Refreshing Special Operations’ Personal Firearms

Refreshing Special Operations’ Personal Firearms

special operations

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The Special Operations Task Force (SOTF) of the Singapore Armed Forces, a combination of the army’s Commandos, Special Operation Force and the navy’s Naval Diving Unit has inducted a series of new personal equipment and firearms.

Among the new acquisitions, the more notable additional is the Heckler & Koch (HK) MP7 personal defense weapon, a sub-machine gun with steel hardened bullets, which was carried by SOTF operatives conducting a parachute insertion into the Army Open House show site recently. SOTF examples of the MP7 were seen with a silencer and a Trijicon red-dot sight mounted on a Picatinny rail.

According to shephardmedia.com, the MP7 was inducted by the SOTF in the last 1-2 years, although they also use the FN Herstal P90, a Belgian development currently in use at Brazil, France and more, depending on the type of operations. The unit also prefers the HK416 assault rifle, popular with the US Navy SEALS, which comes in 25-centimeter and 35-centimeter barrel versions, and the smaller-calibre FN Five-SeveN as its sidearm.

ST Kinetics has also developed a Compact Personal Weapon, with conversions for either 9mm, 5.7mm or 4.6mm rounds.The weapon is currently under production.

This is the first time the SOTF has showcased deployment via parachute insertion in tactical gear. Also of interest are new black camouflage coveralls, which are different to the black tactical uniform seen in most units. Other accessories seen on SOTF operatives were Thales Angenieux night-vision goggles.

Usually kept under wraps, the SOTF has been active in many events in recent years to provide the public with greater confidence against potential threats.