The transition force: the United States was assisted in Afghanistan by the special operations forces of other nations, including Australia, Canada, Denmark, Germany, New Zealand, Norway and the United Kingdom. Nato's new members in Eastern Europe are using their special forces to drive the transition of their armed forces; these units are often included among national contingents sent to Afghanistan and Iraq.

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The transition force: the United States was assisted in Afghanistan by the special operations forces of other nations, including Australia, Canada, Denmark, Germany, New Zealand, Norway and the United Kingdom. Nato's new members in Eastern Europe are using their special forces to drive the transition of their armed forces; these units are often included among national contingents sent to Afghanistan and Iraq.

The period since the end of the Cold War and particularly since > has seen a huge investment in many of these countries, both to expand the numbers of special forces and to enhance their capabilities. The selection and training of true special forces is a long process, as is the development of the full range of enabling capabilities such as strategic transport, communications and logistics to enable these units to be rapidly deployed, effectively employed and sustained for protracted periods. In addition, the US Department of Defense uses special operation forces exchanges as the first block of foreign military training programmes, as these units are best able to assimilate US training assistance.

Special forces are often the first to evaluate and field new equipment. Some of this equipment is later introduced into service with conventional forces, particularly airborne, marine and light infantry units that are often called upon to support special forces on operations or to undertake similar missions.

Lethality

In one of the most significant small arms developments in recent years FN Herstal was selected by the US Special Operations Command (US Socom) in November 2004 to supply the new 5.56 mm/7.62 mm Special Operations Forces Combat Assault Rifle (Scar). The requirement was influenced by the experience of special forces in Afghanistan who often found the need for a more powerful cartridge than the Nato standard 5.56 x 45 mm SS109 (US M855) round and also wanted a weapon that c...

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