For Toughest U.S. Troops, Highest-Tech Combat Gear

They are the country’s premier warriors, and when they wrap their arms and legs around 2-inch-thick ropes and descend from hovering Blackhawk helicopters into the next phase of the war in Afghanistan, many will carry as much as 100 pounds of the most sophisticated combat gear in history.

“Operators,” as U.S. commandos are known, will land under cover of darkness with a new, more compact assault weapon than they used in the Persian Gulf War, dramatically improved night-vision equipment, “whisper” microphones and waterproof, shock-resistant Global Positioning System units that can pinpoint their location to within a few yards--and that, unlike those of a decade ago, work reliably.

Since suspected terrorist Osama bin Laden and Taliban forces possess few large military targets--and since those they did have were probably destroyed in the past weeks’ aerial bombing--many military experts believe that this conflict may be suited to special operations units like no war in history.

Working in groups as small as four, the commandos are likely to carry out “snatch-and-grab” abductions, “sneak-and-peek” reconnaissance and ambushes behind enemy lines. Their ability to wreak massive havoc in just minutes makes them what the military calls “force multipliers,” meaning each operator can deliver as much misery to the enemy as four or five traditional soldiers.

“You need smaller, lighter elements that move around quickly, in difficult terrain, at unexpected times,” said retired Army Gen. Dave Granger, a former “spec ops” soldier who went on to command the 1st Infantry Division. “We don’t want to occupy the place. We don’t want to hang around long. And we don’t want to have [large, regular forces] tramping around a countryside with 10 million land mines.

“Special ops go in and get out. That’s what they do.”

The M-4 Carbine Is New Gun of Choice

The technical improvements begin with their most basic tool: the assault weapon. Most Army Special Forces (known as Green Berets), Navy SEALs (for sea, air and land), members of Delta Force (so secretive the Army will not confirm its existence) and other elite units have exchanged their long-trusted M-16s for a new weapon called the M-4.

A carbine, or short-barreled rifle, the M-4 fires the same small, high-velocity ammunition as the M-16 but is lighter, shorter and more compact. The version of the M-4 used by most special operations units can be configured in a variety of ways--and reconfigured repeatedly in the field--to accommodate everything from a grenade launcher to a visible laser to an infrared illuminator to help guide smart bombs to their targets.

At about 30 inches long, the M-4 is so compact it also is beginning to take the place of another favorite in the commando arsenal: the submachine gun.

The MP-5 submachine gun has for years been a favorite not only of commandos but also of Secret Service agents, SWAT teams and other specialized military and police units because of its reliability and size.

But the MP-5 fires the same 9-millimeter ammunition used in many standard police pistols, a round that typically fails to penetrate even the lightest body armor--a lesson taught to the world during the televised 1997 bank robbery and shootout in North Hollywood. One of two robbers, both swathed in body armor and armed with assault rifles, was shot by police 29 times before he finally surrendered, lay down in the street and eventually bled to death.

“You now have bad guys who are wearing body armor,” said Charles Cutshaw, a retired intelligence specialist and small-arms expert. “And special ops guys know a 9-millimeter isn’t likely to penetrate it.”

The Toughest and Smartest of Soldiers

Commandos are older than most soldiers. They have been through training programs so physically and mentally taxing that half or more of their classmates--already the best in the military--don’t graduate.

During the final week of training for SEALs, known as “hell week,” for example, students are allowed just four hours of sleep for the entire week. The rest of the time they run, swim in bone-chilling seas, crawl through mud while machine guns howl around them--and throughout, must demonstrate mental acuity.

Unlike most soldiers, who act on orders, commandos are chosen for their ability to think creatively, be resourceful and operate on their own for weeks with no contact from superiors. Physical strength counts, but not as much as perseverance and many other cerebral skills.

Army Special Forces, or Green Berets, are usually assigned to train indigenous troops, and members often speak several languages.

Delta Force members learn to blend in wherever they operate, which in Afghanistan could mean everything from sneaking across borders in a woman’s veil to living for days in a foxhole covered with foliage and then carrying off every trace of their presence in sealed plastic bags.

SEALs must be able to navigate using nothing more than a wrist compass--underwater and at night.

Most commandos know how to operate dozens, even hundreds of weapons, and they tailor their firearms to the mission. They are also encouraged to pack any guns they simply like. That means some carry pistols made partially of lightweight plastics while others holster a heavy steel Government Model 1911--a Colt handgun patented 90 years ago.

Of course, these days, the classic may be fitted with a laser sight.

Special ops soldiers get the best equipment because they are given the most difficult and dangerous tasks.

Some units, for instance, that may be on the ground in and around Afghanistan have been armed with a new, high-tech automatic grenade launcher, the CG-40 Striker.

Half the weight of its predecessor, the Striker has a computerized fire-control system that automatically sets the range and even programs “smart” shells to explode on impact or, if the enemy is hunkered down behind a hill or in a foxhole, to burst overhead.

Some of these larger weapons, including various machine guns, also come equipped for the first time with thermal-imaging capabilities.

“One of the greatest developments in the past few years is the thermal devices, like you have on a tank, that can see through fog and dust,” retired Gen. Grange said.

Since special operations forces work mostly at night, nearly every unit has upgraded from the “generation two” equipment of the Gulf War to “generation three” and three-plus equipment. Among the favorite devices is a monocle called the PVS-14.

The battery-powered eyeglass is smaller, lighter and has much finer resolution than the night-vision equipment used in the Gulf, providing a picture that is near television quality, albeit in shades of green. The unit can be held by hand, mounted to a helmet or snapped onto the optical sights of an M-4 or sniper rifle.

Another technology that has improved dramatically since the Gulf War is the use of Global Positioning System satellites to determine locations. In the Gulf, troops were sometimes dropped into the wrong place by helicopters with troublesome GPS systems. The soldiers were then unable to direct the helicopters back to them because their own GPS units didn’t work. Today’s systems are so advanced and compact that many commandos have their own units.

Some of the commandos will carry ammunition and other items in a new pouch system called a “rack” that runs across their chest so they don’t have to reach to their waist or behind their back for a new magazine.

SEALs and Delta members may employ upgraded parachutes and breathing apparatuses during HALO (high altitude, low opening) drops, in which they leap from a plane at about 30,000 feet and free fall more than five miles, opening their chute just a few hundred feet from the ground. Or they may use similar equipment during HAHO (high altitude, high opening) drops, in which they open a rectangular, highly maneuverable chute at about 30,000 feet and glide to targets 30 or 50 miles away.

To help them maneuver once they are on the ground, they will be aided for the first time in a U.S. war with intelligence gathered by pilotless planes called UAVs, or unmanned aerial vehicles.

No one knows how these first weapons of the 21st century will affect this country’s first war of the 21st century. Special operations soldiers have always enjoyed the latest in weaponry because they have always been on missions of potentially enormous import, missions whose success or failure can dramatically shape U.S. policy and politics.

In 1979, eight Delta commandos and pilots died in the Iranian desert when a plane and helicopter collided in a sandstorm before ever leaving the ground. They were supposed to be on their way to rescue hostages at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. The debacle at Desert One put an end to further rescue attempts and helped seal Jimmy Carter’s fate as a one-term president.

In 1993, television and newspapers around the world showed pictures of a dead Army Ranger being dragged through the streets of Mogadishu by Somalis, whom the troops had initially gone to help feed. President Clinton soon pulled U.S. forces out of the rcountry.

In the world of special operations, such failures often garner more attention than the successes.

During the Gulf War, SEALs staged a fake amphibious assault that so fooled Iraqi troops that some in the military believe it saved dozens or even hundreds of American lives. Many of the smart-bomb direct hits shown on television during the war succeeded because Special Forces troops were nearby helping guide the pilots and bombs.

In the 1989 invasion of Panama, Delta Force members rescued an American from a heavily guarded prison. There was little celebration among operators over the daring rescue, however, because they were mourning four SEALs killed, and eight seriously wounded, during an assault on Patilla Airfield--a job many military analysts say should have been given to a much larger contingent of Army Rangers, who are trained specifically to take out airports.

In fact, commandos are about nine times more likely to die in action than traditional soldiers, according to the Special Operations Warrior Foundation, which helps raise college money for the children of those killed in action.

Some are almost certain to perish in this war on terrorism.

“These are normal, average guys who go away for a while and just want to come home and make it to their kid’s soccer game,” said Pat Traeger, a retired Special Forces soldier who now helps raise money for the foundation. “Not everybody makes it back, though. This is a very dangerous business.”