June 30, 2018
America's Special Forces Are a Killing Machine. But What About Everyone Else?
Could other nations be catching up?
by Charlie Gao
One of the Special Operations Forces (SOF) truths is “Humans are more important than Hardware.†However, throughout most of the global war on terror, American SOF have gone to war with some of the most technologically advanced hardware on the planet. As other nations also begin to invest and utilize their SOF, is the technological edge of American SOF being dulled?
Perhaps the greatest advance in the technology used to support SOF during GWOT was the use of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) for Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR). The United States fielded hundreds of MQ-1 Predators and MQ-9 Reapers in support of SOF (as well as conventional operations). These “eyes in the sky†allowed the United States to track and survey targets at almost any hour of the day, via the advanced thermal- and night-vision cameras on the nose of these aircraft. Russia has fielded UAS in Syria as well, though it’s unsure how many are relegated to support of SOF operations. Reports suggest that Russian UAS in Syria are primarily used for spot and adjust for artillery, although intelligence gathered on such flights could be used to support Russian SOF as well.
http://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/americas-special-forces-are-killing-machine-what-about-everyone-else-24622
