Weapons & Warriors: The Spetsnaz, Russia’s Elite

The word Spetsnaz actually stands for Special Forces. This term is used for a lot of different militant groups around Russia. If the soldier was able to complete Spetsnaz training it means that he is one of the elite. The Spetsnaz training is the Russian equivalent of the U.S. Green Berets training. Although it is the equivalent, that doesn’t mean they are exactly the same. I am a proud son of a marine, and a patriot, but when I look at some of the training sessions used by the Spetsnaz, I have no problem saying that I would never want to be the guy having to stand toe to toe with that killing machine.

I’m not going talk about the show Deadliest Warrior, which did square off the Green Berets and Spetsnaz against each other, and the Spetsnaz won the “contest” with a very close victory. As much as I find much of the weapons tests to be very useful on that show, I rarely agree to the outcomes of their face off. I can however see the Spetsnaz getting the upper hand in a one on one hand to hand fight, and that is because of the extreme conditions of their training. Some of the techniques are swimming in pools with barbed wire strung across it, tied to chairs and beaten to a pulp, tied and dragged around by vehicles, having concrete blocks smashed with sledge hammers while sitting on a man's chest, smacking bare skin with heated poles, etc. Sound crazy to you? What does that accomplish you ask? It works, it’s inhuman and cruel, but a fully Spetsnaz trained soldier will never be caught crying after being hit in the back with a bat. Instead, the assailant might find a knife in his throat before he realizes the Spetsnaz shrugged off the blow. He's had worse in training after all.

Weapons & Warriors: The Ballistic Knife of the Russians

Art by TL Jeffcoat

This week, I wrote about a weapon that is not so much an ancient weapon, but something unique and very cool. If you are looking into getting one of these bad boys for your collection, be aware of the laws for your ares. I was searching for one of these to add to my collection, but after learning about several laws banning this knife in most of the USA, I have decided to instead write about it for Weapons & Warriors.

It is a common belief that the Spetsnaz (Russian Special Forces) were trained and skilled in using Ballistic Knives. I have never found any trustworthy verification that the Ballistic Knife training was anything more than rumor or propaganda. However, I did find plenty of information about the Spetsnaz training in throwing knives to quietly eliminate enemies out of reach without making too much noise. Since the Russian variation of the Ballistic Knife is spring loaded, it’s pretty quiet, and therefore it is possible that the Spetsnaz also master firing the Ballistic Knife alongside throwing knives. Aside from the show the Deadliest Warrior using the Ballistic Knife as a Spetsnaz weapon, I found a couple sources that speculated the Spetsnaz trained with the weapon, but rarely used them.