcoming embed. exercise
Watch this space.

20 Combat & Survival

 1
Many who buy their kit from
Intelligent Armour Ltd. will be
aware that they specialise in
the provision of famous brand
tactical equipment for the
police, armed forces, close
protection and military
contractor sectors, at both
corporate and individual
purchaser level, but some may
be surprised to find out that
they also manufacture their
own ranges of specialist gear
from military spec materials in
the UK. Over the last few
weeks we have been field
testing some of their MultiCam
gear and have been well
impressed by it.
W
hen out and about on
assignment I almost
always carry a 10-inch
netbook in the
hydration bladder pocket of my
daysack as I need more computing
power and internet access (e.g. for
image editing and uploading) than
a tablet device allows. To give a
degree of knock and weather
protection without adding
significant weight I used to pack
the netbook inside a couple of
'nesting' jiffy bags before popping it
in the bladder pocket, but this
solution was not really ideal and it
certainly was not very tactical. Then
along came Intelligent Armour.
The company produces its own
range of padded tablet and device
soft cases, for the likes of iPad or
22 Combat & Survival
1: My 10-inch
netbook fits snugly
inside one of IA's
padded device
cases
2: Intelligent
Armour pouches
have removable
press stud straps
with buckle top
fastenings
3: In addition to
the device
compartment
there are both
envelope and
zipped pouches on
the outer face
4: Dump Pouch in
use carrying my
2 3
4
5
Kindle etc., produced from genuine
Crye MultiCam two-way stretch 40
Denier NanoSphere water resistant
fabric and padded with fire resistant
and temperature regulating
Advanced Protective Fabric from
Potomac Field Gear. These cases
come in a variety of sizes, tailored
to suit specific devices, but
essentially comprise a main lined
(light olive green) compartment with
full width Velcro cover flap, an open netbook and would slip into the SnugPak Jungle
topped outer envelope pocket with bladder pouch of even my Bag - it will also
Velcro closure tab, and a full width smallest daysack. Sorted! take waterproofs
outer zipped document or
accessory pocket. Of course if you carry a netbook,
or Kindle or iPad in your daysack 5: Hydration
A quick look at the MultiCam Field bladder pouch you will have no Carrier fitted to
Gear page on intelligent- place to store your pouch unless the outer face of
armour.co.uk showed no less than you strap a bulky bladder carrier my (tan coloured
seven different devices cases in to the outer face ... or get yourself for contrast)
stock at the time and a check of the one of Intelligent Armour's Bugout Gear
dimensions quickly revealed one MOLLE/PALS compatible bergen
that was both the ideal size for my MultiCam Hydration Carriers. This
6 7
8 9
simple double skinned 500D
Cordura pouch, which has a Velcro
cover flap, two-way stretch fabric
sides and an internal mesh
accessory pocket will snugly accept
all of my 3-litre bladders from the
main manufacturers and the
hydration tube can be slipped out
either side of the cover flap to
personal choice.
Two removable full length straps
with simple belt buckles at the top
and press studs at the bottom
thread through seven webbing
Pouch Attachment Ladder Straps
on the back for secure fitting to any
MOLLE-style pack or vest. If you
don't need to carry a bladder, just
detach the carrier. Seemples!
Another handy MultiCam accessory
from Intelligent Armour is the Dump
Pouch in 1000D Cordura , which is
available with either a mesh or
folding bag main compartment.
This accessory also has the
6: Dump Pouch
folded when not in
use - it will easily
accept that
SnugPak sleeping
bag
7: The MOLLE/PALS
side of the folded
MultiCam Dump
Pouch1000D
8: Folded Dump
Pouch from front
atop an MRE pouch
- it is big enough to
hold the contents
Images © Bob Morrison : Military Scene
10
PALS/MOLLE attachment system,
meaning it can be carried folded
flat on any rucksack or vest with
the usual straps until needed but
then opened out into a decent
sized additional pouch when
needed. When folded the Dump
Pouch measures just
125x100x45mm (5x4.5x1.75
inches) but when unfolded the
sack dimensions are a very
usable 265x215mm (10.5x8.5 Bags on the back of my daysack 9: One of the small-
inches). when I did not have space to stow it er IA device soft
in the sack but did not really want to cases atop my net-
The Dump Pouch is primarily take carry larger rucksack on a trip
intended for holding empty book case - note
where I would be overnighting. Jitka,
magazines or discarded small kit who doesn't like cold mornings, also
full width Velcro
and rubbish which you do not uses MY Dump Pouch to carry HER cover flap
wish to leave lying around for the fleece when the sun comes up. I
enemy to pick up, but it also has know my place. 10: Dump Pouch
many other uses as a low profile fitted to my day-
additional pouch. For example, I For more on Intelligent Armour or to sack - Jitka uses it
have used it to stow lightweight
waterproofs close to hand on a
buy online check out to store HER fleece
intelligent-armour.co.uk or when the sun
warm but occasionally showery body-armour-protection-co.uk comes up
day and I have also used it to BM
carry one of my SnugPak Jungle
Combat & Survival 23
 PRIMETAKE HAS WORKED WITH
LEADING SNIPER RIFLE
MANUFACTURERS TO DEVELOP A
HIGHLY ACCURATE RANGE OF
AMMUNITION THAT ENABLES
SNIPERS TO ACHIEVE HITS AT
LONG RANGE
[BOB MORRISON]

Combat & Survival 25

 1

1: Primetake use
top of the range
sniper rifles in
their ammunition
development, such
as these .308,
.338 and .50
calibre rifles from
RPA Limited

2: Primetake
produces a range
of match grade
centre fire rifle
ammunition for
use in dedicated
sniper operations,
such as the .338
Primetake was established in 1991 as a designer and 2 Lapua Magnum
manufacturer of special purpose ammunition. It operates from a cartridges and
secure site three miles east of Lincoln, where it has research Lapua bullets
and development, manufacturing, firing and storage facilities. shown here ready
Prior to being used by Primetake, this site was used by the
for assembly.
Royal Observer Corps and was a fully equipped nuclear bomb
shelter, with associated facilities. It came equipped with a large
complex of secure working and storage facilities, both above 3: The .338 Lapua
and below ground. The underground tunnel and room complex Magnum and .50
provide Primetake with an ideal facility with work areas in BMG sniper
which to assemble, test and store the range of products it 3 ammunition can be
manufactures. In Part One of this article C&S introduced some machined and
of the specialist ammunition that the company produces, and custom made to
this month we conclude the range and cover their ingenious suit the precise
pyrotechnical devices designed and manufactured to meet the requirements of
needs of both law enforcement and military organisations.
the user, such as
armour piercing
or incendiary
Primetake produces a range of match
grade ammunition for use in dedicated
of one revolution in 11 inches. This is
match accuracy competition grade
· .50 Omega Sniper
The Primetake Omega sniper
sniper operations. The company has ammunition which gives consistent ammunition in .50 calibre has been
worked with leading sniper rifle results in a wide range of rifles. designed as a highly accurate long
manufacturers to develop a highly Primetake are able to assist in the range round. The purpose of .50 calibre
accurate range of ammunition that production of ballistic data for specific sniper rifles is for use in anti-materia
enables snipers to achieve hits at long rifle - sight combinations, and roles against lightly armoured vehicles,
range. Omega sniper ammunition is performance can be tuned to specific buildings and fortifications. Also
designed for use in high quality bolt rifles. equipment vital to the enemy that can
action and semi-automatic sniper rifles be rendered unusable or be degraded
to meet long range sniper requirements
for a high first hit probability out to 1500
· .338 Lapua Magnum
Omega Sniper
by a well placed shot. Designed for use
in high quality rifle / telescopic sight
metres or more. This ammunition is The projectile in the .338 Lapua combinations of bolt action and semi-
loaded in three calibres; 7.62x51mm Magnum (LM) round is either a 250 or automatic rifles, Primetake customers
NATO (.308 Winchester), 8.6x70mm 300 grain copper jacket hollow point have reported successful engagements
(.338 Lapua Magnum) and 12.7x99mm boat tail (HPBT) match round, which is at ranges of two kilometres.
(.50 BMG). open tipped and non expanding. This
round has a high ballistic coefficient This calibre of ammunition uses
· .308 Omega Sniper
The Primetake .308 calibre Omega
for excellent long range performance.
Hand loaded to customer
precision manufactured components,
thus achieving a high level of accuracy
Sniper Ammunition has been designed requirements, the exceptionally low and consistency. The round is capable
for high accuracy bolt action rifles out velocity spread from shot to shot aids of sub ½ minute of angle (M.O.A.)
to a normal engagement distance of up accuracy. The overall length of the accuracy through high quality rifles,
to 800 metres for the 168 grain bullet round can be specified to suit with performance being dependent
and 1,000 metres for the 175 grain particular makes and model of rifles. upon the quality and specification of
bullet. The projectile is a Hollow Point This Lapua Magnum ammunition is the firearm selected. Primetake are able
Boat Tail (HPBT) bullet which is suitable for rifles with barrels that have to work with customers to produce
designed for extended range 1 in 10 inch or 1 in 11 inch rifling ballistic tables for specific weapon
performance, and is extremely accurate twists, subject to which bullet weight is combinations. Standard ballistic data is
through sniper rifles with a rifling twist being used. available upon request. A .50 BMG

26 Combat & Survival

4 5
7 bolt action rifles -
calibre sniper rifle can be loaded with
different bullet types for varying tasks,
as detailed below.
·
Solid Brass Molycoated
The projectile is a monolithic 800 grain
bullet, which is molycoated to allow high
velocity and consistency without high
pressures. The bullet has a high ballistic
coefficient for excellent energy retention
at long range. It is also available as a
non molycoated variant. Performance is
dependent upon the quality and
specification of the firearm selected, but
half minute of angle (M.O.A.) sized
groups have been obtained at beyond
1500 metres. A minute of angle is one
inch at 100 yards, two inches at 200
yards…. 10 inches at 1000 yards and
so on.
· Armour Piercing Enhanced
Performance Incendiary
The design of the projectile geometry
has been developed for penetration and
generating the maximum possible bullet
hole size in the target. The projectile
uses state of the art material technology
and processing to achieve a successful
penetration of 350 Brinell Hardness
(BH) plate with a thickness of up to
20mm at distances up to 500 metres.
The projectile will ignite a petrol
soaked cloth behind a steel plate at
this distance. The API projectile
penetrates the plate and generates a
spark; the spark can be witnessed on
both sides of the plate.
· Armour Piercing Incendiary
This Primetake Omega Sniper
ammunition has been designed as a
highly accurate long range round. It is
designed for use in high quality 6
rifle/scope combinations of bolt action 4: Primetake .308
and semi-automatic rifles, for use Winchester Omega
where shot accuracy is a primary Sniper Ammunition
requirement. The .50" Calibre Armour has been designed
Piercing Incendiary (API) projectiles
for high accuracy
the 168 grain
hollow point boat
mass of target material. The .50 AP
tail bullet shown projectiles weigh 750 grains and
can be used at achieve a successful penetration of
normal engagement 410-426 Brinell Hardness (BH) plate
distance of up to with a thickness of 15mm at distances
800 metres up to 600 metres. Within this range
and beyond, the round retains
5: Omega considerable destructive capability
ammunition can be beyond the penetrated armour. In
used in rifles like addition, the target material displaced
is also projected beyond the armour
the .308 calibre at high velocity, adding to the
Accuracy destructive capability behind the
International sniper target armour.
rifle shown at
engagement
distance of up to
· Armour Piercing Enhanced
Performance
can achieve successful penetration of
800 metres for the The armour piercing enhanced
168 grain bullet and performance (APEP) rounds
hard steel plate targets and light
1,000 metres for completely pass through the target
building structures, with incendiary
material, punching a hole and
properties to ignite flammable the 175 grain bullet
removing an approximate mass of 19
materials. [Primetake] grammes.
The 745 grain projectiles penetrate
In addition, the target material 6: Primetake Omega 410-426 Brinell Hardness (BH) plate
displaced is also projected beyond the Sniper Ammunition with a thickness of 22mm. The APEP
armour at high velocity, adding to the
destructive capability behind the
has been designed rounds meet the perforation
for high accuracy requirements of NATO specification
target. This calibre of ammunition, as
bolt action rifles at AC/225 (LG/3-SG/1) D/11 Section 16
for all Primetake’s ammunition, has
extreme at distances up to 500 metres.
precision manufactured components
and is hand built to high specifications,
thus achieving a high level of accuracy
engagement
distances · .50 BMG Tracer Ammunition
Primetake 0.50" calibre tracer
and consistency. The projectile is lead [Primetake] ammunition is being designed to have
free with an optimised weight of 740
a ballistic match with the new
grain. The material selection for the 7: The armour Primetake 0.50" calibre ball round.
rear sabot has been chosen to
preserve the barrel of the sniper rifle.
piercing versions of Both ball and tracer ammunition are
the Omega Sniper designed for long range snipers and
· Light Duty Armour Piercing
The design of the projectile geometry
Ammunition will
easily defeat
customers have reported successful
engagements with the .50" ball round
of up to two kilometres range. The
has been developed for penetration armoured plate - tracer round will have a 200 to 300
and punching the maximum size of these .50 BMG AP metre dark ignition followed by the
hole possible in the target. The armour rounds easily illumination of the tracer compound to
piercing (AP) rounds can completely defeated this 20mm
target. The Primetake 0.50" calibre
pass through the target material, thick plate at 500
tracer round will be identified by
punching a hole and removing a large
metres having a red tip.
Combat & Survival 27
 8

8: Distraction
devices come in a
variety of
configurations, such
as single or multiple
bang - the level of
the noise and the
· Cartridge 0.50" EOD Electric
Initiator
intensity of the
shock wave
The Cartridge 0.50" EOD Electric produced can be set
Initiator is designed to be used within at different levels.
As well as specialised ammunition the 0.50 calibre De-armour Weapon
Primetake Limited also produce a System. The cartridge consists of a
wide range of specialised 0.50" calibre brass case which houses
9: A range of
pyrotechnical devices. These devices an electric initiator within the primer accessories are
10
can be used to produce many pocket. The case is then filled with available for
different effects such as signalling, propellant, then wadded and sealed. distraction devices,
illumination, distraction, simulation or such as the
stun in training or operational roles. The Cartridge 0.50" EOD Electric magnetic bases
Initiator is used for explosive ordnance shown here which
· Window Breaker
The Window Breaker is a single shot
disposal. The cartridge projects a
cutting blade or chisel tool to disrupt or
will hold the body of
the device in place
Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) disarm unexploded ordnance.
munition designed for use in
even when it
Improvised Explosive Device Disposal
(IEDD) vehicle clearances to break
· Diversionary Devices
Diversionary devices can be either
detonates

vehicle side or rear windows. The hand thrown or electrically initiated. The 10: This distraction
Window Breaker may be deployed in potential targets or applications can device is fitted with
conjunction with a Disruptor. include tactical entry, breaching, a Red Operational 11
Cartridge and a
· Power Cartridge
The Power Cartridges have been
distraction, diversion, space denial and
training. magnetic base to
hold it in place
designed to be fired from a 26.5mm
The GR-20 diversionary device is an
EOD Disruptor (Pigstick Weapon) and
ergonomically designed reloadable 11: On detonation
from a 39mm EOD Disruptor (Hotrod
device that consists of a hexagonal top the distraction
Weapon). The cartridge consists of
and base with a multi-radial ported
an aluminium case, filled with
body and one handed non rattle lever
device will produce
propellant and initiated by an
assembly. The device can be reloaded
a single or multiple
electrically fired igniter. The forward
up to 100 times with a variety of bang dependent on
end of the cartridge case is sealed
different levels of powered sound units the cartridge type
with a filamic disc and an ‘O’ ring. used
to meet the demands of both training
These are crimped into place to form
with a lower decibel level and 12
a watertight seal.
operational requirements with a range 12: Even with the
These cartridges are designed to of higher decibel levels. force generated by
disrupt thin walled improvised the detonation the
explosive devices (IEDs) such as The mechanism of the GR-20 has been magnetic base will
specifically designed to initiate and
those contained within parcels, boxes
retain a 15mm sound unit within a blast
hold the distraction
and briefcases and are electrically
expansion chamber upon initiation. The device firmly in
initiated. GR-20 uses hexagonal end caps. When it place

28 Combat & Survival

 13

14 13: For a
continuous series
of bangs the
distraction
devices can be
assembled into
one continuous
length as here
14: The design of 15
the distraction
devices allows
them to be
16 reassembled and
used multiple
times to keep
training costs
manageable
15: The
distraction
devices can be
deployed at close
17
range to the entry
team without risk
of serious injury
16: For the 18
distraction
devices the blue
cartridge
is deployed this stops the device rolling and
produces a lower
ensures zero movement on initiation. The intensity of noise
multi-radial porting allows the dissipation of for training and
noise in all directions. the red cartridge
produces a higher
Performance and Safety: The GR-20 level of noise for
deploys a high radial output of both
pressure and sound, causing disorientation
operational
for between one and five seconds. The GR- deployment
20 has a low heat output on initiation,
decreasing the risk of fire in urban 17: The
environments. Devices deployed within two assembled bang radically distributes the light, sound and the different types of shotgun
metres of individuals not wearing personal
protective equipment may lead to them
stick can be pressure from each explosion giving a ammunition.
deployed by pulse effect when deployed.
sustaining trauma to both hearing and
sight. throwing through
windows or
Primetake demonstrated to C&S the
range of distraction devices from single
· Ceremonial and Saluting
Cartridges
Operational Adaptability: The GR-20 is forcing it through When saluting cartridges are required
bang to the pulse or multi-bang devices.
Primetake make a selection of shells to
equipped with a lever mechanism that door glass The devices will deploy light, sound and
suit both Cannons and field guns in
offers one handed deployment and zero pressure from each blast, but you can
rattle rings. This device is also equipped calibres such as 3 Pounder, 105mm and
18: The bang stick deploy the devices at close range without
with an accessory attachment point so that 25 Pounder, with other calibres available.
ant risk of injury to an entry team.
the device can be adapted to different can be assembled The two piece aluminium case can be
operational requirements. Accessories to a length to The component parts of these devices can
supplied in a variety of charge weights.
Primetake Limited was formed to design
available include magnetic bases, glass produce a known be reloaded with new sound units and can
and manufacture specialist ammunition
breaker, bang poles, multi-bang adapter series of bangs be re-used many times. The intensity of the
and reloads. for tasks such as hostage rescue,
that can be pyrotechnic charge can be varied to suit
demolitions and public order operations.
training or operational needs. We tried out
· PULSE Diversionary Device
The GR-60 is an ergonomically designed
adjusted to suit
the requirements
the distraction devices by throwing and
also using the magnetic bases to secure
Working with military units and law
enforcement units in the United Kingdom
and world wide, Primetake has gained a
pulse or multi-bang reloadable device that of the entry team the device in place. When the device
reputation for supplying quality and
consists of a cylindrical shaped ported as they gain detonates the magnetic base will hold the
reliable products.
outer body. The device can be reloaded up access to a target body of the device in place. Assembling a
to 100 times with a variety of different bang stick we were able to set off a chain
powered sound units to meet the demands of bangs. The bang stick can also be The author and C&S would like to
of both training and operational thrown into a building. We tried this by express our thanks to Primetake for this
requirements. The GR-60 incorporates a forcing the bang stick through the glass in rare insight into the world of elite Sniper
unique inner blast deflection chamber that the front door we had used when testing and Special Operations ammunition.

Combat & Survival 29

 Each September the C&S BLACK FOX LOCK KNIFE
Team are invited to the LK81
Outdoor Trade Show, held in This sheepfoot blade knife from Italian
the excellent setting of the manufacturers Fox is a variation of their
National Agricultural Centre at popular drop point blade (LK80) model
Stoneleigh, to peruse what’s aimed at those who need or wish to
forthcoming or in stock for the carry a non-stabbing knife with a
outdoor kit and clothing rounded end safety blade. The
market. With over 120 key sheepfoot style evolved for trimming
manufacturers or importers hooves, where there was a high
displaying their wares to the possibility of a kick deflecting the
retail trade, plus a small knife towards the user’s leg and
band of specialist subsequently stabbing him, but
journalists, this expo is an these days it is a firm favourite
absolute must on our of working and hobbyist
calendar with both Mike sailors, and particularly those
and myself devoting two using inflatable craft.
overlapping days apiece Additionally, as it does not
to the event and Moira have a sharp point and cannot
backing me up on day be used to stab somebody
three to ensure we get there is much less chance of
to meet all our kit Main Image: being accused of
suppliers. Black Fox LK81 possessing a dangerous
will notice that we have variants weapon when in reality

O
concentrated primarily on alongside a you are merely
ne thing reasonably high visibility orange legitimately carrying a
which has
5.56mm round for
knives, intended to be easier to find if working knife (crazy UK
been most dropped or when needed in an
size comparison legislation targets the
noticeable emergency, but where relevant we have inanimate object more
at OTS over the last also looked at more tactical variations 1: The simple built- than the individual
few years is the where the style or blade type could be in carabiner clip who may use it in a
massive variety and useful to those in uniform who do not snaps nicely onto a dangerous
breadth of choice in want to carry a bright or shiny knife. strap or D-ring manner).

1 2: The Survival 2
the working knife sector, with specialist Orange version is
blades aimed at just about every aimed at the hiker
conceivable outdoor hobby, sport or and outdoors
trade seemingly available. Long term
C&S advertisers Whitby & Co. of
enthusiast
Kendal, gateway to the Lake District,
are high profile importers and 3: My preference
distributors of fifty years’ standing who is the non-glint
market many of the major brand Tactical Black
names so naturally they were high on version with 3
our list of people to see; though as we titanium blade
are in regular communication they had coating
already ensured we had the knives
shown on these pages well in advance
of the show to allow us to field test
them when out and about this
summer.

Many knife designs these days come The Black Fox blade, which is crafted
with a choice of handle colour to suit from 440A grade Stainless Steel, is
the varied outdoor pursuits markets semi-serrated and measures 57mm or
and some even have alternative black 2.25 inches. The blade, which folds
blades for tactical use. This month you away into the moulded Zytel handle,

32 Combat & Survival

 4
can easily be opened with one hand
using the shackle key cut-out in the
blade and closing it, by depressing the
metal locking tang in the handle, is
equally simple. When folded this knife
measures just 100mm (4”) overall and
at its widest, measured over the hinge
pin, it is just 11mm or 7/16” thick.
There is a simple carabiner clip built
into the end of the handle.
This sheepfoot blade version is available
with a Blue, Orange or Black handle. If
you need a tactical one go for black,
which costs just the same (£16.95 RRP)
but has a matt titanium coated blade
which will not reflect sunlight. I tend to
carry my black knife tucked into the
PALS webbing on the side of a MOLLE
pouch on my daysack, held in place by
the carabiner clip, and the orange one
in a shirt chest cargo pocket where its
slimline design means it takes up
8
virtually no room.
BUCK FLASHPOINT
The American company Buck has
been in the knife-making business for
110 years and has a great reputation
with the North American outdoors
market. Their FlashPoint is aimed
specifically at the hiking, camping and
climbing sector and is a chunky,
sturdy tool which uses their patented
SafeSpin blade rotator system to
reduce the possibility of self-injury
when opening or closing one-handed
in tricky situations. Instructions on
how to use the system are included
on a diagram sheet inside the box.
4: Instruction
leaflet shows how
to open and close
one-handed
5: The FlashPoint is
a chunky and
sturdy knife for
serious outdoor use
6: Strong carabiner
clip doubles as a
bottle opener
7: Opinel No.8 has The FlashPoint has a 73mm (2.875”) summer and they had to rapidly restock
a survival whistle curved semi-serrated drop point blade to meet the demand. Having used mine
in the handle manufactured from 420HC stainless for a few weeks I can see why this
steel which folds away into the simple design has proved so popular
aluminium handle which has rubber with the outdoor pursuits market.
8: A simple twist
inlays for good grip in the wet. Folded,
ring locks or this knife measures 115mm (4.5”) and Essentially what you get with the No.8 is
unlocks the blade is a chunky 20mm (3/4”) thick when an 85mm (3.35”) long modified drop
measured over the belt clip. There is point semi-serrated 12C27 stainless
9: This one would also a carabiner clip at the opposite steel blade which folds away into a
make a great end from the blade and this doubles as temperature resistant plastic handle. The
stocking filler for a bottle opener. This is quite a heavy blade is held locked open or closed by
Xmas knife (4oz / 100g) but it should last for a simple twisting ring (Virobloc) at the
forever (Buck give a Forever Warranty) base of the handle and there is a pea-
Images ©
Bob Morrison : 7
Military Scene
less whistle moulded into
the other end. A shackle key
and is cut-out in the handle assist
well worth opening, though this cannot really be
its £54.95 RRP described as a one-handed operation
if you are looking unless you are really dexterous.
for this type of safe
and sturdy folder. This one, which the walker and
Handle colours available camper may find ideal for routine
are Orange, Blue or Black but use, from peeling an apple to
there is no tactical blade option. cutting ropes, comes in Grey,
Pea Green, Blue or Orange,
OPINEL NO.8 complete with presentation
French Opinel blades are always
popular, but this new No.8 design
9
simply flew out of Whitby’s
warehouse this
box, which makes
it a nice gift. It
retails for just £24.95.
To find your local stockist for any
of the above working knives check out
whityandco.co.uk
Combat & Survival 33
 On 21st September, Iturri Group,
one of three suppliers selected by
UK MoD to provide a range of
combat boots covering five
distinct categories, formally
announced they had won the
contract and confirmed what C&S
had gleaned at DVD 2012 in June.
Three new boots will complement
two models already supplied by
Iturri, to meet "the increasing
demand by troops for high quality
and versatile footwear to meet
the requirements of different
terrains and operational
situations.”
I
ncluded in the Iturri portfolio for the
first time is the Karrimor SF Cold
Weather boot, in full grain waterproof
leather with a 3M Thinsulate lining for
improved thermal performance, a Goretex
membrane and a Vibram outsole for
improved durability. Our test pair of
Karrimor SF boots were couriered to us for
delivery first thing Monday morning
following the announcement, just in time for
that horrendous week of post-equinox rain
which battered the UK, and after quickly
photographing them in the studio they went
onto my feet for initial impressions before
penning this +++STOP PRESS+++
page.
Of the five boot categories - our test pair is
in the Olive colourway produced for the field
trials but specification is identical to the
more reddish Brown boot which will shortly
be issued - the Cold Weather one is the top
of the range and is of superb quality. In UK
Size 10 it measures nine inches (225mm) to
the base of the scalloped rear collar, which
is soft and padded for both comfort and
protection, and the tongue gussets extend
to eight inches (200mm) to keep the wet
out. Lacing design is 9-eyelet, extending
quite close to the toe, with five ball-bearing
lace tunnels each side for adjustment, a
double rivet lace lock tunnel at position six,
and three lace tunnels to the top, plus there
is a lace positioning tape on the tongue
34 Combat & Survival
above the lace lock.
The 3M Thinsulate lining is both confortable
and heat retaining, and the Gore-Tex
membrane will keep the foot dry in the
wettest of conditions. As for the sole, my
pair of Karrimor SF boots have the
excellent Vibram Sierra pattern, the same
as that on my much treasured and long in
the tooth 'white collar' Lowa GTX boots
which have served me well on several
Arctic assignments and wet weather forays
onto most of the main UK training areas
over the years.
Space prevents me delving more deeply
into the specification of these boots - we
had to pull a page of working knife reviews
to get these into this issue - but it is safe to
say that you will not find too many makes
around that are higher spec than this. As
for my initial impressions? An excellent
boot for Brecon, Dartmoor, Norway and the
like.
For the record, the other four boots which
Iturri are supplying UK MoD are: the Alt-
Berg Defender full grain boot with water
repellent leather upper and Vibram outsole;
the Miendl Desert Fox PRO with new
enhanced suede leather upper and Clima
lining; the Magnum Desert Scorpion high
quality suede boot with Breath Right lining
to maximise breathability; and the Bates
Ultralite in high quality leather and fabric
with breathable mesh lining. All five of
these boot models are being supplied in
the new brown colourway which, from a
camouflage perspective, works much
better with the enhanced performance of
Multi-Terrain Pattern clothing than black.
Hopefully we will have a chance to try out
the rest of the Iturri offerings over the next
few months, along with the alternative
designs from HAIX and YTS introduced to
give the wearers choice of width and fit to
try to reduce the current relatively high
percentage of troops requesting specialist
boots to minimise injury or damage
through ill-fitting footwear on non-standard
feet.
BM
 Taliban ambush along an Afghan road in a rural
area - one of the reasons why increasing use
is being made of civilian chopper assets to
supply outlying camps and bases
"I had more 'near misses' in my first six months of flying Russian
Mi-8 helicopters in Afghanistan than in 36 years of doing my thing
anywhere else in the world."
NEALL ELLIS
T he ground war in
Afghanistan is not the only
hostile environment. There
is a lot going on above as
well and that threat does not primarily
come from Taliban surface-to-air
missiles or ground fire. It usually
results from the very real potential of
collision with other aircraft, both fixed
wing and rotor-wing.
So far says Neall Ellis, known to his
friends as Nellis, he’s had only one
in-flight engine failure while flying in
Southern Afghanistan: "That
happened fairly close to the Pakistani
frontier and had things not turned out
the way they did, it might have
developed into a pretty hairy
experience.
"The terrain we were traversing at the
time was inhospitable. There were
valleys and gorges just about
36 Combat & Survival
1
everywhere with very little flat country
in-between that might have allowed us
to put down in an emergency. Also,
you didn’t know which areas were
dangerous and which were not.
Anyway, nobody goes anywhere near
the place totally ‘blind’.
"We had our first warning of impending
problems just as we crossed a ridge at
an altitude of about 10,000 feet. As
expected, the mountains were almost
sheer and from a quick look at options,
I realised that there was nothing that
even vaguely resembled a suitable 1: Asadabad is just performance again proved
landing place; which is another reason one of the towns in phenomenal. So, with all the weight on
why I chose to fly over the rougher the interior that is board, we were able to stabilise single
areas. My take on the war is that the engine level flight at 8,000 feet, all the
coming under
insurgents prefer to operate in more increased Taliban while maintaining a healthy clearance
inhabited areas, which are usually between us and the mountains all
coupled to less-formidable mountain
attack - this is the around. And while we were aware that
trails. town where Nellis that specific valley was under strong
had to make his Taliban control, we were eventually
"But the MTV is a very powerful emergency single able to land at a military base in the
helicopter, and its single engine engine landing interior.
2 3
Civilian Mi-8 choppers on the ramp at
Kabul air base prior to take-off -
conditions are pretty primitive and the
massive temperature range encountered
is a major problem
4 as the Western Pacific. As one wag
"We established afterwards that the
cause of our engine malfunction was
the failure of certain moving parts in
the FCU (fuel control unit). With time, it
had disintegrated into small particles,
which basically became iron filings.
These, in turn, ended up blocking the
helicopter’s fuel filters and caused fuel
starvation. Had it affected both engines
at the same time, we’d have gone
down.
"By the time we realised what was
going on, we’d lost power to the point
where the malfunctioning engine
suddenly became totally useless. And
because we were unsure of the cause,
we decided to shut it down anyway
and use only the remaining good
engine. That way we prevented further
damage to the damaged one.
"We eventually managed to touch down
at Asadabad and, by radio, requested
2: Former South
African Air Force a new FCU. Once the replacement
colonel Neall Ellis, arrived and had been installed by our
a veteran of flight engineer, we were able to fly
countless wars back to Kabul."
around the globe,
Interestingly, Nellis told us that the
at the controls of Russians specially developed their
his Mi-8 in Mi-8 MTV helicopters fitted with TB3-
Afghanistan 117 VM engines, for operations in
Afghanistan. Arguably it is still the
best rotor-wing aircraft in the world for
its weight/class for operations at
altitude, often in unusually rugged
conditions. Indeed, no Western
helicopter in the same weight
category can perform as well.
The war in Afghanistan is different to
any other fought by the West in the
past century and a half. It is a clash
of cultures and ideologies that almost
defies description. In almost all
respects, what is going on in
Afghanistan today is a totally different
military scenario to what took place in
Iraq, Vietnam, Korea, World War 2
and a hundred or more insurgencies
in Asia, Africa, South and Central
America and the Middle East, as well
who had been there recently
commented, there are parts of the
country still furiously galloping into
3: In 2001 Taliban the 14th Century…
militants destroyed
Afghanistan’s One of the comments made by a
famous Buddhist youthful Winston Churchill was that
shrines carved out Afghanistan was a land that almost
invited conflict. Yet, once embroiled,
of sandstone in the he warned, it was a devilish task to
6th Century - the disengage. Exactly the same situation
Buddhas of holds for that country in the second
Bamiyan, which decade of the New Millennium.
predated Islam,
were a World More recently, Nellis, a veteran of a
Heritage Site dozen wars that have included
hostilities in Rhodesia, former South
4: This isolated West Africa (Namibia today), Angola,
army base at the Congo, Liberia and Sierra Leone
in West Africa - as well as the
Pride Rock was Balkans, where he flew for Muslim
the focus of militants battling the Serbs - has been
Taliban attacks for handling support missions in
a long time before Russian-built helicopters in
it was eventually Afghanistan. He admits that working
evacuated by US in this troubled and hopelessly
Forces fragmented land has been different to
anything else he has experienced.
And while he concedes that it has not
all been ‘uphill’, there have been
moments when he would rather have
been working elsewhere.
Based at Kabul International Airport
Combat & Survival 37
 RUSSIAN MI-8 TRANSPORT HELICOPTERS ARE
AMONG THE MOST COMMON CHOPPERS USED BY
CIVILIAN OPERATORS IN AFGHANISTAN - THESE
HARDY MACHINES WERE DEVELOPED BY THE
SOVIETS AS HIGH ALTITUDE WORKHORSES

on the outskirts of the Afghan capital,

former South African Air Force Colonel
Ellis was linked to a major private
security company operating in the
region. At one stage there were more
than 50 expatriate pilots flying for the
firm in Afghanistan.

On any day of the year there are over

100 civilian helicopters operational in
Afghanistan, ferrying supplies to some
of the remotest outposts, staging
posts, reconstruction units and military
camps in Central Asia. The majority are
Russian (and in some cases, former
Soviet) Mi-8s. More recently the United
States has brought in S-61s, Bell 214s,
French-built Pumas and five-bladed,
twin-engine medium-lift Sikorsky S-92s.
All of these rotor craft fly support
missions of some form or another.
Civilian operations involve daytime
flying only, with military and Department
of State (DOS) Airwing helicopters
active at night using night vision
equipment.
are now flying profiles normally
That the Taliban has been active 5: The formidable beyond the range of small arms fire, Essentially, he explained, the Taliban
against civilian helicopter elements, snow-covered which means that the threat level is has neutralised vehicular movement
there is no question. It has taken time mountain terrain minimal. to a significant extent, which makes
for the enemy to accept that the role of the Hindu Kush rotor craft indispensable in the war:
played by these private firms in the war is operated over However, said one of the major “That means that NATO forces and
are seminal to the security effort, operators working out of Kabul: support organisations rely mostly on
especially as actions against Coalition
by civilian chopper "Normal routines each day involve the helicopter companies for
road convoys continue to escalate. Of
crews for much of outlying areas, so the Taliban has personnel changeovers, food and
late, the Taliban has started taking the year increased its concentration on firing equipment resupply. The obvious
more concerted action against these at helicopters as they approach tactic", he added, "was to try to
unarmed machines these bases … virtually every week neutralise effective helicopter
there are a couple of incidents resupply by shooting down these
There are quite a few instances of where the choppers take fire and aircraft. Effectively this tends to put
helicopters being shot down. Abu pick up holes,” he declared, adding something of a stranglehold on our
Dhabi Aviation lost a Bell 212 in the that there had been numerous operations.”
Southern part of the country not that incidents involving the mortaring of
long ago, while Vertical Aviation had a landing pads. To date, he stated, there had been no
helicopter shot down in 2010. To evidence of hand-held SAM missiles
counter the threat, civilian helicopters deployed by Taliban in-theatre:

38 Combat & Survival

 6

6: The weather at
Kabul Air Base can
be more of an
enemy than the
Taliban for the
civilian operators
flying the Russian
helicopters
7: Ground crews
servicing civilian
Mi-8 choppers at
Kabul Air Base - in
Afghanistan
contract crews

7 8

out, while EB aviators do an average of

“However, we expect this to change in
come prepared the near future as NATO forces cannot
for these routine account for all the MANPADs that were
tasks, even under in the Libyan inventory.”
primitive
Indeed, he declared, there is a strong
conditions belief doing the rounds among aviators
that some of the missiles could land up
8: One of the in Taliban hands: “If this happens, we’d
‘shooters’ have to change our flight profiles and
accompanying a go in fast and low, which would then
commercial place us within small arms fire range
chopper flight into from the mountains.”
the interior - crew
and passenger Another point made was that because
security is in the Afghanistan did not have much
vegetation or tree cover, more
hands of such men helicopter losses were to be expected.
if anything were to Eastern Bloc (EB) pilots, he said, were
go wrong en route not operationally-minded: “and apart
to destination from flying slowly, they stick to
academic profiles, which place their
choppers within the typical helicopter
ambush profiles…it tells you something
that most civilian helicopters that
take fire are flown by them.”
Air crews working in Afghanistan are
not likely to get rich any time soon.
Salaries for pilots range from
US$600 per day to $1400 per day.
American pilots are paid more than
Eastern European pilots, but some
firms doing re-supply might turn a
blind eye to the hours pilots might
fly. Companies using EB (Eastern
Bloc) aircraft and crews have no
oversight on pilots’ flight duty time:
some might be aloft for up to 250
hours a month and if a captain
receives a basic of $10,000 (and
$100 per hour after the initial 70
hours flying time) he will notch up a
tidy $30,000 per month.
The average rotation for pilots is
eight weeks in and four out, though
some companies do six in and six
three months in Afghanistan and don’t
return unless they are invited. Said one
senior Western pilot, who has worked
in Afghanistan for three years, Eastern
Bloc crews are often harshly treated by
their bosses and owners of the
choppers they fly: “The problem is that
they are almost subservient at the
workface and their culture allows it.
That also affects the way they fly, which
can sometimes be dodgy.”
There is no question that East
European air crews can sometimes
create problems. The truth is that some
pilots not only speak bad English; they
barely understand the language. Most
are either Russian or Ukrainian and the
majority are coached to answer
standard operational air traffic control
radio responses and not much else. In
fact, there is nothing about Afghanistan
– either in military or civilian contexts -
that is ‘average’.
Pilots are often instructed to change
course or hold over some area
because of rebel activity in that
particular area and that can go a while.
Alternatively, the local circuit might be

Combat & Survival 39

 9
Main Image: busy, often extremely so.
During the winter Consequently, confusion between
flying conditions in foreign pilots and those officials on the
Afghanistan are ground responsible for air traffic
particularly controls might result. There have been
numerous occasions when there has
difficult and been almost total chaos, with more
challenging - near misses involving helicopter traffic
should something than anybody would be prepared to
go wrong in-flight acknowledge. But then choppers are
the odds of not high speed, so the pilots involved
survival are most times have ample warning and
stacked against are able to break away from harm’s
you way.

9: The Afghan As Nellis admits, there can also be a

problem, when operating in the vicinity
terrain is varied – of built-up areas such as Kabul, of
hot and high in heavy frequency jamming initiated by
summer and below NATO Forces to prevent Improvised
zero in winter - Explosive Devices (IEDs) being
with most of the detonated by mobile phones or radio
bases served by signals. The result is a harsh, high-
the chopper crews pitched ear-shattering ruckus,
being in valleys something akin to the din from the
like this one in the microphone feedback of a heavy metal
east of the country rock band. Sometimes the jamming
10 gets so intense that they are unable to
hear instructions from the tower, which,
10: A massive under any conditions, might soon
Antonov 225 develop into a serious flying hazard. It
transport aircraft is particularly bad around the airport
at Kabul airport - and adjacent diplomatic areas.
the civilian
helicopter crews There have been times, says Nellis:
have to share "when we’ve been unable to follow
crowded airspace tower instructions…even worse, we
with the world's couldn’t visually acquire them. Had we
been on a collision course in poor
largest aircraft visibility, we probably wouldn’t have
been able to take evasive action in
Images ©
Neall Ellis time."

TO BE CONTINUED...

40 Combat & Survival

 1
The UK MoD brown boot saga
is now drawing to a close,
with Iturri formally
announcing its part in the
replacement footwear
contract (see page 34) and
we expect HAIX and YDS, the
other two suppliers, to make
their statements quite soon.
When the new combat boots,
which are being bought in five
different categories with two
suppliers in each category, go
on general issue British
Forces should be the best
shod that they have ever
been, irrespective of whether
they are deployed to the
Green Zone or just learning
the basics of soldiering on
Britain's mostly inhospitable
and rain-swept desolate
military training areas.
T
hose who have been
watching the long-running
procurement process to
introduce new combat boots
which are both up to the task of 21st
Century soldiering and compatible with
the newly introduced and very effective
MTP (Multi-Terrain Pattern) camouflage
PCS (Personal Clothing System)
uniforms will know that black and sand
colourways, the former being one of the
worst solid shades for efficient daylight
camouflage, are at long last going to be
replaced with a reddish brown. Originally
a more olive or khaki drab colourway
had been suggested, and from a straight
camouflage perspective this seemed to
be an ideal solution, but on practicality
grounds it has finally been decided that
a more conventional reddish brown
leather or suede will be used.
Personally, based on what my eyes have
told me and the little bit of observational
and acquired knowledge that I have on
camo concepts, I think it was a mistake
42 Combat & Survival
to dump olive, but nobody asked me to
make the final decision so my views are
irrelevant. In a future issue I am going to 3
do a photo comparison on boot colours,
similar to the one I did last year with
MultiCam footwear, and I suspect my
theories may be proved correct. But
that's for another day.
In the meantime, if you are one of those
specialist who is able to pick the colour
of your boots to suit your mission - i.e.
your role is sniper or covert observer or
SpecOps etc. - and you reckon that olive
combat boots are the mutt's nuts, I
recommend you snap them up fast as it
is highly unlikely that a European
company will bulk produce again in that
greenish khaki shade for the foreseeable
future. Alt-Berg, whose Defender boot is 1: The olive shade
being supplied in brown to UK MoD is more compatible
through Iturri, are one of the very few with MTP than
manufacturers who ran small production
batches of olive boots to coincide with
reddish brown
the MoD trials and a couple of our
4
advertisers still have some sizes in 2: A Pathfinder
stock. wearing Alt-Berg
Warrior or
The olive boots seen here are my Alt- Defender olive
Berg Warriors, which are very close in
specification to the Defender, and similar
boots in the field
to those worn by some Pathfinders and
UK Spec Ops personnel. I have no 3: Warrior has a
reservations whatsoever in composite lacing
recommending this as a full leather, non- system for speedy
membrane, Cambrelle-lined, Vibram donning and
soled, soft leather collar combat boot for doffing 5
serious use. Look after this one properly,
treating it with Leder Gris wax to
maintain maximum waterproofing, and 4: Warrior has
your feet will love you. soft white leather
collar and Vibram
Alt-Berg also produced a batch of their sole
Jungle Microlite and Sneeker boots in
olive, which Silvermans (London) and
John Bull (Catterick) have both been
5: This is the final
stocking, so it is worth ringing or Alt-Berg Defender
popping in to see if they have any left in colour procured
your size ... but don't leave it too long or by UK MoD
you WILL be disappointed. Check out
pages 2 and 4 for adverts. Remember Images ©
brown will soon be the new black. Bob Morrison :
BM Military Scene

In the summer of 2011 news
broke on the internet that the
UK Ministry of Defence had
just ordered the 7.62mm
calibre version of the FN
Herstal Minimi, the weapon
our Australian cousins call the
Maximi and which our French
allies are using operationally
in Afghanistan (see the
September 2012 issue of C&S).
Mysteriously, the original June
2011 FN Herstal press release
vanished, but as only 176
weapons were supposedly
originally ordered for delivery
at the start of 2012, with an
option to buy just 250 more, it
seems likely that only those
units which the MoD doesn't
like us discussing in any detail
will have been issued with
them at the moment.
T
he original 5.56mm calibre
Minimi, however, which
evolved out of a 7.62mm
prototype designed by the
Belgian manufacturer, has just clocked
up a decade in British military service
so now seems a good time to briefly
look back at it and at how widespread
its use has become in the British
infantry section. This year also marks
three decades of US Army service for
44
16 Combat
Combat &
& Survival
Survival
Seen on a pre-deployment exercise in
August this Minimi is rigged with laser
simulation equipment
the 5.56mm Minimi, known as the
M249 Squad Automatic Weapon by
our friends from across The Pond,
1: Here the stock
but while they mostly use the fixed is retracted and a
stock version the British blank firing
predominantly use the retractable attachment and
1
stock Para variant which we 100-round
designate the M110A1. magazine are
fitted
Lessons learned on UK
deployments to the Balkans in the 2: Minimi and
nineties, and most notably the 1999 three 1000 round
KFOR deployment in Kosovo, 5.56mm ammo
prompted the MoD to look into the crates stowed just
provision of a 5.56mm LMG (Light inside the door of 2
Machine Gun) for infantry sections a Mastiff
as the L86A1 Light Support
Weapon heavy barrelled version of
the L85A1 (SA80A1) was
handicapped in its role because its
design meant it could only be
operated with 30-round magazines.
In effect the LSW is more of a
marksman weapon, effective out to
600 metres or more, than a
sustained fire role light machinegun
and to undertake a 1000-round
battlefield mission with it in the light
machinegun role would require the
operator to change magazines
more than 33 times. Not very
practical when warding off a
determined enemy attack.
3
5 3: This February
Britain's involvement in Afghanistan
from December 2001, and in due
course its subsequent involvement in
Iraq from the spring of 2003 on
Operation TELIC, prompted the
procurement of the Minimi as an
Urgent Operational Requirement
before the planned MoD trials to select
a future Light Machine Gun had even
got underway. With hindsight, it seems
that 'undisclosed users' may already
have been discreetly issued with the
Minimi as in early 2002 it was spotted
that the Paras had 'proffed' some for
their initial Afghanistan deployment.
The first positive confirmation that UK
Forces had operationally deployed the
L110A1 5.56mm Minimi was the
officially released 17th February 2002
4
2001 image
released by UK
MoD was the first
clue that Minimi
was on UK
operational
service
[Crown Copyright:
Cpl Mark
Ballantyne RLC]
4: Left side of the
box magazine - it
is very unusual to
see these UK
Forces use,
MoD image by Corporal Mark January 2006
Ballantyne captioned: "The 'Minimi' light
support weapon with paratroopers 5: These days the
webbing. British troops are currently the Para version Minimi in the photo Elcan OS4 Specter
deployed in Afghanistan on Operation came from, though some observers and Shield CQB
FINGAL under the auspices of the put two and two together when they sights are usually
International Security Assistance Force spotted that the bag magazine fabric fitted for
(ISAF). The mission is to assist the was black and not camo. Afghanistan
interim administration with security and
stability." The beauty of the 5.56mm Minimi is
that it can use either a box or bag
Op FINGAL was the six month long UK magazine, carrying 100 or 200 rounds
mission, running from December 2001 of belted ammunition, or it can be fed
to June 2012, which preceded Op with a loose belt of ammunition, or it
HERRICK in Afghanistan and by can even accept standard NATO
February 2002 the bulk of 2 PARA were 5.56mm magazines as used by the
deployed in the Kabul area at the start SA80A2 / M16 / C7 assault rifles. Rate
of a two-month stint maintaining of fire is 700-1150 rounds per minute, it
security and mentoring Afghan security fires from an open bolt meaning less
forces. It was never disclosed where risk of rounds cooking off as the
Combat &
Combat & Survival
Survival 17
45
 6
6: Right side of
SUSAT equipped
Minimi - the CWS
can also be fitted
for night use
7: The Para stock
rotates through
90 degrees before
retracting to
reduce length by
150mm
8: Left side with
stock and bipod
extended and
SUSAT fitted -
August 2012

weapon heats up during sustained

fire, and the chrome lined barrel is
designed so that it can be changed
in under seven seconds if it gets too
hot during prolonged firing.

In the December 2003 issue of C&S,

penned in October for early
November release, our Weapons
Tester Greg Roberts reported that the
issue of the 5.56mm Minimi
throughout the UK Armed Forces
was shortly due to commence.
Provision of this weapon was
intended to enable soldiers to lay
down a continuous barrage of
suppressive fire to allow the rest of
the section to advance on an enemy
position and also to prevent the
enemy advancing on friendly 8
positions.
Even though by now the 650+ Images ©
In March 2002, twelve months before Minimis purchased under the UOR Bob Morrison :
programme had performed very well Military Scene
Op TELIC commenced, a Tender unless noted
Assessment Panel from the MoD's in Afghanistan and were beginning
Defence Procurement Agency (DPA) to do likewise in Iraq, the MoD
advertised for a new Infantry Light sensibly continued with their trials to
Machine Gun and initial evaluations ensure they selected the best
of four different weapons took place possible solution for widespread types of environmental conditions in
in June of that year. Several months infantry use. Greg discovered during which the machinegun could expect to
of testing of the Heckler and Koch his 2003 researches into the be deployed: the hot weather trials
MG 43, the Israeli Military Industries selection of the Minimi for general took place in the Arizona desert during
Negev with 20-inch barrel, the FN infantry issue that the evaluation had June 2002, with temperatures reaching
Minimi and the South African Denel been conducted in four phases 46°C; the cold weather trials took place
Vektor Mini-SS, all in 5.56mm calibre, in Canada during January 2003; the
subsequently took place over 2002 The trial was split into four major tropical weather trials took place in
and 2003. parts covering the four regional Brunei in March 2003; and a series of

18 Combat
46 Combat&&Survival
Survival
9 10
9: The hooded
front sight
allows the
weapon to be
used without an
optical sight
10: Belt feed on
the left side -
Minimi can take 11
either belted or
magazine
ammunition

11: Barrel
change and
carrying handle
associated trials took place in the 12
UK at Warminster from 2002 to 2003.
A series of safety trials ran in parallel
with the environmental trials to
identify any key safety issues. These
included un-lubricated functioning,
drag tests in sand and mud and
blocked barrel safety tests.

The trials carried out in the four

different environmental regions
subjected the four weapons to the
rigours that they would actually
experience in operational
deployment. In the cold weather
trials this included being transported
on skis and snowmobiles and
subjected to white-out during
helicopter landings. The tropical
testing phase included abseiling
through jungle canopy from a
helicopter and river crossings. The
desert phase included wind-blown
and the testing process was designed - a change is Small Arms Trilux) or CWS (Common
sand tests, brown-out during
to ensure that. possible in Weapon Sight) passive night vision
helicopter landings and lubricant
under seven scope directly on to the top cover of
drying off. Fire and manoeuvre
On 19th May 2004 the MoD seconds the weapon, plus a new safe blank
exercises were also conducted in
each trial region, which further announced that an In-Service Reliability firing attachment system was tested on
Demonstration for the Light Machine 12: The folding the exercise. Reliability trials were
subjected the weapons used on test
Gun Project had been conducted in bipod has three conducted using the well proven
to actual battlefield conditions.
Kenya during March and the weapon height settings - process developed for the SA80A2
had come through "with flying colours". this one is set at modification programme with a total of
The MoD wanted to find a weapon
During Exercise GRAND PRIX 2 a the lowest 97 battlefield missions (1,000 rounds
that best suited the needs of the
company from 1st Battalion of the profile each) being conducted with ten
infantry, light enough for one man to
Worcestershire and Sherwood weapons. The Minimi "performed very
carry, reliable in all sorts of
Foresters (today 2nd Battalion of the well achieving 84 per cent reliability
environmental and climatic
Mercian Regiment) performed as trial through the trial" and it was disclosed
conditions and able to lay down a
troops under direction of the Infantry that the weapon was being issued.
high rate of sustained fire. The trial
Trials and Development Unit or ITDU.
subjected the contenders to
To give some idea how the British light
everything from sandstorms to
The Minimi trialled in the hot and dusty machinegun testing process works, a
blizzard conditions to ensure that all
Kenyan theatre was a modified version battlefield mission trial is designed to
the weapons were put through their
of the weapon procured under an simulate a section attack, intimate fire
paces. The most important aspect of
Urgent Operational Requirement (UOR) support, urban clearance, anti-ambush
the trial was to ensure the infantry
for Operation TELIC, and included the and counter-attack, involving applying
received the most reliable contender
ability to mount a SUSAT (Sight Unit suppressive fire and manoeuvre from

Combat &
Combat & Survival
Survival 19
47
 13

14
simulation involves engaging targets
at 50 metres in similar bursts but in
groups of 100, 200 and 300 rounds
for a total of 1000 rounds in 13
minutes and 20 seconds, with a
barrel change after 500 rounds.

In the traditional British Army eight-

man infantry section set-up two
5.56mm Minimis are usually now
issued, one to each four-man fire
team, with the other section weapons
being the SA80A2 Individual Weapon
and its heavy barrel Light Support
Weapon variant. On operations in
Afghanistan, however, it is not
unusual to find multiples of more than
eight deploying on patrol and the
7.62mm L129A1 Sharpshooter Rifle

15
13: Almost fifty 16
nations use the
Minimi - this is a
French Para on
Otterburn last
winter

14: Elite
Pathfinder on
exercise with
spare barrel
strapped to the
side of his 17
rucksack

15: Minimi with

loose belt plus bag
18 magazine - note
the zip along the
bottom, April 2012

16: Live firing

300 metres down to 50 metres,
engaging targets at 50 metre intervals.
Inside 35 minutes a total of 1000
rounds is fired through the weapon in
3-5 and 5-10 round bursts in groups of
50, 100, 150 and 200 rounds, with a
barrel change after 400 rounds. The
anti-ambush / counter-attack
has also been introduced at section
level to extend the engagement range
of one of the fire teams.
Weighing around 6.6kg (14.5lb) the
5.56mm Minimi is much more practical
for the infantryman to carry than the
older 7.62mm GPMG, also
from the shoulder manufactured by FN Herstal, which
using backup weighs around 11.8kg (26lb) and of
sights and loose course more of the smaller calibre
belt ammo on the rounds can be carried for the same
ranges in Cyprus, weight penalty. As a consequence of
March 2009 its weight, and of course its superb
reliability, the weapon is well regarded
17: Minimi gunner by British troops and a sign of its
in Iraq, May 2006 general popularity is that almost fifty
- note the 200- other nations now use it.
round magazine in
Australian camo This brief article is merely intended to
[Carl Schulze] bring readers up to date on the
workings of the Minimi and for much
18: Minimi with more detailed Firearms features refer
box magazine used back to Greg's two-parter in the June
by a 16AA soldier and July 2003 issues of C&S. In due
on pre-Helmand course Greg hopes to produce a
training, January feature on the 7.62mm version now on
2006 limited issue to UK Forces.

48 Combat & Survival

 It has been said a million
times before, and it is very
doubtful that Napoleon
Bonaparte was the first to
say it, but an army really
does march on its stomach.
On the modern battlefield
there is even less chance of
living off the land in the way
that Napoleon’s troop’s
opponents were often
expected to do, so the
individual combat ration
pack is an essential part of
the kit carried by almost
every frontline soldier today,
be that in or on his vehicle or
in his pack and webbing.
A
lthough the Marching
Ammo occasional series,
which looks at the ration
packs of some of the
nations the C&S Team has worked
with, has now been running for close
on four years we have not actually
covered in detail the current standard
issue rations eaten by British Forces
on most field exercises and
deployments where special packs,
such as the 12 Hour Operational
Ration Pack or Multi-Climate Ration
or Cold Climate Ration for example,
are issued. Ration packs issued to
troops on the frontline in Afghanistan
50 Combat & Survival
have been, quite naturally, tweaked to
cater for the logistic supply problems Main Image: The
associated with getting fresh water to carton is filled
troops serving in remote and literally to the brim
dangerous patrol bases in a desert 1
with foodstuffs and
environment, and we have covered
accessories
such developments in brief news
articles outside this series, but as
hundreds of thousands of standard 24 1: The 2012
Hour Ration Packs are consumed every version of the 24
year we really have been a bit remiss in Hour Ration
failing to look at this mainstay of UK carries Burn Pit
Forces in the 21st Century. Procedure and
Burns First Aid info
This article actually came about in on the top
response to a chat with some 2
squaddies while I was playing the old
2: A range card is
Hurry Up And Wait game on Salisbury
once again printed
Plain and a couple asked me (a very
ancient hack in their eyes) how much on the base and
better kit really is these days in nutritional
comparison to what was on issue when information is
I first started seriously snapping and printed on one end
scribbling about the British Army and
Royal Marines over a quarter of a 3: At the turn of
century ago. My involvement with UK
the millennium the 3
Armed Forces actually goes back to 24-hour ration
the late seventies, as in a previous life I
carton was
did some still probably classified
design work on the NBC filtration
smaller and its
systems for what would become contents were less
Challenger and Warrior, so I have seen varied
vast leaps forward in kit since I first
became interested in the subject, but
interestingly for most of the time I have
been a snapping scribe on military kit
4 5
4: Silver retort
pouches - this is
Potato & Leek Soup
- have been on UK
issue since the
eighties
5: The complete
contents of Menu
13 - there should
be enough here to
feed a soldier for
a full day
6: Green main
meal retort pouch
of Chicken
Massaman Potato
6
is produced in
Thailand
7: Fruit Cocktail -
Danish supplier
OrifO source a lot
of their wet pouch
content from the
Far East
7
Meals Rejected by Ethiopians), would
8: Tuna In Light barter almost anything except their rifle
Mayonnaise snack for a Limey ration pack.
is also sourced
from Thailand Looking back into 20th Century rations
history, the United States issued
canned C-rations to their troops in
World War II and these were also
issued to many Allied troops, including
British and Commonwealth Forces, for
the European Campaign. The
8 Americans started to replace the C-
ration with the similar canned MCI
(Meal, Combat, Individual) in the late
fifties, though stocks of the earlier
rations were still being issued well into
the Vietnam War period, and this style
would remain on issue through until the
eighties, when the MRE was
introduced, even though even in WWII it
had been recognised that canned
Dartmoor, mostly with Royal Marines rations were both bulky and rather
and Royal Artillery, and in Germany impractical for field use.
with the British Army of the Rhine,
during the eighties and then covering Throughout the seventies the
the deployment of 4th and 7th Americans experimented with the retort
Armoured Brigades and the pouch, a simple aluminium (later
Commando Helicopter Operations aluminium and plastic laminated)
Support Cell as part of 1 UK sealed bag design, which not only
Armoured Division to the Persian Gulf allowed the food to be cooked at lower
at the end of 1990 and start of 1991, pressures and more quickly reheated
before progressing to the Balkans. than canned produce, but also reduced
issues the one area where the Brits Even way back then the rations packs weight and bulk. The retort pouch was
have been envied by most nations is issued to the troops were generally first issued as a component of the US
the quality and variety of their field reckoned to be streets ahead of most MRE at the start of the eighties and by
rations. the end of that decade Britain had also
of our allies and in The Sandpit first
time around some US Forces, who at incorporated this boil-in-the-bag
My personal experience of eating the concept to its 24-hour General Service
the time were issued with state-of-the-
same scoff or scran as the troops goes ration packs, just in time for Gulf War
art MREs (soon to be nicknamed
back to covering exercises on One.

Combat & Survival 51

 9

10

11

12
9: Red foil pack
contains four very
oatie digestive
biscuits to ensure
no stoppages
10: Jam sachets -
for a quick energy
boost when on the
move just bite off
the top and suck
out the contents

13
By the end of the nineties the British GS
ration pack, and its higher calorific
value Arctic ration pack, went through a
revamp and the 24-Hour Ration GP
(General Purpose) was introduced to
replace the former. We still have a
couple of examples of the GP ration
with a packing date of 2001, and in a
future issue where we have a bit more
space we will disseminate these. By
this stage the only cans still on issue
were small ones containing spreading
pate and all main dishes were
packaged in retort pouches.
The one thing which British 24-hour
rations have long been noted for, and to
some extent coveted for, is their variety
14
11: More fibre is
included in the
chunky Oatmeal
Block in the yellow was not a dish I was familiar with.
foil pack Some older soldiers and long-serving
TA personnel, brought up on a rations
12: Fruit Pocket diet of 'babies heads' (stew and
concentrate and dumplings) and treacle pudding, may
find the more cosmopolitan menu
dried Sports Drink choice of the second decade of the
pouch - 500ml of third millennium to be a little bit too
water is needed adventurous, but as these days even
for latter cheap supermarket microwave meals
have a truly international feel the
13: Instant Hot tastebuds of younger soldiers are
Chocolate sachet much more attuned to today's
in our carton was offerings.
caramel flavoured
- it needs 300ml of The British 24 HR OPERATIONAL
RATION PACK or 24HR ORP, as that
hot water is its official designation, offers three
main meals plus snacks and drinks to
of choice; though in the past a 10- 14: Oat Digestive keep a fighting soldier fuelled and
man carton contained ten identical Biscuits and sustained for a day in combat
menus and if a section was unlucky Oatmeal Block in conditions, with only water to
enough to be issued several cartons coloured foil reconstitute the drinks and a field
of the same menu things could get pouches cooker being required in addition to
very boring. In 2012 each 10-man the approximately 250x195x110mm
carton now contains ten different
menus and there are two variations
Right:
of 10-man carton, so in theory if Three
everybody in the unit plays fair and versions of
nobody pulls rank it is possible to go 21st Century
nearly three weeks without main dish 'screech'
repetition. beverage
powder are
The pack we have focussed on is included in each
Menu 13 from pack B, primarily pack
because I fancied trying the Chicken
Massaman Potato main meal as it

52 Combat & Survival

 15

16

carton of goodies. On top of the carton

there are printed Burn Pit Procedures In 17
Forward Operating Areas and Burns
First Aid notes, plus the warning that:
"Around 10% of all casualties during a
recent Op HERRICK tour were as a
result of burn pit injuries". Nutritional
data is printed on one end of the carton
and the old familiar Range Card is once
again printed on the base.

The Nutritional Data informs us: "This

24Hr ORP has been carefully designed
18
15: Commercial to ensure it is well balanced and will
brand tissues and meet all of your nutritional
little bottle of requirements. The ration contains a
minimum of 4000 kcals. To maintain
Tabasco Sauce are peak performance, you should
also included consume all of the contents over a 24
hour period. The contents of the ration
16: Old & New - contain high levels of carbohydrates
Fruit And Oat that are designed to provide a constant
Snack Bar and release of energy to keep you at the
concentrated Fruit peak of performance."
Bars are both
included There are preparation notes printed
beneath which explain how long to heat
meal pouches etc. To obtain maximum
17: Use the nutritional benefit one should heat the
Feedback Form meals wherever possible, and the cold
included in each beverage powders can also be drunk
pack - they really hot, but if necessary all edible
do listen to user components can be eaten cold and
suggestions should still provide the 4000 calories
needed by the average male soldiering
18: Boiled Sweets 19 under operational conditions.
are individually
wrapped in a Essentially each one-day ration can be
broken down into Breakfast, and Main
clear plastic bag Meal with supplementary snacks to
take you through the day. Menu 13
19: Tropical Fruit offers good old Bacon & Beans in a
Mix contains dried retort pouch for breakfast, but three of
fruit flakes and the ten Box B breakfast options are
slices as well as cereal pouches (muesli variations)
dried nuts which can be eaten hot or cold. If
unable to heat up your breakfast
course, most menus contain at least
one oat bar in the snacks provided and
this can keep you going until you get a
chance to stop and cook.
The Menu 13 contents list (and the 10-
man box contents list too) shows the
soup option as being Tomato & Basil,
but our box actually contained Leek &
Potato. It is not unusual for the odd
item to be substituted with an
equivalent from time to time, but it is
unusual for the main Dinner course to
not be as per the list. There are five
soup options and five pasta options
(four variants) as Box B starters. Our
silver foil retort pouch of soup was
produced in the UK for Vestey Foods,
who are one of the partners in the
Purple Foodservice Solutions
consortium, which has been the
primary MoD supplier since 2006 and
has had its five-year contract extended
until September 2013.
Our main dish was Massaman curried
chicken, a Thai dish, with potatoes and
was very tasty. Although I am quite
familiar with Muslim dishes, both from
the Middle East and the Indian sub-
continent, this was actually the first
time I had tried a Massaman curry so I
cannot vouch for its authenticity.
However as it was produced in
Thailand for Danish rations supplier
OrifO (who we have come across
several times in this series) it is a fair
bet that it is pretty close to the mark.
Other Box B main courses include
Lamb, Vegetable and Chicken Curries
plus Sweet & Sour Chicken but more
European tastes are catered for with
Goulash, Stroganoff, Chicken Tomato
Pasta, Spanish Meatballs and good
old Sausage Casserole. Five of these
main meals are supplemented with
Plain Rice where appropriate. To heat
the meals it is recommended that the
unopened retort pouch is placed in
water which is brought to a rolling boil

Combat & Survival 53

 20
22
and after eight minutes the pre-
cooked contents should be ready
to eat.
The desert pouch in our ration
pack was Fruit Cocktail in
Pineapple Juice, also produced in
Thailand for OrifO, and this had a
distinctly tropical bias to it with
pineapple, papaya and guava
being the main ingredients. Six of
the deserts in Box B are either fruit
or fruit cocktail, one Rice Pudding,
and the other three are cakes.
Eight of the ten menus contain a
Tuna retort pouch, in our case Tuna
with Light Mayo, which some may
prefer as an alternative starter to
soup for their main meal;
especially if the weather is hot.
However bear in mind that to
achieve maximum nutritional
benefit you will need to eat your
soup at some point in the day.
Another snack found in each box is
the Fruit purèe pouch with drinking
cap, which goes towards your
necessary 5-a-day fruit & veg
requirement. This might look like a
gimmick but it is anything but, so
make sure you consume it. You will
26
54 Combat & Survival
21
23 24
20: Contents of the
accessories bag in 25
a heap - use the
bag to hold your
waste packaging
21: Brew kit has
coffee, tea, sugar also
and creamer for find
four cuppas concentrated fruit bars,
mostly date based, in your rations
22: Anti-bacterial and these too go towards the
wipes, water essential five portions of fruit and sachets, with creamer and sugar
purifying tablets vegetables deemed necessary for sachets too, to allow you to do
and spoon from the a healthy diet. To keep you regular four brews or wets a day. For other
accessories pack you will also find oat biscuits, oat accessories check out the
bars, and even oat blocks accompanying images.
23: Each of these - included, and to make these more
mostly date - Fruit palatable a couple jam sachets are Over the last quarter century or so
Bars contains one supplied. I have watched British standard
of your necessary issue Operational Ration Packs
5-a-day On the drinks side, each box steadily evolve and expand in
contains a sachet of commercial variety to maintain their position as
24: Ten decent brand Isotonic Drink powder (add one of best of the best. Unlike
windproof matches 500ml of water), three cold heavily processed early MREs they
and a striker pad beverage powder sachets in may not be designed to survive for
are shrink different flavours (add 375ml of hundreds of years through plague,
wrapped in plastic water) and a flavoured Hot pestilence and nuclear
Chocolate powder sachet (add Armageddon (okay, that might be
25: A more 300ml of water). Menu 13 contains a slight exaggeration) but as
conventional sticky caramel flavoured chocolate, which hearty, quality Marching Ammo
Fruit And Oat Bar tastes like melted Dairy Milk with a safe shelf life of a couple of
is also included Caramel, but even though I love years and as an emergency
that particular chocolate bar I have resource which would no doubt be
26: Three different to say that I found the drink way edible well beyond what MoD has
flavours of Dental too sickly for my taste buds. There to declare as their Best Before
Gum are included are also two proprietary brand date, I reckon they have few
in each pack teabags and coffee powder equals.

Osama
By Chris Ryan
ISBN : 978-1-444-70644-4
Fifteen years ago, not long after I took
over the Editor's chair from Tim Ripley,
we were in the fortunate position of
being able to run several interviews
with former SAS members of note who
had laid down the gun and picked up
the pen. Then the civil servants stepped
in and put a block on recently
demobbed Special Forces personnel
writing their memoirs, supposedly on
OpSec (Operational Security) grounds
though many suspect this might have
been little more than a cynical attempt
to prevent embarrassment of certain
politicians if details of some
clandestine operations leaked out.
© Bob Morrison
Chris Ryan, the pseudonym used by one of the
survivors of the compromised Bravo Two Zero
patrol behind Iraqi lines during the 1991 Gulf War
was one of the lucky ones who was able to put
his memoirs, The One That Got Away, in print
before the clampdown and on the back of its
success he was able to launch a successful
second career as a novelist. Unlike fellow B20
patrol member 'Andy McNab', who also became
a successful novelist, 'Chris' has never felt the
need to hide from the camera and as a result he
has also participated in several interesting
television documentaries. While he was on his
recent whistle-stop tour around the UK to
promote his latest novel, taking a break from
working on the US Close Protection circuit, we
grabbed the chance to meet up with him for a
brief chat and snapped him hard at work signing
copies of Osama.
This latest novel, his seventeenth, starts off in the
White House with the US President and his
entourage watching the unfolding operation to
capture or kill Osama bin Laden, who is hiding in
a compound in Abbottabad deep inside
Pakistan, then moves to the vicinity of the
compound itself where British SAS Troopers have
covertly set up a security perimeter and are
observing the target just prior to the US Navy
SEALs arriving on the scene. Now we have all
seen and read the news reports of what
happened next, but the author expands a bit on
the fine detail of the operation and takes the
subsequent story off down a channel most
definitely not covered by CNN.
I am not going to give the plot away,
save to say that we see events
unfolding from the perspective of one of
the SAS team, sergeant Joe Mansfield,
who returns to the E Squadron base (I
know what you're thinking, read the
book for an explanation) in Afghanistan
only to be instantly pinged for a mission
working alongside US troops, where his
world suddenly turns upside down. In
the immediate aftermath he returns to
the UK, only for a horror story to unfold
all around him as the after effects of
something which went wrong during the
Abbottabad mission come home to
roost.
Mostly we only review books sent in to
us by the publishers on this page of the
magazine, but just occasionally I buy a
particular title which has caught my
attention from the pre-press publicity
but which the publishers have yet to
offer us for review. Osama is one such
book and I have to say that I do not
regret spending my own hard-earned
dosh on this one as it was a cracking
read. Okay, maybe a few loose ends
could have been better tied up and
some aspects, such as the friend of a
friend going off on holiday at just the
right time, were just a little bit too
convenient, but as the story really
ripped along and all through it I was
interested in finding out not only what
would happen next but how it would all
end, on the whole I would rate this one
nine out of ten.
Published by Coronet, the hardback
version of Osama runs out to 380
pages, though the first dozen or so
pages of Ryan's next novel are tacked
onto the end as a teaser to take page
count closer to 400. Cover price is
£18.99, though one of the big
booksellers was offering it at half price
as it was in their Top Ten, and it is now
widely available..

Covert Rural Surveillance

By Ben Wall ISBN : 978-09535378-4--6

This epic 548-page large format
softback book is effectively the
course manual for CROps (Covert
Rural Operations) who train
Government Departments and
Private Contractors in rural
surveillance methods. Run by
former servicemen with a
specialist recce background,
these guys are to non-urban
surveillance what their friend and
ours, Peter Jenkins, is to urban
surveillance.
B
roken down into 22 well-illustrated and simply
written highly relevant chapters this major work is
incredibly informative and, in our opinion, an
absolute must for anyone intent on specialising
in the surveillance role. It is, as the title suggests,
heavily biased towards outdoor operations in rural
environments, but many of the topics covered will also
have some relevance in urban scenarios.
This one really needs more than the few brief lines we
can afford it on a book review page, so we will come
back to it in greater depth in a future issue.
Highly Recommended.

56 Combat & Survival

 1 2
L F
3 1: This show well
ight and strong are
the watchwords for
many items that you
need to carry with
you. This certainly applies
to the Edelrid KFS
(Knife/Fork/Spoon) set and
21cm Spooon. In reality
for most trips I do and for
anyone living off freeze
dried or boil in the bag
food the Spooon is really
all you need so making
your load lighter still. This
cutlery is made from
Titanium and is about as
light and tough as you
can get - and good to use.
What more can I say?
4 5
58 Combat & Survival
There are a lot of mobile
phones on the market these
days and it does not need me
to tell you that. Finding one
that suits your particular
needs is another story. If you
are a city dweller and spend
your life in a suit, I guess it is
not so hard. However if you are
like ‘us’, things get that bit
more difficult.
or me there are perhaps three
the benefits of the things that stand out. Survivability
Titan Spooon when of the handset, ability to pick up a
used with freeze signal and battery life. All these
dried or boil in the are key if you are, let’s say, out and
bag meals about a bit. We have all heard the
providers' claims of coverage of 98% of
2: The Titan 21cm the population. Well I guess those that
Spooon write this stuff all live in the heart of
London and don’t get out much. Enter
3: The full titanium the real world and in UK, it is a lot
harder to get a mobile phone to
KFS set - ideal if
actually work once away from town.
you plan on ‘eating
out’
For this I will leave out the providers as
this is a subject on its own and, again,
4: The Defy+ in a is a hard one to sort out which is best.
situation where it What I have found is that handsets do
have significant differences in their
is not a concern -
ability to pick up a signal. Again it is
a wet environment hard to sort this out, especially in a
where many other shop before you buy from a salesman
smart phones in that 'suit’.
would be a worry.
The display when Like many these days, dinosaur editors
not covered in excepted, I ended up with a
water is clear and 'smartphone”. Well, not so smart as I
bright and the found out to my frustration. I moved
variety of screens provider to the one that was supposed
can be set up to to have the best coverage in my area
suit your specific and those I most commonly went to ...
needs and was disappointed. They got the
blame, as it transpires, a bit unfairly.
The phone I had would not last a
5: Beside the decent day of fairly light use on a
headphone socket charge. Now I was really unhappy!
is the on/off button
- also seen is the 5 Roaming the market I heard about the
meg camera lens Motorola Defy+. Not only were the
and flash claims and reports I found positive on
the above fronts but it was also
deemed to be “life-proof”. So, a few
months down the line, and thanks to
Motorola for a test unit, I can tell you
that the battery does in fact last well,
really very well by comparison. The
ability to pick up a signal is, in my
experience, considerably better than
most and so far I have not bust it or
Product - UK Contact: Aku / Ardblair Sport Edelrid / n/a HeatStick / n/a Motorola / Motorola
Telephone - Web: 01250 873863 / www.ardblairsports.com n/a / www.edelrid.de n/a / www.heatgear.dk 01256 3585211 / www.motorola.com

6 7
scratched the screen.

I do not profess to be a ‘techie’ and all

phones have their pros and cons and
most of these are subjective and
personal and again really beyond the
scope of this report. Both m'Lady and I
have used the Defy+ for a while now.
It has taken time to get used to it, as
with all such things, but it works and
works well in all the things I need a
phone to do; make and receive calls,
send texts and check e-mail when
away. It will also give you weather,
internet access and a pile of other
things that we like to have at our
fingertips.
The Defy+ is smaller than some,
perhaps a good thing, with a 3.7”
display. The screen is ‘Corning Gorilla’
scratch resistant glass and the phone
is water and dust resistant. The likes of
charging and earphone socket have
push on covers. It has GPS and
compass, camera, video, plays music
6: 'Igniting' the
heat stick with its
own battery
can be on the move during heating. It will
powered igniter also produce a small amount of water as a
product of the reaction going on inside.
7: HeatStick in
When I asked the question of how it works,
action lying on its this was the answer: “We are utilising an
side - note rubber exothermic chemical reaction -
windshield for use hydrocarbons combined with air reacts by
in windy conditions oxidation-reduction to yield a controlled
energy and small amounts of CO2 and
water vapour.”
8: The HeatStick
as it comes out of I like new things and I like innovation and I
the box 8 also like well engineered products. It is
good in these pages I have the opportunity
to bring to notice something different every
9: Many useful now and again and I hope someone out
apps are available there will say: “ This is just what I am
including mapping looking for!" If so, I will have done my bit.

and so on. So, if you are still searching

for that elusive mobile phone that will
perform when away from the rest of
the 98% of the population on a wet day
or, if it ever dries out, a dusty one,
perhaps have a look at the Motorola
Defy+. It may just be what you are
looking for.
9 11: The back is
- C&S is also
available as an app I must say with this one I have not been
able to say to myself that this is the stove
these days to beat all others. It is not. However, I am
also sure there are applications where it will
10: HeatStick set be ideal. As I see it, it is not really the best
up for making a 'cooker' to carry in a pack, being quite
bulky, and there are many lighter ones out
brew there. You can’t cook on it, only heat water,
but this said much of what we use when
we have to carry it only needs hot water, so
secured by a the HeatStick will do this, just as it will heat
slider which water for that welcome brew.
makes it easy to The much used 'boil in the bag' meals are a
open when bit of a misnomer as you do not have to
required and the boil them. Putting them in hot water for a
sockets have push I came across this a little while short while is all you need, and HeatStick
ago and thought it sounded will do this as well. The same goes for
on rubber covers interesting so got one over from freeze dried foods. So in many respects the
for protection Denmark especially. It is new and HeatStick works well for much of what “we”
innovative and very nicely do. Where I see it having a real place is for
Images © engineered. Clearly, a great deal of those that operate afloat or perhaps in or
Mike Gormley thought has gone into it. on vehicles. As the HeatStick , once
activated, is closed up it can’t spill hot

T
his is not really a cooker or a stove but
a water heater, and this it does well and
very discretely. There is no visible flame
and it can heat water while on the
move. When it reaches 90 degrees C, it
turns itself off. As it is all sealed inside you
10
11
water over you and there is no naked
flame. If it falls over – so what.
You can lay it flat and, in fact, it is best this
way as the water heats better. It can be left
to get on with it and if you need to move on
in mid-brew it does not matter, as it will turn
itself off when it gets to 90C. and will even
reheat if it gets cold. It could even be
rolling about in the bottom of your canoe
while it is heating up water for you. Try that
with a conventional gas cooker!
My son is a canoeist and his immediate
reaction was it would be great for kayakers
/ canoeists and especially those at sea. I
can think of a certain group of folk that
might find this a useful item of kit to have. I
have used this neat device, but really only
to try it out, and will run another item on it if
I learn some more. However the guys in
Denmark are very helpful so contact them if
you need more specialist info.

Combat & Survival 59

 12 13

As soon as they came out of Main Image: The

the box these boots looked Aku Lerosas in
right and definitely made use on the Cornish
Jean sit up and take notice. coastal path
They were soon fitted and
taken for a walk around the 12: The Lerosas
house. Job done - they had have Aku's Air
that initial 'wow factor'! 8000 uppers for
added ventilation

N
ext day they were taken on 13: Showing the
their first walk and those uppers and the
initial impressions were good gripping
proved to be correct. Since Vibram sole units 14
then the Lerosas have done quite a
few miles and many of them with a 14: The boots heel
full pack on. The ongoing is well protected
experience of boots from Aku is and cuffing is good
that they are comfortable and these and comfortable
have most certainly stood up to that for the user
test.

One element of boots that I am

most critical about is the grip of the
soles. So often not great, I have to
say. With these, grip is fine and
Jean found that she felt sure-footed
on some highly varied terrain on
recent walks; including some tricky
rocky areas and in the wet as well
as the dry. They proved to keep the
water and mud – we had a fare bit
of that – on the outside.

These boots incorporate Aku’s 'Air

8000' uppers to keep the foot
ventilated, so making them
comfortable in warmer conditions
and when the feet are ‘busy’. The
boot and foot are well protected
with rubber rand around the toe
and also around the heel area to
ensure they are able to put up
with more rugged terrain
without damage.

There is also a male version of

the Lerosa just in case you men
were wondering.

60 Combat & Survival

 The nation of Czechoslovakia
In subdued light or when
was founded at the end of backlit the infra-red
World War One, following the under-pattern seems to
breakdown of the Austro- begin to come into play
Hungarian Empire, and resulting in the rain
composed mostly Czechs in strokes effect seeming
the more less simple
industrialised
Bohemia
and
Moravia
plus
Silesia
in the
west,
Slovaks
in the
more
rural
Slovakia
in the east,
and a small
number of
mostly
Ukrainian-speaking
Rusyns in the far east. Prior
to and during World War Two
the Germans annexed first
part and then almost all of
the country, but after the war
Czechoslovakia regained its
independence, albeit under
Soviet and Communist
influence from 1948, though
the Rusyn territory usually
referred to as Carpathian
Ruthenia was ceded to the
Soviet Union in 1945. When
the Soviet Union began to
crumble at the end of the
eighties, with neighbours in
Poland electing a democratic
government in 1989 then
Communist East Germany
(officially the German
Democratic Republic)
pushing for reunification with

West Germany, the Czechs

also broke away from Soviet
domination in what became
known as their Velvet
Revolution.

62
16 Combat & Survival
1
There are two button and tape
fastenings under the chest
pocket flap

L
1: When viewed in
ast month we looked at the bright sunlight this
rather garish Czechoslovak
Vz.60 Mlok (Salamander)
camo pattern is
pattern worn during the sixties
quite plain - jacket
by the elite 22nd Airborne Division and can be buttoned to
3
contrasted it with the current Vz.93 the throat in cold the Warsaw Pact, the bulk of
Leaf pattern, which was introduced a weather Czechoslovakia's conscript army
couple of years after the Czech and wore the fascinating Vz.63 Jehlicí
Slovak Republics amicably split. In 2: Hip pocket flap (Needles) pattern, which changed
between, during the Cold War era and is held closed by a drastically under infra-red lighting
the height of Soviet influence, when very rudimentary when seen through passive viewing
Czechoslovakia was a major player in tape and button devices.

4
arrangement
Under natural lighting conditions the
Needles camo consisted of a plain
3: Waist greyish-green (i.e. field grey) fabric never issued this type of camo to their
cummerbund over-printed with a brown vertical own forces. The satellite states of
fastens with two Rain Stroke or Falling Rain pattern, Bulgaria, East Germany and Poland
buttons and can be which looked a bit like random all used very similar patterns, though
pulled in at the top length pine needles and hence the the actual shade of the base fabric
with a drawtape Jehlicí nickname. Under infra-red varied considerably from brownish to
illumination, however, when viewed greenish muddy grey, but only the
4: Lower hem is through passive night vision devices Czechoslovak camo had the infra-red
straight cut and of the day what to the naked eye under-pattern.
there is a single appeared to be very faint and watery
Using a little bit of digital manipulation
staining of the base fabric turned
rear hip pocket - on an area of actual fabric we have
into a totally different pattern of
note how waist can leaves and droplets, sometimes
reproduced how the Oblacky pattern
be drawn in by the referred to as Oblacky which roughly
would have looked under full infra-red
cummerbund tape translates as Puffy.
lighting if seen through high resolution
passive night vision devices. As can
be seen, it is a very three-dimensional
Simple Falling Rain patterns, first
pattern and would have made a very
seen as overprints on German WWII
Splittermuster camouflage, were very effective camo in woodland
environments and we suspect it could
popular with Warsaw Pact forces
have been pretty good against urban
from the early sixties, though
and rocky backgrounds too.
interestingly their Soviet masters

Combat & Survival 63

17
 5 6 7
5: Inside right
chest pocket above
cummerbund with
lower internal
pocket behind
6: Left side of
cummerbund
raised to show 8
pocket - note how
the under-print is
visible on the back
face
7: Digital
rendering to show
how the under-
pattern would
9
stand out when
10 viewed through
passive IR devices
8: Close-up of the
Falling Rain or
Pine Needles and
note how under-
print 'water stain' under the collar, and there is a short
is also visible broad horizontal cloth tape, stitched
at each end, on the right front
9: Shoulder shoulder. Under each armpit there is a
epaulette detail long buttonhole slot for rudimentary
ventilation.
and one of the
under-collar hood The pocket layout is rather unusual,
buttons with just two externally accessed ones
on the left chest and right hip. Both of
10: Simple single these are of sack design with only a
button cuff simple two-button cover flap, affixed
fastening with by tapes, on the outer face of the
Some commentators describe the month this one has no stores stamp, olive drab jacket. However internally there is
secondary pattern as being like meaning we cannot accurately date
it, and unfortunately it has no label
windcheater another sack pocket on the right
wartime German Leibermuster, but our chest and two lower front sack
view is that it is much more complex either so we cannot pick up any
visible underneath
pockets, each closed by a single
as it is mimetic rather than disruptive, clues from that. button and tape. The lower pockets
Images ©
incorporating leaf, pebble and other Bob Morrison : are partially covered by a two-button
natural shapes in three dimensions. This one is of simple short shirt Military Scene cummerbund, which is stitched to the
Interestingly, although the Oblacky is straight-hemmed design in a heavy jacket interior at the waist, there is a
very faint to the naked eye it has a cotton fabric, intended to be worn simple waist draw tape which can be
tendency to stand out in subdued or outside trousers, and it has a five Model : adjusted and tied at the left side, and

backlit conditions giving a blurry effect
to the rain pattern and we suspect in
field conditions this would turn an
otherwise rather plain parade ground
uniform into an altogether much more
practical camouflage than at first
evident.
Turning now to the jacket, we
borrowed this one from the ever-
expanding camo collection of our
Facilitator, 'Sniper John', who has
more combat jackets than the Editor
has combat boots ... and he probably
has almost as many boots as Imelda
'Iron Butterfly' Marcos, wife of the
former Filipino dictator. Unlike the
earlier and later jackets covered last
Jitka
button concealed front fastening,
though the collar could be worn
unbuttoned, with no weather baffle.
There are three small buttons under
the collar for attaching a hood and
the plain sleeve cuffs have a single
button fastening, though there is a
plain olive cotton windcheater wrist
stitched into the end of each sleeve.
Across the shoulder there is a
second layer of fabric as reinforcing
and to help rain flow off rather than
saturating, but there is no elbow
reinforcement. On the top of each
shoulder there is a thin epaulette
strap, fastened with a small green
button similar to the hood buttons
the chest pockets are taped down to
the waistband to ensure they stay in
the correct position.
As the Jehlicí jacket was not only
superseded twenty years ago by a
totally different camo pattern but
surplus examples were also very
popular following the split between
the Czech and Slovak Republics with
those working outdoors, finding
decent condition examples like the
one featured here is not too easy.
However well worn jackets in this
interesting multi-purpose camo can
be picked up almost for peanuts.
R.

64
18 Combat
Combat&&Survival
Survival
 In the hierarchy of security
professionalism, you would have
thought that being a Personal
Protection Officer to a high-ranking
and high-profile member of the Royal
Family would come pretty close to the
top of the tree. Yet two incidents in recent
weeks have brought into question what exactly
royalty protection officers have been doing,
and what exactly is included in their roles. The
pictures of Prince Harry, naked, in mixed
company, in a Las Vegas hotel room were
splashed across the front pages of newspapers
world-wide, breaking the well-recognised
principle of 'What happens in Vegas, stays in
Vegas'. The fact that royal protection officers
had been present in the room, and had even
been aware of pictures being taken, leads one
to ask what exactly they thought those
pictures could have been used for.
T
he situation surrounding the
Duchess of Cambridge, previously
known as Kate Middleton, carries a
different significance, but the
embarrassment and potential damage
are possibly of an even greater order.
Prince Harry enjoys a hard-earned
reputation of knowing how to party hard,
but also of offering a life of service,
whether in his role as Royal
representative or as serving officer in the
armed forces (and in which role he is
now serving in a combat unit in
Afghanistan). He also has history in the
paparazzi stakes - there is no shortage of
pictures of Harry coming out of
nightclubs in various states of inebriation,
and even the infamous pictures of him
wearing a Nazi armband at a friend's
party seem to have done him little lasting
66 Combat & Survival
"Why was she flaunting herself in full sight of a
public road", the fact that such pictures were
able to be taken indicates a clear deficiency in
the professionalism of her protection officers.
Whilst it is a common theme of every Close
Protection course to state that the purpose of CP
is to ensure the safety of the life of the Principal,
in the modern world reputational protection is as
important as any other aspect of the job. When
Home Secretary Theresa May left her confidential diary
in a concert hall after a public engagement, leading to a
major political embarrassment, it was her protection
officer who got caught in the flak - how could he have
allowed that to happen, and what responsibility did he
take for the damage that came to his Principal?
Reputation is an interesting thing. It can
be damaged, if not destroyed, by
what is often an insignificant thing,
and at other times people can
survive, and even thrive, after what
you might think would be career-
wrecking disasters. Mel Gibson has
made a comeback despite a rabid
racist and anti-Semitic drunken rant,
Robert Downey Jr has seemingly suffered no major loss
from the fact that he is a convicted and jailed drug user,
and Michael Sheen is still employable despite a very
public breakdown based on various forms of substance
abuse. In the corporate world, Tony Hayward is back in
a multi-million pound job despite the personal and
Image © Bob Morrison : Military Scene
corporate disaster that surrounded the BP Deepwater
Horizon oil spill and it seems (so far at least), that Nick
Buckles has survived the Olympic fiasco as the CEO of
G4S.
However, a lifetime of effort can be destroyed in a
moment of carelessness, and it is often that moment of
carelessness that is the thing that is remembered. You
may know the story of the sad Italian explaining to an
English friend why he was so upset: "For twenty years I
built houses, but no one called me Luigi the House
damage. He is undoubtedly one of the Builder. Then, for twenty years I was a
Please visit www.davidrubens-associates.com to see
what we are up to – and feel free to drop me a line
After twenty years of running Meido Ltd and Meido
more popular Royals, and has taken on gardener, but no-one called me Luigi the
the responsibilities to uphold the Gardener. But one time I get drunk and
tradition of 'Royal Party Animal' with both make love to a donkey.....".
Consultants, I have completely rebranded my
enthusiasm and talent.
For those people tasked with providing
operations as David Rubens Associates.
at david@davidrubens-associates.com
The situation around the Duchess of protection to a paying client, the
Cambridge is different, and shows a likelihood that a life-endangering attack
different aspect of royal protection will be made is extremely rare, but the
responsibility. Given her profile and possibility of a situation arising that
undoubted value to the newspaper could affect that person’s reputation for
editors of the world, I am interested to the rest of their lives can happen at any
know whether protection officers moment. It is those seemingly small
actually did a survey of the location, and incidents which will still be remembered
identified the area of public road that when that person’s obituary may be
allowed unhindered sightlines into what, written, even decades later, and it is
quite reasonably, the royal party certainly part of the professional Close
considered as private grounds. Whilst it Protection Officer's responsibility to
is disingenuous at best tor the editors of protect their Principal from such
the paper that bought the paparazzi dangers, at least as much as it is to be a
pictures and then published them to say simple bullet-stopper.
 Borderlands 2
Format: Xbox360, PS3 & PC
Released By: 2K Games
Release Date: Out Now RRP: £37.99
First up is Borderlands 2, the
sequel to a game which has
garnered itself a cult
following over the last few
years, but done bigger and
better. This time around, the
Hyperion Corp. has vowed to
stamp out all hint of
rebellion on Pandora and
sent their best man,
Handsome Jack, to do the
job.
T
he player is cast as one of
four Vault Hunters [like Tomb
Raiders, but nastier and not
so pretty
pretty, depending on which
class you want to play as. There’s:
The Gunzerker,a steroidal dwarf who
is able to dual wield any weapons
he is carrying, from pistols to
humongous rocket launchers; The
Commando, an all-rounder who can
deploy an upgradeable turret
system to double his firepower; The
Siren, a psi-ops specialist who can
deploy force fields and haul baddies
out of cover; and finally there’s The
68 Combat & Survival
Number, an assassin class who can
cloak for up-close-and-personal wet
work or kill at a distance with superior
sniper skills. All four classes bring their
strengths and weaknesses to the table
– I’m currently playing through the
campaign with The Gunzerker and am
becoming infuriated by his diminutive
stature, which prevents me from seeing
what’s in boxes that are at head height
for regular folks.
The border planet of Pandora is still
presented with all her cel-shaded
beauty and hostility, but the vistas you
traverse these days are much greater in
scope and variety – a vehicle soon
becomes much more preferable to
walking. As before, the majority of the
inhabitants either want to kill you, eat
you or set you a multitude of missions,
so it’s a good job that the denizens of
the planet frequently leave weapons
laying about in boxes all over the place.
And what weapons they are – the
tagline of ‘a bazillion weapons’ means
that you are constantly weighing the
specs of everything you see, wondering
if it’s a keeper for your backpack’s
limited space.
Borderlands 2 should, ideally, be played
as a four player co-op – preferably with
one of each class as team-members. If,
like me, you have no friends who own a
copy of the game, then consider buying
them a copy. However, as a single
player shooter, this game hits all the
right beats and has the legs to keep
you glued to your screen for many
months to come. Shooting and looting
hasn’t been this much fun since, well,
Borderlands.
Rating : 9/10
Neal Molyneaux
Tekken Tag Tournament 2
Format: Xbox360 & PS3
Released By: Namco
Release Date: Out Now RRP: £37.99

characters, locations and game

Which brings us to the hand-to-
hand combat of Tekken Tag
Tournament 2. In my opinion, when
it comes to beat ‘em ups, you’re
either a Tekken or a Street Fighter
fan. Personally, I favour Tekken –
its control system (each limb
mapped to a face button, with
modes, but what it does, it does very
well. Characters feel more responsive
and are crisper with vastly improved
modelling over Tekken 6; the last
version of the franchise which I
played. The ‘Tag’ element of the
gameplay, which allows players to
select two characters to tag
between, brings far more nuance into
the fights as character selection and
the combos thereof become more
strategic in order to match your
opponent’s choices. There’s also a
Fight Lab training mode, designed to
take newbies like me up to a
standard where you will actually
stand a chance in the game’s
hardcore Online Multiplayer modes.

custom trigger button combos) is
much more intuitive and fights
are less likely to descend into an
inescapable button mashing
frenzy that sees one player just
sit back and take licks, unable to
defend (which happens to me
with alarming frequency when I
play against my 11 year old
daughter).
Ostensibly, Tekken Tag Tournament
2 doesn’t bring much new to the
genre beyond a few extra
T
ekken Tag Tournament 2 is a sequel that
has been twelve years in the making and it
is, perhaps, the ultimate expression of the
long-running Tekken franchise and quite
possibly the slickest, best looking and most
perfect beat ‘em up I have ever played. Namco
will have a tough job to follow this one up. If you
are in anyway a fan of fighting games, then this
will be an essential purchase.
Rating : 10/10
Neal Molyneaux

Format: Xbox360 & PS3 Format: Xbox360 & PS3

Released By: Mastertronic Released By: Madcatz
Release Date: Out Now RRP: £39.99 Release Date: Out Now RRP: £39.99

Madcatz are a firm whose

Those old enough to remember
when 16bit computing was the
cutting edge of games technology
may recall an early real-time
strategy title that was released
on the Commodore Amiga and
called Carrier Command. It ate up
a huge chunk of my early years,
back in 1988 and now Bohemia
Interactive have chosen to
enemy carrier. Each carrier is
equipped with aircraft and
amphibious assault tanks which are
resupplied and upgraded by
conquering more islands and setting
up manufacturing, defence and
mining bases.
This is Bohemia’s first foray into
console game design and they’ve
chosen to tackle a genre rarely seen
outside of PC games – control pads
aren’t the ideal device for playing
such games with and navigating
menus is awkward and unwieldy as a
result. The game is not without its
glitches but, given its ambition and
reputation has been built
on making arcade style
joystick peripherals of the
kind particularly favoured
by the players of games
like the aforementioned
Tekken franchise. However,
the firm have taken the
unusual step of entering
the gaming market as
software developers and
Damage Inc. is their
inaugural release
(accompanied by a
bespoke controller, if you
choose the pricier option at
£89.99). It’s a brave move
to make that, in this case,
may not play out as hoped.
soon as he engages in combat,
rapidly becomes a fighter ace.
Graphically dated and below par,
with a poorly acted and hackneyed
storyline and a plethora of glitches,
this game would be forgiveable as
a diamond in the rough if it played
like a dream. Sadly, it does not
and the resulting game suffers
badly when held against far
superior console peers like
Namco’s Air Assault. Neither will it
find favour amongst the flight-sim
brigade as it is far too arcade

lovingly resurrect it for the
current generation of games
consoles.
S
scope, there is nothing that can’t be based in concept to satisfy their
forgiven. More importantly, this new
et in the aerial campaign for penchant for historical detail.
iteration of a much loved classic
manages to capture the spirit of the Pacific dominance during A bold move into the gaming

T
original, rather than just paying lip World War 2, Damage Inc. market that, sadly, is not destined
he basic premise sees two opposing service to its title. A solid game with sees the player assume the to soar.
Assault Carriers vying for control of an loads to offer, it is well worth a look.
role of a rookie pilot on a mission
archipelago of islands and the
resources they contain, with the Rating : 7/10d to avenge something or other, who, Rating : 5/10
ultimate aim being the destruction of the Neal Molyneauxd thanks to an ability to slow time as Neal Molyneaux

Combat & Survival 69

SUBSCRIBE AND SAVE
FREE BLADE TECH
KNIFE & TOOL SHARPENER
WORTH £10!
YOUR FREE GIFT: A BLADE-TECH KNIFE SHAR PENER
a the same time.
The tungsten carbide wedge acts both sides of the blade
g knives...
The Blade-Tech will sharpen kitchen knives, pen knives, campin
in fact any knife with a non-serrated blade.
* 8 cutting edges
* Left or right handed use

PLUS SAVE
* Free carry case
al notice
New subscribers only - existing subscribers will receive a renew

10% OFF BINDERS

COVER PRICE From only £7.99! inc p&p
Protect your copies of
PLUS FREE C&S in a tough, silver

DELIVERY embossed binder

UK: £7.99 (Recorded)
TO YOUR Europe: £11.99 (Airmail)

DOOR* Worldwide: £13.99 (Airmail)

SUB RATES: 12 ISSUES

UK: £42.66
Europe (Airmail): £49.95
Worldwide (Surface Mail): £49.95
HOW TO SUBSCRIBE...
Worldwide (Airmail): £55.95
ONLINE AT combatandsurvival.com
To receive your Knife Sharpener just add the TELEPHONE: CALL 01484 435011
following for postage and packing:
UK: Free of Charge Europe: £7.95 Worldwide: £8.50 POST: RETURN THE FORM BELOW
+ FREE GIFT)
COMBAT & SURVIVAL - LOW PRICE SUBSCRIPTION OFFER (1 YEAR ONLY
send me my
† YES! Please start my low-price subscription to Combat & Survival for 12 issues and
_______ Name: ___________________________________
free Knife Sharpener starting my subscription from issue: _______
Address: _________________________________
† YES! Please send me ___ C&S Binders.
_________________________________________
† UK £7.99 † Europe £11.99 (Air) † World (Air) £13.99
______________________ Post Code: ________
Cheque/PO or credit card payment - 1 Year (12 Issues).
Tel:______________________________________
† UK £42.66 † Europe (Air) 49.95 † World (Sur) £49.95 World (Air) £55.95
Email:___________________________________
Please include P&P † UK - FOC † Europe £7.95 † Worldwide
£8.50

† I enclose a cheque/PO made payable to MAI Publicat ions

OR Please charge my: † Visa † Mastercard † Please indicate here if you do not wish to receive
special offers from companies other than MAI Publica-
Credit Card Number: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ tions or if you are under 18 years of age. All gifts subject
Expiry Date: _ _ / _ _ Card Security Code: _ _ _ Issue No: _ _ to availability. Please allow 28 days for delivery.

Signed:___________________________________ Date: _____________

Revenue Chambers, St. Peter’s Street, Huddersfield, HD1 1DL
Return your completed subscription form to: MAI Publications,
ALL PREVIOUS OFFERS
ALL PAYMENT IN £ STERLING ONLY, THIS OFFER SUPERCEDES
 www.stringtownsupplies.org.uk
Est. 25 years - (1987 - 2012)
New Ebay Shop - Sale now on!
www.stores.ebay.co.uk/stringtownsurplus
Military, Survival & Outdoor, Airguns & De-Acts etc.
Visit our store (the Aladdins cave as they call it!)
and view our extensive range
Army/ TA Discounts
Trade specials on NBC Suits, Camo Clothing etc.
29 High Street, Polegate, East Sussex BN26 5AB
email:stringtownsupplies@btinternet.com Tel: 01323 488844

SMALL ADS
01484 435011

Download all your favourite

features, kit test, sit reps,
survival tactics & forces
profiles direct to your
computer every month.
Visit:
www.combatandsurvival.com
to buy your copy today.

Classifieds: Cost up to 20 words is £12.00, each additional word costs 50p. Boxed classifieds with logo/photo costs £8.00 per column cm, with a minimum of 3cm
Tel: 01484 435011 Fax: 01484 422177 PRIVATE COLLECTORS WANTED/ FOR SALE ADS FIRST 20 WORDS FREE
74 Combat & Survival