Category Archives: Special Forces

“Italian commandos storm Turkish ship to foil migrant hijackers” –The Telegraph

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The heavily armed commandos dropped onto the ship from helicopters. ©IMPA

The Telegraph reports,

“Italian special forces stormed a cargo ship after 15 “illegal migrants” armed with knives attempted to hijack a ship and take its crew hostage.”

The Brits had a similar incident in 2018, involving four migrants, also without firearms. “Special forces retake cargo ship after stowaways threatened staff” –The Telegraph (UK)

The Coast Guard does train for this sort of thing. “CBS Reports on MSRT Exercise”

Even in a benign environment, fast roping can be dangerous. “Two FBI Agents Die in Maritime FAST Roping from Helicopter Training Exercise”

Not to take anything away from the professionalism of the Italian commandoes, but if you are going to do something like this, you hope the opposition will be something like the Italians faced, desperate untrained people without a plan or organization, without firearms. One man with an RPG or a .50 caliber could ruin your entire day. Even when confronted by “peaceful protesters,” things can go terribly wrong. “Israeli Navy intercept of Gaza aid convoy turns deadly”

There are sometimes alternatives, “Israeli Blockade–Lessons Applied”

If you consider worst case, this is what we might be facing. “Potential Terrorist Threat Weapons“

“The Pentagon isn’t the only one with special operators. Here are the 5 most elite forces outside the Defense Department” –Business Insider

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Business Insider brings us a look at five “Special Operations” forces employed by non-DOD organizations.

  • FBI’s Hostage Rescue Team
  • Coast Guard’s Maritime Security Response Teams
  • DEA’s Special Response Teams
  • Dept. of Energy’s Special Response Teams
  • CIA’s Special Operations Group

What I noticed in the descriptions of these groups, is that the Coast Guard’s qualification process is the longest, “almost 18 months,” while the other four groups seem to rely heavily on recruiting former military special operations force members. DEA’s course is only two weeks in addition to prior training.

“This Is The Elite Unit That Raided The Tanker Threatened By Stowaways Off The UK Coast” –The Drive

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LLOYD’S LIST INTELLIGENCE DATA CONFIRMS THAT THE VESSEL LEFT LAGOS ON OCTOBER 6, WHERE THE STOWAWAYS ARE THOUGHT TO HAVE BOARDED.

The Drive reports on the recapture of the 42,000-gross-tonnage Liberian-registered tanker Nave Andromeda.

While this incident did not involve terrorists that might have had weapons capable of bringing down a helicopter, in this and a previous incident the Royal Navy’s Special Boat Service used not one, but four helicopters to land a team on the ship. Apparently the team, probably consisting of 16 members, was transported on two Merlin helicopters while Wildcat helicopters provided over-watch.

Merlin MK3 Helicopters ( 846 Naval Air Sqdn) Commando Helicopter Force (pics)