Vantage Point North

Futuristic and retro at the same time.  Photo by Eric Dean/Shooting Illustrated  CZ P13 is the latest pistol adopted by a majorish military the German Bundeswehr. Past Handguns, sidearms, pistols and revolvers have been in service for centuries. They first materialized when the firearms first started to diversify from the first hand cannons and the píšťala made its debut in the 1420’s. The following centuries saw especially the free hand limited cavalry embracing the sidearms as a complement to their sabers and lances as well as officers taking them along for personal protection. While often replaced with shorter muskets and rifles aka. carbines, the pistol also frequently appeared in the hands of artillery men, sailors and NCO’s of the various armies. The prime of the sidearm was roughly between the American Civil War and the First World War. The initial surge of popularity started with the invention of a reliable cap and ball revolver that allowed cavalry to outgun musket ar...

Reservists from KarPr training in the USA along with the US NG. These missions would still be voluntary. Finland is drafting a law that would allow the Finnish Defence Forces to order reservists abroad in case of a training or mission that significantly effects the Finnish security and is in the "local area". The Finnish reservists deployments abroad have been strictly voluntary since 1944, but with the NATO membership and reserve based fighting army, it was inevitable that there has to be a mechanism to send out fully functional formations as a military aid to our allies. Another important change is that the reservists would be able to give their consent for a mission and then such persons would be appointed to a fixed-term public-law employment relationship with the Defence Forces. This solves the issues of how the reservists should be reimbursed and also extends state "insurance" coverage for the missions. Law would also increase the max refresher training days ...

The three major(ish) powers in the world are all looking to replace their assault rifles with a new system in a caliber between 6.2 and 6.8mm. Is this trend a logical development of the past century and a half of rifle development or is it an answer to a misunderstood problem? Peak WW1 Infantry rifle, the Mauser Gewehr 98:s, one with a trench kit consisting of an extended magazine and dust covers, The humble rifle has been the piece that holds terrain in war since it replaced the smoothbore musket sometime in the first half of the 1800’s. Two innovations, metallic self contained case and smokeless powder brought around the classic infantry rifles which fought the two world wars. The development up to this point was remarkably uniform across the militaries around the world and these rifles are the benchmark all following generations are compared to power wise. The initial power required from a military rifle were derived from two tasks. First was the ability to reliably stop a charging ...

  One of the most common hot takes from the Russian invasion of Ukraine has been the idea that the main battle tank, that has ruled the battlefield for a century, is no longer a viable system. Depending on the author one of the modern wonder weapons, be it anti-tank missiles like Javelin, NLAW, the Bayraktar TB-2 drone or the accurate drone spotted artillery and mortar fire have made the tank an obsolete behemoth that is unable to successfully operate in the modern battlefield. This conclusion is easy to come by when observing the Russian attacks on Kyiv, Sumy and Cherniv from the western media coverage. Especially the battle for Kyiv was indeed a triumph of the Ukrainian light infantry against mechanized Russian forces. But was this victory somehow revolutionary? The answer is straight forward, it was predictable to a degree that many analysts discounted the possibility of a Russian attack towards Kyiv from the north. The terrain through marches of Pripyat and the Chernobyl excl...

Finnish soldier in the Cold Response 2022 exercise in Norway. Photo: Emil Biese FDF Combat Camera Team The Finnish Defense Forces have been almost unique in Europe as their primary objective has always been to stop and beat back a Russian peer level attack. Unlike most other countries this priority remained even after the collapse of the Soviet Union. After the 2014 Russian invasion of Ukraine, focus was placed on readiness and the ability to also counter smaller scale hybrid operations that can occur with very little warning. This has been achieved with the creation of readiness units that are manned by a mix of conscripts and professional soldiers.  The 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine has been very different than the 2014 one, with the whole operation opening up as large scale peer level war with all of the tools available in the Russian arsenal used. While this is exactly the premise Finnish defense is based on, the fact of a peer level warfare in Europe has caused the need t...

  Jehu-class boat and NH-90 helicopters. Photo: FDF The Finnish Defense Forces have been working hard with improving their readiness since 2014. The army has developed readiness units that are manned with conscripts serving 6 months of their 12-month conscription in a readiness role. The units are rather hard hitting, with usually a company of infantry augmented by organic artillery, anti-aircraft, and main battle tank detachments. While the Army readiness units have been operational for five years now, the first two Navy units reached operational status in December 2021. The unit is formed much in the same way as the army units, with a core of professional soldiers supported by the 12 month serving conscripts that make up the bulk of the unit. Navy readiness unit conducting CQB training. Note the blue version of the readiness unit patch.    Photo FDF What differentiates the Navy unit from their dry land counterparts, is their ability to be used also in internationa...

  As most of the western nations have reduced their inventories to a few or mostly one type of main battle tank model in their active inventories, the myriad of tank platforms and distinct versions employed by the Russian armed forces may feel overwhelming. Here is a quick guide to identifying Russian MBTs. When you come across an image (or the actual thing), follow the steps to identify it properly. Updated 15.12.2021: T-90 modifications Family of the tank Russian Armed Forces currently operates, or at least storage, the following tank platforms/families: -            T-55 (<2000 in storage) -            T-62 (2000 in storage) -            T-64 (2000 in storage) -            T-72 (2000 active duty, 8000 in storage) -            T-80...