Australian Special Forces

What are some of the weaknesses of special operations forces like SWAT etc?

Also, does every country have a special operations team? If so, can u list down some common ones??

Public Comments

1. It's to early for me to think of other countries. The weaknesses of SWAT is that they are on the offense and they are fighting against a possible defensive position with barriers and other stuff. This can lead them to being exposed. This is why they train, train, train, and have unconventional ways af getting people out of buildings so they don't have to go in.
2. In the UK each police force has it's own firearms unit, the most famous of which being London's Specialist Firearms Command CO-19. http://www.met.police.uk/co19/index.htm In terms of UK Special Military forces the Special Air Service and Special Boat Service both have anti-terrorist units. http://www.sasregiment.org.uk/troops.html
3. The biggest weakness with most Special Operations units worldwide would be numbers as most of these elite units operate in very small numbered teams. This is mainly due to the necessity for stealth which they trade security for in most of their missions. Yes, pretty much any country with a military has an elite branch of Special Operations, below are a few I know off the top of my head. USA: SFOD-D, SEALs, SF, Para-rescue,MARsoc UK: SAS, SBS Russia: Spetznaz (also the name of most of the eastern Euro countries SF units) France: GIGN Germany: GSG9
4. SWAT is NOT a Special Operations Force. SF tends to operate in small numbers; that's good and bad. Each one has it's strengths and weaknesses. SF needs speed and stealth. Speed isn't very stealthy, and Stealth isn't very speedy. They have 2 major weaknesses: lack of fire power & resupply. They overcome that by training with various weapons systems, and 'acquiring' supplies locally. Their training is to overcome weaknesses. To turn your strength against you.
5. As has been said, SWAT is a law enforcement function, quite different from military special operations in their mission. Of law enforcement units, three that come to mind as being well known and respected throughout the law enforcement community is LAPD SWAT, FBI Hostage Rescue Teams, and the special response units of the US Secret Service. Militarily, US Navy Seals are world famous, as is the British SAS. US Army Special Forces (ODA teams) are highly skilled and used world wide, and Russia has conducted a number of operations with its Spetsnaz forces. The biggest weakness of SOF (Special Operations Forces) in my opinion is mismanagement. For a lot of reasons, SOF operators don't generally become senior military officers, and often conventional military leadership does not always know the best way to employ SOF. Usually, any military operation with have a special operations component with a dedicated SOF commander who will be given full control of SOF to avoid this, but often there are still problems with SOF units not being properly employed.