On Army Day on August 1 this year, the People's Liberation Army News and Communication Center organized a very unique live broadcast event - the "Gun King Challenge" held at the Army Infantry Academy. Special forces from the Army, Navy, Air Force and Armed Police gathered together to display special shooting events and shoot a variety of firearms.
In this competition, compared with the firearm shooting subject, what attracted more military mushrooms was actually the display of military specialty shooting items at the beginning. Each unit conducted a public display of simulated combat in accordance with its own special combat forms and tactical tactics. Although the display of each unit is very good, if you want to say which unit has the most amazing performance and the most actual combat atmosphere, it is probably our "Jiaolong Commando".
The Navy's "Jiaolong" squad displayed the subject of Chada Coordinated Combat Shooting. At the beginning of the operation, two frogmen who had infiltrated the mission area surfaced, alerting their surroundings. In this process, we did not see the bubbles produced by the divers when breathing, indicating that the two special forces probably used a fully enclosed rebreather, commonly known as "scuba".
In traditional diving activities, divers generally wear open breathing apparatus, which expels exhaust gases with each breath. For civilian use, such a breathing apparatus is barely enough, but for the military, there are clearly some flaws in this design. The floating bubbles will expose the frogman's position, and with each breath, some of the heat will be lost with the exhaust gas, which is not conducive to long dives.
This is not the case with a fully enclosed rebreather (CCR) – this device stores the exhaust gas exhaled by the diver and stores it in a closed tank.
▲ SEALs using CCR
The advantages of using CCR are numerous: First, CCR does not produce a large number of air bubbles, and divers do not easily expose their position. Secondly, the CCR device does not cause heat loss when breathing, and the diver is able to move underwater for long periods of time. Finally, those who have studied biology in junior high school know that the exhaust gas expelled by human breath also contains oxygen, and advanced CCR equipment can even recover this oxygen for recycling, greatly extending the oxygen capacity carried.
The Jiaolong Special Combat Team has been using CCR diving equipment for a long time, and at least in 2018, there have been relevant news reports. In the "Peace and Unity" 2024 joint military exercise some time ago, our army also showed foreign armies CCR diving equipment with the appearance of starry sky camouflage, which is likely to be the same model as the equipment used in this exercise.
▲CCR diving equipment displayed in the "Peace and Unity" 2024 joint military exercise
But what is strange is that after one of the divers came out of the water, a layer of mist appeared on the mask with his breath! People who often wear this kind of closed mask must have been affected by this water mist, in fact, as long as a layer of anti-fogging agent is applied to the inside of ordinary lenses, you can basically eliminate the water mist generated by breathing, and you can buy it for dozens of dollars. Since the other diver's mask did not have water mist, the military mushroom estimated that it was purely a minor accident.
Subsequently, a team member wearing a gilly suit released a "bird" in the shape of a sparrow. Before the military mushroom could react, he saw this "bird" flutter its wings twice, and it really went to the sky!
It turned out to be a miniature bionic ornithopter.
The history of ornithopters can be traced back to very ancient times, when the ancients saw that birds and insects could fly with their wings and thought that they could fly into the sky as long as they made a machine that fluttered their wings. Of course, in that era when there were no aerodynamics, such experiments failed without exception.
▲ The way birds fly has not been thoroughly studied so far
Although in modern times, some people have built ornithopters that can actually fly into the sky, but they are far from safe and practical. Due to the extreme complexity of the aerodynamics of the design, until today, it has not been possible to build a large ornithopter capable of manned flight. However, this kind of aircraft, which mimics the flight of animals, still has a great use.
▲Ornithopter in the movie "Dune".
The first application of ornithopters was in biological research, a group of United States scientists created an ornithopter that imitated eagles to drive away nearby endangered birds and facilitate their observation and research. Some airports also use ornithopters to repel birds that threaten flight safety. Since these ornithopters are very realistic in appearance, since they can fool birds, they can certainly fool humans. Soon, it was proposed to use this ornithopter as military equipment.
Military ornithopters generally imitate birds in appearance, and depending on the size, the imitation of birds is not the same, and miniature ornithopters can even imitate the shape of insects. Compared with ordinary UAVs, the endurance and range of ornithopters are much worse, but they are extremely concealed, even if they are bird experts, it is difficult to identify at a glance whether it is a bird flying in the sky or an ornithopter, which is very suitable for covert reconnaissance operations.
Immediately after that, a group of Navy special combat personnel on "electric surfboards" galloped from the water and successfully arrived at the landing site. The electric wakeboard reminds the military of the small submersibles often used by the United States Navy SEALs, which are small vehicles used to transport special operators on the water. It's just that submersibles are underwater and can be carried by submarines, while water skateboards can obviously only be carried by surface vessels.
This is not because our equipment is inferior to foreign armies, but because of the limitations of the training scene: this is the Army Infantry Academy, can you still drive submarines in? Of course, only small vehicles on the water can be demonstrated.
▲HK416 can achieve water shooting
It is worth noting that the special combat team members who rode the water skateboard were carrying a "big bag", which was obviously waterproof. Some people think that this waterproof rucksack is used for guns, but the military mushroom can only say that you also underestimate the waterproof ability of modern firearms, and most modern firearms can be carried by diving and shooting out of the water. United States' Navy SEALs chose the HK416 with this performance in mind.
Looking closely at the video, we will also find that the guns of these special operators are carried on their backs. Therefore, the waterproof backpack is definitely not loaded with guns, but other special equipment.
After landing, wakeboards were abandoned on the spot, which is also a common means of performing special operations missions behind enemy lines. If it is a real battle, if conditions permit, it is even necessary to dig pits to bury these abandoned equipment. But this is training, and if you really bury the equipment, it will be a big loss if it is broken. Then the team members opened the waterproof rucksack and took out the "baby" inside - an electric skateboard!
When I first saw this electric skateboard, it is estimated that many netizens will think it is outrageous: This thing can also fight? To be honest, the military mushroom also felt outrageous. Even if this thing has a certain off-road ability, it is basically used in urban terrain, and the requirements for infrastructure facilities are relatively high, and the "off-road" level is at most a green belt. In other words, this thing can only be landed in the city and its surroundings...... I can't think about this matter in detail, the military mushroom can only say that he understands it.
▲The Russian army has recently been using electric scooters for transportation
Of course, some people must think that whether it is this electric skateboard or the water skateboard in front, isn't it a moving target at a constant speed? That's actually true, if you open this right under the nose of the enemy, it will definitely be a live target. But if it is used at night, it penetrates the estuary of the city from the sea, quietly lands in the enemy's undefended area, and then immediately switches to a skateboard and maneuvers at high speed. Even if it is discovered by the enemy, before the other party can react, the skateboard is already rushing to the place - it is still the same sentence, you can understand it.
After a quick maneuver in the "last mile", the skateboarders arrived at the target area - the small arms shooting range of the Army Infantry Academy. On the undulating lawns of the shooting range, this electric skateboard can still drive relatively steadily, and even move and fire on it. Of course, stepping on this skateboard for a long time and "confronting the enemy" with the gun is definitely looking for death, so after entering the position, the special combat personnel immediately abandoned the skateboard and formed a battle formation, with snipers and machine gunners setting up guns to cover, and commandos charging forward.
▲Abandon the skateboard when engaging the enemy
During the attack, details of the weapons used by the three commandos can be seen. Two of them were using a QBZ-191 rifle with a muzzle-mounted silencer, and the other was using a QBZ-192 short rifle, all three of which were equipped with scopes and laser designators, which from a close perspective looked like NGAL laser designators, which were the same equipment as the SEAL Six! As for whether it is the original or a "copycat version", it is difficult to say.
▲ Three team members rushed forward
The three team members use different scopes, the model is difficult to identify, the 192 short rifle at the close should be some kind of red dot scope, the 191 rifle in the middle may be equipped with some kind of holographic scope or a low-magnification scope with magnification function, and the team members in the distance are the most distinctive, installed with the LPVO scope popular among foreign special forces.
▲ U.S. military using LPVO sights
The LPVO scope looks very much like a high-power scope for a sniper rifle, and it is similar in principle, but it has an extremely powerful zoom ability, which can generally be quickly switched between 1~8 times, and can not only carry out CQB melee combat, but also shoot accurately at medium and long distances, which is an all-round scope. Of course, nothing is perfect, and this kind of scope is relatively heavy and narrow, and it is certainly not as good as a professional red dot or high power scope.
From these details, it can be seen that the special combat personnel of the Jiaolong Commando have already gotten rid of some "traditional restrictions" and do not pursue absolute "uniformity," but allow the special combat personnel to modify and match their weapons and equipment according to their own habits and preferences. Only in this way can the highest efficiency be brought out on the battlefield.
▲ Throw grenades
During the attack, one of the commandos pulled out a smoke grenade from a large pocket in his lower back and threw it. In the back of the wall, a member of the team also pulled out the blasting explosives from this pocket. Some military fans may feel strange when they see this - isn't this pocket for recycling magazines? Why do you still stuff grenades into it?
▲Recycling bags are generally used to recycle empty magazines
After all, compared with the special grenade bag, this recycling bag is convenient, the capacity is relatively large, and it is also very convenient to take items. In fact, after these special operators ran out of bullets, they did not recover the magazines at all, but simply discarded the empty magazines. Obviously, in missions where every second counts, there simply isn't that much time to recover equipment.
▲Attacking "buildings"
After attacking the "building", the special combat team members immediately identified the identity of the target "personnel" at the scene, and since the target was no longer able to move on its own, it was necessary to evacuate the target urgently. The trio fought and retreated under the cover of machine gunners and snipers, eliminating the pursuers who had already reacted. And the "building" had already planted explosives, and as soon as the "enemy" arrived, it was blown into the sky.
▲ Alternate cover retreat
At this moment, an "accident" broke out, and two special combat team members holding the target were affected by the explosion of the enemy's weapon, and one of them suddenly fell to the ground. At this critical juncture, the team members who did not fall to the ground quickly pulled the target VIP and continued to retreat backwards, while the commandos who were covering on the side rushed to the scene to rescue the fallen comrades.
▲The team member was injured and fell to the ground
At this time, the wounded man who fell to the ground pulled out his pistol and continued to fight, the rescuer grabbed the handle on the tactical equipment, dragged the wounded backwards, and dragged him to the rear of the bunker, while the commandos with VIPs had already found the bunker and opened fire to cover the retreat of the wounded.
▲ Cover the retreat of the wounded
After first aid to the wounded, six special combat team members began to rely on bunkers to defend and wait for evacuation. Soon, a white civilian pickup truck arrived, and the transferred vehicle arrived!
▲撤离VIP
The commandos with the VIP were the first to send the VIP to the car, followed by the wounded who were shot and could not move. When carrying the wounded, do not forget to pick up the guns dropped by the wounded - although it is said that the gun is the second life of the soldier, but if it is a real battle, a gun is definitely far less important than the life of the PLA soldier, and if it is lost, it will be lost.
▲ Rescue the wounded
Next, it was the highlight moment for the machine gunner - I saw the machine gunner behind the cover put on a new magazine, pulled the bolt and loaded, stood up with the machine gun, first put the gun on his waist to strafe and suppress the enemy, and then raised the gun to aim, accurately fired, eliminated the pursuers in front of him, and covered the assault team to complete the boarding. The Heavy then quickly maneuvered to the rear of the vehicle, fired again, jumped into the car and retreated, all in one go.
▲ Heavy cover
This set of operations can be said to be smooth, smooth and natural, and the shooting is also a shot to the end, and the machine gunner occupies the C position throughout the whole process, which soon became the focus of discussion among netizens. If you want to select the real "King of Guns" in this "King of Guns Challenge", it is estimated that he must be the only one.
▲ Suppressive shooting
Interestingly, the Heavy added a small horizontal grip to the left side of the handguard, apparently to facilitate the "pressure gun" when firing from the waist. Although generally speaking, machine guns are erected in fixed positions, but special forces do not need fixed fire points, but weapons that can quickly maneuver and even provide fire support on the move, so compared with conventional forces, machine gunners in special forces pay more attention to hip fire, which requires corresponding modifications to machine guns.
▲ HK21 machine gun with a grip mounted on the side
Here, it is estimated that some netizens will ask: why does the machine gunner not use the chain of bullets, but uses the magazine to feed the ammunition? This is actually related to the regulations of our army during training: after the ammunition is unpacked, it must be finished, and the bulk ammunition cannot be restocked. The machine gun bullet packed in the bullet chain is 1500 rounds in a box, and if you want to use the bullet chain, you have to finish all 1500 rounds......
Therefore, in the training subjects that consume less ammunition, squad machine gunners still mainly use magazines. Moreover, in mobile combat, the machine gun fed by the magazine is also more convenient to transfer than the chain feed, and the machine gun will not malfunction due to the shaking and hooking of the cartridge chain.
▲ The sniper team retreats
Finally, the retreat, of course, must not forget about the sniper group that is positioned further back. After the evacuation vehicle arrived at the sniper's position, the two snipers took cover alternately, boarded the vehicle and retreated, and the mission was successfully completed.
▲ Snipers and observers both carry 191 precision rifles
It is worth noting that this sniper group did not carry a dedicated sniper rifle, but all used QBU-191 precision rifles. This is also a common configuration for Western special forces - in the case of a close range of intended engagement, snipers often do not carry heavy and slow sniper rifles, but carry precision marksman rifles or even standard rifles equipped with scopes to enhance the team's melee firepower.
In summary, the performance of the Jiaolong special combat team this time is very good, and the actual combat level is very high, compared with when it was first established more than ten years ago, it has been reborn, even compared with the elite special forces of foreign armies. The various new tactics and new equipment that were openly displayed during the training were already close to the world's first-class level, and some of them were even pioneered by our military, and they were highly specialized in the imaginary enemy and combat form of the future naval special forces -- they almost wrote the target on their faces.
As for whether this combat mode has a chance to be tested in actual combat in the near future, perhaps there will soon be an answer.