As Navy Seal Team 6 closed in on its prey - Osama bin Laden - it likely entered the battle armed with the better weapons and technology available to soldiers anywhere in the world, a military expert and old Navy SEAL fighter told ABC News.
"The dogs of war were eventually turned light to do what they were intentional to do," Richard Marcinko, a former Navy commander, told ABC News.
And these "dogs" carry some serious firepower.
Although tactical details of Sunday`s mission remain unconfirmed, ABC News spoke with a former Navy SEAL sniper to see what equipment and tech toys SEAL teams usually use to bring down a target.
"The organizations we`re talking about let the resources to get any weapon systems they believe are essential to do the job, and they will add [anything] they believe will present them the greatest advantage in that moment," Richard "Mac" Machowicz, a former Navy SEAL sniper and the legion of Spike TV`s "Deadliest Warrior," told ABC News. "If they get it, and they wish it, they`ll use it."
The Blackhawk helicopters that carried them to the prospect not just hold missiles and large caliber guns but offer a lookout platform.
"SEALs have developed the power to transport very accurate fire from helicopters," Machowicz said.
Those snipers would make available highly customized rifles tailored to that particular battlefield, he said. Machowicz told ABC News that when he was a sniper, he essentially had eight different sniper rifles tailored to different scenarios.
The SEAL`s ground weapons were likely highly specialized too. "The mission dictates the target, the target dictates the weapons and the weapons dictate how they`re used," Machowicz said. In the bin Laden scenario, the SEALs would have probably used short-barrel weapons - such as a shortened M4 or AR-15 assault rifle - that let them to easily operate in and out of doors, hallways and vehicles.
Machowicz speculates those guns used a big bullet type. "There are new weapons systems that raise the .45 caliber [round] that allows you to have a lot more kinetic energy, and you don`t need to care about overpenetration on the target."
Recent advances in weapons systems have even led to the introduction of .50 caliber rounds, such as the "Beowolf" for assault rifles, which can penetrate a car engine block from range.
In the sky, in-atmosphere satellites (such as predator drones) and space-based satellites convey information to the soldiery on the ground. Helmet-mounted cameras, which were reportedly worn during the commission to catch bin Laden, also transmitted data to commanders back at home and to the situation room in Washington.
This helps the soldiers on the earth to quickly identify their targets, pick up every threat and ask them down fast.
The lookout platform from the Blackhawks is exceedingly important, as the ground soldiers were most probably not using night-vision goggles. "All of the rehearsals for this were most likely done at night so target identification would be natural," said Machowicz. "You don`t need to only have night vision on the guys` faces, because the changing lighting conditions could change how you are able to use that. _ You don`t want guys messing with their night vision when they`re supposed to be winning out targets."
Suppressers, which are built into most modern-day weapons, would have also probably been made usable to SEAL Team 6. Contrary to popular perception, they not merely offer a stealth advantage but also serve the team communicate once the bullets start flying. Anyone who has been on a gun range can assure you, gunshots are loud.
A SEAL`s Tool Kit Includes the Loud Bang Stun Grenade
That way the fancy radios used to get everyone in office until the mission starts get replaced with low-tech out loud shouting once the dismissal begins and stealth is no longer an option.
"Once you get that go! And the pops start happening and the gunfire goes, you no longer get to guess you`re moving quietly. _ What best way to commune with the guy down the hall or behind you than to just call the data out?"
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One of the other useful tools in a SEAL`s kit is the loud bang, or stun grenade. This gimmick works like to a regular grenade but is nonlethal, while still producing a disorienting amount of sound and light. Volume, noise and power allow you to rule a room.
"SEALs want to physically and mentally dominate that place from the instant they enter," says Machowicz. "Now what happens, when you`re startled, anything that guy does to you just seems so much faster."
resource :http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/navy-seal-team-weapons-gadgets-capture-osama-bin/story?id=13520401andhttp://abcnews.go.com/Technology/navy-seal-team-weapons-gadgets-capture-osama-bin/story?id=13520401&page=2
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