This publication was met by many as information about a recent event, although it is about an action that, according to the author himself, took place back in 2011 - 5 years ago. This perception of the reader is connected, first of all, with the headline, which implies that the event happened, but the TV channels did not report it!

Then, after some time, the reader begins to realize that he was, like, “divorced” by not really emphasizing at the beginning, that we are talking about what happened 5 years ago. Naturally, after such an awareness of the “divorce”, thoughts also arise: was there a victory for the Russian special forces at all, or is this stuffing of information now about the events of five years ago being done only because now we are in a state of cold-information war with the “West”?

Nevertheless, the information published on these resources deserves to be read. Moreover, this publication took place to be published on December 1, 2011 here http://alfafilatov.livejournal.com/53937.html author Alexey Filatov. True, the owners from these resources did not bother to indicate the source and author ...I publish without abbreviations:

I am often asked the question: what place among the leading special forces does Alpha occupy? There is no literal answer to it, since the activities of the special forces cannot be assessed on the scale of rating agencies. However, some criteria still exist, and I can say that the Russian Alpha is one of the best combat units in the world.

A visible confirmation of my words was the 29th Super SWAT International Round-Up - 2011, held in the USA. City of Orlando, Florida. This open championship peace among the police (mainly) special forces. This year, his sensation was the performance of the team of the Department "A" of the Center special purpose FSB of Russia. The team consisted of eleven people, including two snipers.

After the employees of Alpha showed the highest results, specialists from other countries approached them and asked questions: where did you guys come from?! Although at first the Americans pursed their lips in private conversations: you, they say, should be glad by the mere fact of your arrival on such prestigious tournament. And, accordingly, do not think about some prizes.

And now - a sensation!

In the test piggy bank of our squad, the first and second places in Super SWAT, silver in Remington super sniper. And the title of "Best International Team".

Seventy-two teams declared themselves at the start, and only fifty-nine reached the finish line. Several were disqualified, someone left on their own initiative - there were big complaints about refereeing.

As our comrades note, the Americans frankly condemned their competitors. Let me tell you about one typical episode. Exercise - "Rescue of a wounded SWAT officer."

A sniper and four attack aircraft on command run up to the traverse, overcome an obstacle above the water with the help of rollers, then a wall or a pipe, run up to the firing position and, wearing gas masks, open fire from machine guns at paper targets from a distance of 15-20 meters, however, at competitions everyone counted in yards. Four shots in the affected area.

After that, a new run, overcoming an obstacle and firing a pistol at metal targets, also four shots. Then, when the team reaches the allotted zone, a “wounded” is assigned to it, who is evacuated to the place where the water barrier is overcome.

At this time, the sniper works from a sloping roof on two small white plates ten centimeters in diameter. The distance is two hundred meters. Only two shots can be fired.

After that, the sniper puts on a gas mask and runs to the firing position, where he makes four shots from the pistol. The distance is ten meters, the plates are the same. Then he runs up to the assault team and reverse order overcomes the traverse, returning to the finish line.

Since our comrades were frankly condemned at the first exercise, adding unproven time to them, the team leader specially took a camera and a video camera and filmed all the hit targets so that there would be no arbitrary interpretations from the organizers.

The time was one of the best - 3 minutes 40 seconds. When did they post overall result, it turned out that "Alfa" added four minutes, i.e. it became 7 minutes 40 seconds! One can imagine the indignation of people who have accurately completed the exercise, and they are fraudulently stealing their victory.

However, all attempts to achieve justice were in vain. The protest was rejected. Motivation? It is amazing: according to the conditions of the competition, photo and video-film-documentation is not proof! The criterion is only the opinion of the judges.

Faced with such outright rudeness, the head of our team asked to bring hit targets - then everything will be obvious! An hour later, he was informed that the targets ... were destroyed!

The guys were outraged and dejected at the same time. We contacted the leadership in Moscow, they say: pack your things and go home! And then the Alpha officers, having gathered and discussed the situation, decided to stay. Out of principle! Alpha is not used to backing down. Employees, as they said later, recalled our heroic ancestors, the “winner gene”.

Therefore, it was necessary not only to win, but to do it at the highest level - so that, with all their desire, the organizers could not turn the result inside out.

The exercise for the title of Super SWAT Champion included running. In military ammunition, you “wind” one mile with overcoming a water barrier, an obstacle course, including natural ones (forest or relief). Having reached the firing line, you shoot from any type of weapon (pistol, machine gun or rifle) into a 10-centimeter circle.

This is the counting system. Zero penalty points - zero minutes are added, the diameter is slightly more than five centimeters - one minute, the diameter is ten centimeters - a circle - two minutes are added. Missing the target means three minutes. After that, the participant removes the gas mask and runs the second mile. After shooting, you run another mile - the same, with water barriers, with an obstacle course. Then it works automatically.

From the very beginning, the four Alpha employees selected for this exercise set a fantastic pace, two immediately went into the lead. What can I say: there is nowhere to retreat - behind Moscow!

When our guys finished, no one around could believe: “What, Russians?!”. They managed to hug, take pictures, wash, change clothes - and only then the whole main group pulled up to the finish line.

And then the bargaining began. The organizers tried to persuade our team to give the first place to the American, who came in second with a large number of misses. Then they wanted to retroactively introduce two age groups to, again, get the coveted first place. But how can you argue with the obvious? In the end, the truth prevailed.

The Brazilian, who was supposed to be second in total time, ended up in third position. And he was very upset, saying that he would not go to these competitions anymore. And the head of the Hungarian team (the Magyars have been going to Florida for ten years) stated in his hearts: “Yes, I realized that after all the Americans are with u k and!”

…On the solemn ceremony our employee Mikhail N., who became the World Champion in Super SWAT, was awarded a certificate for the right to choose a Glock of any model for free. In any store. And again, "American nuances": no one will sell weapons to a foreigner. And it's impossible to take it out. Then why these beautiful gestures? ..

Whatever it was, the Alpha officers showed courage, composure and an amazing will to win. They prevailed not only with skill, but also with fortitude. On one of the exercises, our friend, having received a sunstroke (the temperature was + 35 °), reached the finish line and lost consciousness there.

We are proud of the guys, honor and glory to them! However, not a single official TV channel reported on the enchanting victory of the Russian special forces in the United States. I am filling this gap. The country must know its heroes. Let not in the face.

A visible confirmation of my words was the 29th Super SWAT International Round-Up - 2011, held in the US in Orlando, Florida. This is an open world championship among the police (mostly) special forces. This year, his sensation was the performance of the team of Directorate "A" of the Special Purpose Center of the FSB of Russia. The team consisted of eleven people, including two snipers.

After the employees of Alpha showed the highest results, specialists from other countries approached them and asked questions: where did you guys come from?! Although at first the Americans pursed their lips in private conversations: you, they say, should be happy with the mere fact of your arrival at such a prestigious tournament. And, accordingly, do not think about some prizes.

And now - a sensation!

In the test piggy bank of our squad, the first and second places in Super SWAT, silver in Remington super sniper. And the title of "Best International Team".

As our comrades note, the Americans frankly condemned their competitors. Let me tell you about one typical episode. Exercise - "Rescue of a wounded SWAT officer."
A sniper and four attack aircraft on command run up to the traverse, overcome an obstacle above the water with the help of rollers, then a wall or a pipe, run up to the firing position and, wearing gas masks, open fire from machine guns at paper targets from a distance of 15-20 meters, however, at competitions everyone counted in yards. Four shots in the affected area.

At this time, the sniper works from a sloping roof on two small white plates ten centimeters in diameter. The distance is two hundred meters. Only two shots can be fired.

After that, the sniper puts on a gas mask and runs to the firing position, where he makes four shots from the pistol. The distance is ten meters, the plates are the same. Then he runs up to the assault team and overcomes the traverse in reverse order, returning to the finish line.

The time was one of the best - 3 minutes 40 seconds. When the overall result was posted, it turned out that Alfa had added four minutes, i.e. it became 7 minutes 40 seconds! One can imagine the indignation of people who have accurately completed the exercise, and they are fraudulently stealing their victory.

Faced with such outright rudeness, the head of our team asked to bring hit targets - then everything will be obvious! An hour later, he was informed that the targets ... were destroyed!

Therefore, it was necessary not only to win, but to do it at the highest level - so that, with all their desire, the organizers could not turn the result inside out.

The exercise for the title of Super SWAT Champion included running. In military ammunition, you “wind” one mile with overcoming a water barrier, an obstacle course, including natural ones (forest or relief). Having reached the firing line, you shoot from any type (pistol, machine gun or rifle) in a 10-centimeter circle.

From the very beginning, the four Alpha employees selected for this exercise set a fantastic pace, two immediately went into the lead. What can I say: there is nowhere to retreat - behind Moscow!

When our guys finished, no one around could believe: “What, Russians?!”. They managed to hug, take a picture, wash, change clothes - and only then the whole main group pulled up to the finish line.

And then the bargaining began. The organizers tried to persuade our team to give the first place to the American, who came in second with a large number of misses. Then they wanted to retroactively introduce two age groups in order, again, to get the coveted first place. But how can you argue with the obvious? In the end, the truth prevailed.

... At the solemn ceremony, our employee Mikhail N., who became the World Champion in Super SWAT, was awarded a certificate for the right to free choice of a Glock of any model. In any store. And again, "American nuances": no one will sell weapons to a foreigner. And it's impossible to take it out. Then why these beautiful gestures? ..

Be that as it may, the Alpha officers showed courage, composure and an amazing will to win. They prevailed not only with skill, but also with fortitude. On one of the exercises, our friend, having received a sunstroke (the temperature was + 35 °), reached the finish line and lost consciousness there.

From March 21 to March 28, in Jordan, on the territory of the Royal Training Center for Special Forces Units (The King Abdullah II Special Operations Training Center - abbreviated as KASOTC), the 5th annual Special Forces Competition (Annual Warriors Competition) for the prizes of the King of Jordan was held.

King of Jordan Abdullah 2nd himself is a former special forces fighter, who continues to maintain excellent physical and combat shape. During the competition, nothing prevented him from personally piloting a helicopter, landing at the shooting range, successfully shooting from his favorite Colt 45 caliber and, wishing all the participants good luck, leave the same way as he appeared. That is why Jordan attaches great importance to this tournament, and it is always held at the highest level. Every year, active special forces units from around the world take part in the competition. This year 36 teams from 19 countries participated in the competition. The team consists of 7 people: 5 "stormtroopers" and 2 "snipers". To the disappointment of both the participants themselves and the organizers, not all the strongest units were able to come.

The first thing worth noting is the KASOTC center itself. The scale of this structure and the scope with which its creators approached the matter are impressive. About 50 different shooting ranges are located on the territory of the center. A dozen training cities have been built inside the complex. At any of the sites of the range, you can perform exercises with live shooting and the use of almost any special equipment. The complex is adapted to work both day and night. It is possible to perform various training tasks using helicopters, and aviation also has the ability to use combat training at the training ground. All facilities of the complex are equipped with the latest technology. At all frontiers there are electronic scoreboards showing targets - walking to the targets to inspect the results is no longer relevant ... At a distance from the main objects there are positions for long-range shooting, which is the most difficult sniper range.

Russia has not previously participated in these competitions. Russia was represented by a group of veterans of the Russian special forces.

- We had a goal - to see what others can do, and to show what the employees of the Russian special forces (albeit veterans) are capable of. And we have achieved this goal.

By the way, the Russians came to the competitions without the main weapon with which they can work in KASOTC. Weapons could be rented locally. For the minimum time, the Russians mastered the work with the M4 A1 carbine. Speaking of weapons, it is necessary to note the excellent quality of foreign samples. I really liked the "emka" - a great carbine, soft recoil, very balanced. The pistols that they were given for the duration of the competition also left the best impressions. All participants were especially impressed by the weapons presented by Swiss and Dutch manufacturers - SigSauer and Fenix.

But with equipment and equipment, the situation was diametrically opposite. If usually at international championships Russian servicemen look with surprise at the luxurious uniforms and equipment of foreign teams, this time the whole world in the truest sense of the word looked with envy at Russian special forces who came to the competitions equipped like super soldiers from science fiction films. The Russian Internet has long had a term for this level of equipment - "jugernauts" (a term taken from a computer game and used to refer to a fighter armed with the most powerful weapon and the heaviest armor). The Russians really had all the best - the latest camouflage and tactical equipment, the most modern body armor and anti-fragmentation helmets. And one of the main miracles brought from Russia was sniper rifle, from which ours fired - the famous ORSIS T-5000 under caliber 338.

Most of the exercises of the tournament were connected with increased endurance And strength training. Many accelerated movements with access to the position and subsequent live fire. The entire competition program was designed for 9 days. The competition itself lasted 4 days.

1st day:
1. Cross-country 5 km in full gear (carbine, pistol, protective equipment: helmet, body armor 5 class, flashlight, knife, assault suit, boots).
2. Throw to 150m and shoot from a machine gun to 300m, then quickly move to another shooting range and shoot at emerging targets. Finish with the whole group. For each miss, a penalty of 10 seconds. The best team determined by time.
3. High-speed rise to the 8th floor and shooting at an angle of 45-60 degrees.
4. Storming the building with live fire.
5. Shooting out different provisions after the obstacle course.
2nd day:

1. Aircraft assault with marker ammunition.
2. Combat in urban conditions with live firing and evacuation (at 700–1000 m) of the wounded.
3. Release of hostages at night with shooting.
4. Night fight in the building with marker weapons.
3rd day:
Royal Marathon 10 km (exercise developed personally by King Abdullah). March through mountainous terrain with 5 firing lines: sniper 500-700 m, automatic 300 m, pistol 20-40 m, automatic with an angle of up to 60 degrees at 200-250 m, large-caliber pistol from different positions.
4th day:
1. Combat in the city with shooting at emerging targets as part of a unit.
2. Pistol duel.

In 2013, the undisputed leaders were Chinese special forces.

– Coincidentally or not, but most of the exercises this year were associated with increased endurance and strength training. And it is useless to compete with the Chinese in terms of FIZO. Chinese average age the participants are 23 years old, we have 44. The sniper is already 50 in general! On a 10-kilometer distance through the mountains, it was simply impossible to keep up with them. We ran in 1 hour 10 minutes, they ran in 42 minutes! At the same time, the Chinese sacrificed the quality of the exercise for the sake of speed. In the event of a miss, the employee simply dropped the weapon and ran penalty circles, compensating for the failure in shooting with speed and endurance. Someone jokingly called the Chinese "robots". But the winners, as they say, are not judged.

The results of the exercises were evaluated not by tactical execution, but by speed, and penalty time was added for misses. In general, with regard to the load, these competitions are a real test of endurance. For the Russians, the first assault on the aircraft began at 9 am. The final exercise of the first day began closer to 2 o'clock in the morning! And so every day! Participants managed to sleep for 4-5 hours,
not more.

Reserve officer (veteran) Taras Shevchenko:
- During the assault, it was necessary to clear a 4-story building and take out the “wounded” from there. On all floors of the skyscraper - targets that need to be hit with live ammunition. The “wounded” himself is a 90-kilogram something with a variable center of gravity. You can only carry it on yourself. Our fighter (veteran) took it upon himself and ran with him for about 800 meters, and we covered him with a tactical group. A high-ranking US Army officer then came to look for our participant, who was dragging the "wounded" to personally shake his hand. He said that he knew that Russian men were strong, but did not know that they were so strong. Many teams could hardly lift this “body” with four.

Colonel of the Reserve Directorate A of the Central Security Service of the FSB of Russia Sergey Vasilenko:

- The French, after the storming of the plane, asked the instructor: “What did the Russians do on the plane for more than two minutes, when the Chinese have an average of 1 minute 20 seconds? The task is to find and neutralize 20 terrorists.” To which the instructor replied: "The Russians did not perform the exercise - they stormed the plane." We actually got on the plane and cleaned it all, including the luggage compartment. We were one of the few teams that really worked out the situation.

No less interesting was the sniper duel. When the participants moved to the training ground, all equipment was taken away from everyone without exception. No rangefinders, ballistic calculators, not even phones. They were allowed to leave only a primitive observation tube (without a grid), the weapon itself, optical sights and a notebook with a pencil for calculations. In conditions of absolute uncertainty of the target situation, the second number needed to detect targets in 2 minutes and give the sniper all the necessary information. The shooter must hit 5 targets in 2 minutes, with a maximum of 6 shots.

This is where the true skill of sniper pairs manifested itself.

It should be noted that the atmosphere at the tournament was very friendly. No one was stalking anyone, no crooked looks. The Russians from the first minutes found a common language with representatives of many units, and often members of the opposing team came up and helped prepare for the upcoming exercise.

As the participants of the Russian team themselves say, they did not see anything special in terms of tactics and working out tasks at these competitions. I was struck only by the material base and the opportunities that it opened up for working out various situations. For example, elements of shooting from a carbine with large angles turned out to be very interesting - in Russia there are simply no training grounds with such conditions. First of all, the difficulty is the calculation of the trajectory of the bullet. After all, the bullet itself is light, the distances for shooting are large, about 300 meters, the targets are the size of a phone.

Of the exercises, I remember one called "Kogan's Alley", the essence of which is a fight in the city. The group moves around the real city, destroying all the targets that appear. Targets sometimes appear in rather unexpected places, at uncomfortable angles.

It is impossible not to say about the level of organization of the competition. Little facts. The results of the group were known within a minute after the finish of the last team. The photo booklet was ready five minutes after the end of the competition.

This visit will certainly not be the last for the Russians. It is already clear that the potential of the Russian special forces allows them to claim the highest places on the podium.

Held between April 19th - 23rd, 2015 in Amman, Jordan.

Chechen special forces took first place at the world championship in Jordan // RT in Russian. 04/24/2015.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Yq0A83ChDQ
Special Forces soldiers from Chechnya won the prestigious international competition among special forces for the prize of the King of Jordan. The tournament was held at The King Abdullah II Special Operations Training Center (KASOTC) in Amman.
Commander of the Chechen national team Danil Martynov, Assistant to the President of the Chechen Republic for the power bloc: "We dedicate all our cups to the Victory in the Great Patriotic War, the 70th anniversary, the anniversary. This is a victory for all of Russia, we worked hard, tried hard and simply could not let anyone down ".

Chechen special forces soldiers take part in military competitions in the capital of Jordan // RT in Russian. 04/20/2015.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fNWdahv2N8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgHwrvzMVQY
The Royal Military Training Center in Amman launched prestigious international competitions for the King of Jordan Prize. For the first time among the active Russian special forces, special forces soldiers from Chechnya take part in the competition.

SOBR "Terek" in Jordan // YouTube Gorec TV. 04/22/2015.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNoIaCW11TU

SOBR "Terek" GoPro in Jordan // YouTube Gorec TV. 04/22/2015.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w55LMbcV_n8

12/28/2014 Ramzan Kadyrov swore allegiance to the Motherland and President Putin. And his volunteers // YouTube Ramzan Kadyrov. 01/18/2015.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgtGMKok9Ds

Kadyrov's statement. Long live Putin! // Life News. 01/18/2015.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibDBvxni2XY

SOBR "Terek" in Jordan // YouTube Gorec TV. 02/03/2015.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NA0CIKtZM7Y

Kadyrovtsy are preparing for the championship in Jordan // YouTube KavkazTV95. 02/25/2015.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4aTinakIdEY

Chechen fighters represent Russia in Jordan // ChGTRK "Grozny". 02/27/2015.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KzLjMyda90
For the right to represent the Motherland, large and small, at the prestigious championship among the power units of the planet, these young men had to go through serious trials.

[***] Russian field of Holland. A researcher from the Netherlands identifies the names of Soviet soldiers buried in his country. Remco Reiding, Foundation "Soviet Field of Glory" ("Stichting Russisch Ereveld") // Kommersant and LiveJournal Sobyanin. 04/20/2015.
http://sobiainnen.livejournal.com/111081.html

[***] Soldier-liberator in Berlin. On May 8, 1950, one of the most majestic symbols of the Great Victory was opened in Berlin's Treptow Park (story, photo, video) // LJ Valery Petrov (masterok). 04/15/2015.
http://sobiainnen.livejournal.com/109044.html

[***] Berlin Victory Parade. Watch everyone! (Allied parade on September 7, 1945, based on the documentary film "The Forgotten Parade", NTV, 2004, dir. - O. Graff) // Cont.ws. 03/31/2015.

KING OF SWAT

Veterans of the Russian special forces, who came to Jordan for the first time, made a worthy presentation. And the undisputed leaders of the competition were the employees of the Chinese special forces, who took all the possible prizes, including the team standings. The colors of the Red Dragon were defended by two teams - the police special unit "Snow Leopards" and the military intelligence unit.

In general, to be honest, the Jordanian special forces were lucky that they were personally supervised by Abdullah II. Monarch - professional military, graduated from the Royal military academy in the UK, served in a tank battalion. "Sick" with special forces, he trained in seven countries where the traditions and training of these elite units are strong. Including visited the Soviet Union and Russia - in one of the guards units of the Winged Infantry.

By the way, on each of his visits to Russia, the special forces monarch always visits, as he himself says, fellow soldiers. In the reception room of his residence, a shield with knives of special forces from different countries. In a place of honor, in the center, a Russian knife of "Uncle Vasya's troops" is fixed.

He ascended the throne on February 7, 1999 after the death of his father, who ruled the country for forty-seven years. The choice of Hussein, who made this particular son the heir, fell on him because Abdullah was loved in the army and was called the prince-soldier.

Abdullah was the eldest son of the late King Hussein and his second wife, Antoinette Gardiner (Princess Muna), an English-born who converted to Islam and was Queen of Jordan until her divorce in 1972. The prince was educated at Oxford, later at Georgetown University in Washington.

Of course, Hussein risked a lot by declaring the heir to the throne of his son, who had been cut off from his homeland for so long. However, as already noted, the army officer was on the side of the career officer Abdullah from the very beginning, which played a significant role in his appointment. In addition, his wife Rania is Palestinian, which is very important in a country with a large and influential Palestinian population. Despite Jordan's good relations with Israel, Abdullah is forced to listen to the opinion of the Palestinians, who make up 70% of the country's population.

During the life of his father, Prince Abdullah was first deputy commander of the SOF, later he headed them. Under him, they received a new development, were reformed - and taking into account the training and structure of our special forces.

Having become the head of state, Abdullah II created the Special Operations Command. Although the kingdom cannot be called even average in terms of living standards, they do not spare money for special forces there. The king himself is in good physical form. He knows how to fly a Cobra combat helicopter, make long parachute jumps.

In the course of the current competition, nothing prevented the king, personally piloting the "turntable", from landing at the shooting range, successfully shooting from his favorite "Colt" 45 caliber and, having wished all the participants good luck, retired to the same Makar.

KASOTC

Every year, active special forces units from around the world take part in The King Abdullah II Special Operations Training Center (KASOTC for short) competitions. This year, thirty-six teams from nineteen countries, including Russia, took part in the competition.

The composition of the team participating in the championship consists of seven people: five "stormtroopers" and two "snipers". To the disappointment of the participants and organizers, this year many of the strongest divisions could not come. The GSG-9, SAS, Delta units did not arrive, and the American SWAT police units were not represented either.

The first thing worth noting in the competition is the KASOTC center itself, built with the help of American and Saudi allies. Its scope is really impressive: ten by ten square kilometers. A dozen cities were built inside the complex, and some of them are copies of real ones. At any of the sites of the range, you can perform exercises with live shooting and the use of almost any special equipment, including explosives.

The complex is adapted for special forces work at any time of the day. Here you can hone the performance of various training tasks using helicopters, and aviation can use military weapons on the training ground. The facilities are equipped with the latest technology. At the borders, electronic scoreboards showing targets are mounted. Shooting positions, located at some distance from the entire "urban" infrastructure, are the most difficult range for snipers, including those with winds in five or six directions.

According to official figures, the construction of this complex took more than $ 200 million, but many of those who saw it with their own eyes suggest that the real amount is much more. His

The creators of the center did not hide their political predilections and the fact that quite certain tasks needed by quite certain forces would be worked out on it. For example, in one of the training grounds, you can easily recognize an exact copy of the residence of Bashar al-Assad, the current president of Syria, exactly the very Syria where fierce battles with rebels and "jihadists" are now taking place.

It is here that the US, French and British military train Syrian "good guys" from the Free Syrian Army (FSA) to counter the "bad guys" from Damascus.

SHOW YOURSELF, SHOW OTHERS

Our country has never participated in these prestigious competitions before. And here is the first path. In Jordan, Russia was represented not by the official team of the active special forces, but by a group of special forces veterans who, in individually took part in the tournament on their own initiative. Such a trip became possible thanks to the financial support of the Redut Security company, which took over all the financial support.

The participation of our special forces officers made a lot of noise. It is noteworthy that the arrival of the Russians came as a shock even to the Russian military attache, who was extremely surprised to see his compatriots at the opening ceremony.

“No one planned to win prizes in this tournament,” Taras Shevchenko, major of the special forces reserve of the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, clarifies. - Let's not be dreamers: for the Russians to come somewhere for the first time and they are immediately "allowed" to take a prize? This will not happen in any foreign championship. We had a goal: to see what kind of competition it was and to show what the employees of the Russian special forces are capable of. And we have achieved this goal. We had a veteran team. Both in terms of status and age. One of the participants, when he found out how old the youngest of us was, said: “Your results simply cannot be considered next to the results of fighters who are, in fact, half your age. You generally need a separate category!” But we did not pursue such a goal.

By the way, what is typical: ours came to the competitions without the main weapon, since the 5.56 mm caliber, which can be used in KASOTC, is not common in Russia.

Weapons, fortunately, could be rented on the spot. In a minimum period of time, the Russians mastered the work with the M4 carbine so masterfully that they were able to teach lessons in handling it to "experienced users" of these types of weapons. For example, they taught foreigners how to properly clean the emka.

Speaking about weapons, our participants mention the excellent quality of foreign weapons, especially pistols, which were provided to them for the duration of the tournament. After Russian weapons, it was ... “how to transfer to a Mercedes after a Zhiguli”. Alas, but it is so!

The weapons used by the Swiss and Dutch units - SigSauer and Heckler&Koch - were especially impressive for all participants. It could be tested in action, and representatives different teams They were happy to give “for testing” what they brought with them. Only the Americans “distinguished themselves”, who stubbornly did not want to show their shotgun to the Russians, but in the end this “fortress” fell.

But with equipment and equipment, the situation was diametrically
etral. Usually, at international championships, ours look with white envy at their colleagues, but this time the rest looked at the Russians, equipped as Super Soldier. In the domestic Internet, there has long been a term for this level of equipment - “juggernauts”. The term Juggernaut is taken from a computer game and is used to refer to a fighter armed with powerful weapons, heavy armor and possessing unprecedented strength.

Our people in Jordan really had all the best: the latest camouflage and tactical equipment, the most modern body armor and anti-fragmentation helmets. And one of the main miracles brought from Russia was the T-5000 ORSIS sniper rifle chambered for caliber 338 for foreigners, which has already made a splash at the most prestigious sniper competitions.

Last year, the "Alfas", who fired from the T-5000 ORSIS, became World Champions at the championship in Hungary, defeating competitors in a very tough and uncompromising struggle.

They came up with a rifle to be photographed, they asked to take it, hold it, shoot it, they looked at it with surprise and, as it were, even incomprehension: they say, how was it possible to make such a high-quality weapon in Russia?

INCREASED ENDURANCE

Most of the exercises in the 2013 tournament were related to increased endurance and strength training. Many accelerated movements with access to the position and subsequent live fire.

An example of just one of the exercises: moving 300 meters, entering a firing position, firing single shots for the accuracy of the results. Then moving to a seven-story building, climbing to the top floor. Shooting at a very sharp angle at popper targets located in front of the building using carbines of 5.56 mm caliber. And, finally, the subsequent evacuation from the building to the starting line.

In addition, among the exercises were those where it was necessary to take out the wounded from the battlefield, storm the aircraft, night combat, sniper competitions and many others. There are about fifteen stages in total.

One of the most difficult, in terms of physical endurance, was the so-called Royal Marathon. Its essence lies in the fact that the team in full gear needs to overcome ten kilometers through difficult rough terrain - desert, quarries. Sometimes, in order to reach the firing position, it was necessary to climb the mountains.

At each stage, one of the participants must shoot effectively with an M4, then with a Colt 45 caliber pistol. Shoot back both strong and weak hand. Naturally, this is a certain difficulty, since the caliber is quite decent, the return is strong. Yes, and you need to shoot on the run!

“Accidentally or not,” says Sergey Vasilenko, reserve colonel of Directorate “A” of the Special Purpose Center of the FSB of Russia, “but most of the exercises this year were associated with increased endurance and strength training. Well, it was almost useless to compete with the Chinese in this regard. Why? For one reason: we are veterans, they are all active. The Chinese had an average age of twenty-three, we had forty-four. The sniper has already turned fifty dollars in general ...

However, we showed class! On a 10-kilometer distance through the mountains, it was simply impossible to keep up with them. We ran in 1 hour 10 minutes, they ran in forty-two minutes! At the same time, the Chinese sacrificed the quality of the exercise for the sake of speed. What they did: to the detriment of shooting, in case of a miss, the fighter simply threw the weapon and ran penalty circles, compensating for failures in shooting and tactics with speed and endurance. Someone jokingly called the Chinese "robots".

... The calculation of the results of the exercise was carried out not by the quality of the performance, the accuracy of the hits, but by the time during which the teams completed the exercise. Some unhealthy attention was paid to safety. For example, according to the conditions of the competition, the bolt of a carbine at a time when it is not used for shooting should always be in the rearmost position. Most of the participants, including the Russians, were armed with M4 carbines, and the peculiarity of this weapon is that when passing through an obstacle course, the bolt can break into a firing position from a simple touch to the weapon.

Already from the start there were some "misunderstandings" with the Russian team. Accidentally or not, but on the running distance someone “mixed up” the routes, and ours had to run an extra kilometer! After that, the team was returned to the start, saying that someone "forgot" to stick a flag in right place. Forces, of course, have already been spent. And no one stopped time. I'm sorry, that's how it happened.

Despite the debut, the Russians were able to immediately gain confidence and authority. Representatives of all other departments were drawn to them.

Major Taras Shevchenko says:

- We were to storm with the release of the four-story building, from where the "wounded" would be taken out. On all floors there are targets for which you need to work out with live ammunition. Himself "wounded" ... This is a 90-kilogram something with a constantly changing center of gravity. According to the rules, you can only carry it on yourself. Our fighter in the team took it on himself and ran about eight hundred meters, and we covered him with a tactical group.

Later, the general of one of the teams came to look for our participant, who was carrying the "wounded". “I knew that Russian men were strong, but I didn’t know that they were so strong!” he said, shaking hands. The members of his team could not lift this "body" as many as four. The Chinese dragged the "wounded" by a group of four to five fighters, periodically hitting the "body" with his head on the ground. And the Americans generally carried it out on a stretcher, which seems to be against the rules.

... In general, with regard to the load, these competitions are a real test of endurance. For the Russians, the first assault on the aircraft began at 9 am. The final exercise of the first day began only closer to 2 o'clock in the morning. And so every day! Exercise after exercise. Virtually no break. The participants managed to sleep for four to five hours, no more.

- The French, after practicing the assault on the plane, - says Colonel Sergei Vasilenko, - asked the instructor: “What did the Russians do on the plane for more than two minutes, when the Chinese average is 1 minute 20 seconds? To which the instructor replied: "The Russians did not perform the exercise - they stormed the plane." And we actually went into the plane and cleaned it all, including the luggage compartment. Our task was to storm the plane with a complete sweep, find and neutralize twenty terrorists. and we completed the task!

We were one of the few teams that did not perform exercises, but really worked out the situation - we worked tactically, covered each other, worked on corners. One of the American brigadier generals pointed out to his subordinates Russian team and in front of everyone he said: “These guys are the only ones who work tactically.”

By the way, we took pictures with the Americans later for a general photo, handing them the flag of the Airborne Forces, which they were incredibly happy to learn that these were the elite units of the Russian special forces, called Airborne, i.e. Airborne.

"ALLEY KOGAN"

One of those who surprised the foreign anti-terror pros was the first number of the Russian sniper pair. He went around his opponents in all respects, "shooting" the competitors in all exercises.

At the training grounds, the organizers took away cameras, phones and computers from everyone, without exception, to perform sniper exercises. Even ballistic calculators. They were allowed to leave only a primitive observation tube, the weapon itself, optical sights and a notebook with a pencil for calculations.

Under these conditions, the most elite snipers from all over the world lost their morale dramatically, and the only ones who could show real shooting in such Spartan conditions turned out to be shooters from Russia and Canada. They completed their tasks without auxiliary electronics.

One of the most difficult were sniper exercises. In conditions of absolute uncertainty of the target situation, the second number needed to detect targets in two minutes and give the first number all the necessary information. The shooter must hit five targets in five minutes, with a maximum of 6 shots.

The American special forces major was so imbued with the work of our snipers that right at the shooting range - after the Russians had completed the exercise - he took off his stripes and chevrons and presented his paraphernalia as a sign of deep respect. They approached the Russians and shook hands with the words: “Guys, you are the best. Here you have shown what some will later learn and analyze for a long time.”

As already noted, if it were not for the age factor, it is very possible that the places on the podium would have been distributed differently.

As noted by the Russian participants, the situation at the tournament was completely non-competitive. No one was stalking anyone, no crooked looks. From the first minutes, our pros found a common language with representatives of many divisions. And sometimes it got to the point that the members of the opposing team helped to prepare for the upcoming exercise, although according to the rules this could not be done.

According to special forces veterans, they did not see anything new in terms of tactics and working out some tasks in Jordan. But I was pleasantly surprised by the material base and the opportunities that it opened up for working out various situations. For example, elements of shooting from a carbine with large angles turned out to be very interesting - in Russia this is difficult to work out due to the lack of a specialized training ground. The difficulty is the calculation of the trajectory of the shot. The bullet itself is light, the shooting distances are large, about three hundred meters. And the goals themselves are the size of a mobile phone.

None of the Russians, according to one of the participants, has ever shot at such distances in principle. Except in the mountains. Although even there the distances were two to three times less.

Of all practical exercises, perhaps the most memorable one called Hogantown or "Kogan's Alley" (Hogan's Alley). The group moves around an almost real city, destroying unexpected targets in unexpected places and at awkward angles. I had to shoot from different hands. Depends on a situation.

Russians celebrate high level organizing competitions. A typical example: the results of the group were known within a minute after the final exercise of the last team. A booklet with photographs was ready five minutes after the end of the championship and promptly distributed to all participants.

Summing up the results of the Royal Tournament, Alfa Colonel Sergey Vasilenko gives the following assessment:

- I think that if we brought the current division to these competitions: Alpha, Vympel, Vityaz, the first place would be guaranteed to any of these divisions! I voiced precisely this point of view to the special forces from the United States, who told me in a personal conversation: “We thought that the Russians would be a little faster.” - "Who is the most senior in rank in your team?" - Senior Lieutenant. “If active lieutenants from the Russian special forces came here, then everyone else would simply have nothing to do at these competitions.”

In the near future, I plan to contact Sergey Ivanovich Lysyuk to help bring the team of the Vityaz CSN of the Internal Troops of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs to these competitions.

CHALLENGE!

The main anti-terrorist unit in Jordan is the Special Operations Unit-71, created in 1971. Main tasks: fight against Islamic terrorists and drug trafficking. The fighters of the unit are trained jointly with American and British special forces. After 1976, not a single hostage died during the operations, but there were losses among the special forces.

At the end of 1996, the importance of the Special Forces, ensuring the national security of the country, was reinforced by the creation of the Command of the Special Forces of the Kingdom of Jordan. Parts of the special forces and the royal guard were united under a single command.

The core of this unified fist is the special forces brigade, which has the following units: a special forces group, an airborne battalion, a sabotage and reconnaissance battalion, an airborne artillery battalion and a special forces training school.

According to experts of the International Anti-Terror Institute, the Jordanian special forces are distinguished, first of all, by the ability to quickly deploy anywhere not only in the country, but in the entire Middle East. Fire support is provided by the Air Force grouping, which has C-130 Hercules and CASA 212A Aviocar military transport aircraft.

Some time ago, a squadron of UH-1 Iroquois helicopters was created, equipped specifically for the transfer of special forces through dangerous areas of the country. For long-range large-scale operations, special forces can use heavy "turntables" Aerospatiale AS.332M "Super Puma". For close air support - modern shock machines of the AH-IF "Cobra" class.

Instructors daily inspire beginners: “Challenge and excel in training. Challenge and excel in battle. Take on the challenge and be the best unit in the country's Armed Forces."

Only in Jordan there is a special variety martial art- an offensive method of cold-blooded murder and removal of sentries, which is called "Sijal" (that is, in Arabic "Challenge"). Armed with razor-sharp cleavers and bone-breaking bamboo sticks, Jordanian paratroopers conduct their training. To warm up, they practice taekwon-do for an hour.

In Zarka, the main training base for special forces, a unique shooting range has been built. Here you can see how the combat training is going on. On a particularly hot day, when the temperature in the shade reaches 40 degrees, the reconnaissance and sabotage squad in camouflage suits takes a position.

... Unexpectedly, the militants, armed with "Kalash" and depicting the enemy, open fire with live ammunition. Bullets fall a few centimeters from the advancing scouts-saboteurs. Those, in turn, fall to the ground and shoot from M-16 rifles at paper targets located fifty meters from them.

Such harsh and sometimes dangerous training methods are due to the fact that it is very difficult to fight in border areas, for example with Iraq, where there is a terrible heat during the day and cold at night. This requires fighters of a special type, able not only to endure such climatic conditions, but also to make tedious forced marches with a 40-kilogram load, to fire to kill in the way that reconnaissance saboteurs are trained to do.

Thus, soldiers who want to finally hang the golden “wings” of paratroopers on their chests and show off in maroon berets must undergo grueling physical and psychological tests. Only after that they will be allowed to submit a report on enrollment in the school.

Cadets who have completed the annual training course for reconnaissance paratroopers and received a certificate become full-fledged soldiers of the airborne battalion. To the best fighters after several years of service, the opportunity is given to become volunteers to join the special forces battalion.