Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Details not available elswhere, 5 Dec 2005
More detail than most and therefore helpful. It is a vast subject and so impossible to fit everything in. I particualarly liked the list of who has what bearing in mind the book is about equipment and not organisations (and yet almost every one of the organisations listed here is not listed anywhere else that i know of). Most other books cover the well-know special forces in greater detail but this book's list is, at least, the most comprehensive I've seen. Incidentally Greece does not - yet - operate Black Hawk (at least not when this book was, apparantly, 'put to bed' so any adverse comment on that and the list of what each country has is, perhaps, a little un-called for. There is more kit than listed but as a starter I thought the lists here are fine, helpful and clear.
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7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Jane's Special Forces Recognition Guide, 19 Oct 2005
Good, but not worth the wait. This book covers in reasonable detail various weapons, vehicles and items of equipment deployed by special forces units the world over. The kit information is interesting, covering rarer vehicles such as UAVs and submarines. However, a number of 'used by' lists were missing key users (eg. Greece, which operates Blackhawks in number, is not mentioned). Furthermore, I was sorely disappointed to find very little information on actual units - a list no longer than a dozen pages from a 500-page guide. I recommend this book for people who want a general guide to special forces kit, but for those who want detailed information on units or operations, don't bother.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
FORGET IT - Very poorly written, 15 April 2008
When I first saw the book, the name Jane's gave me some sort of insurance for quality and precision, unfortunatly that isn't the case. The individual short reviews often refer to issues we don't really care when buying this sort of book. For instance: it describes the way several pistols work, and since most of them work similarly, we have several similar descriptions.
In the first section the display of gear is totally random: they mix goggles with sacks with harnesses, then socks, then rucksacks, then socks, then boots, then helmets, then socks, then goggles again! By the way: who cares about socks? Do we buy the book to read about the socks used by the military?
In the UAV section, they include a pilot night-vision item!!!
The inclusion of fighters is totally unapropriated, and definitly it is the books biggest flaw. Among others we have: China's J7, Q5, Alpha Jets, Flankers. Of course every fighter in the world can cooperate with spec ops, as well as every warship, every tank, or, for that matter, every car, motorcycle, you name it. But to include a few fighters is just rubbish. Even a Hawker Hunter appears, with the excuse that it still flies in at least 2 countries. Wow, that is definitely a Spec Ops secret weapon, a Hunter! Please!!!
The hand gun section is a laugh: I don't believe that any operator would field a Walther P38! And why didn't any of the Glock range wasnt included? In the end of this section they present a suppressor. One! It seems they remembered on the last minute to Para shoot drop one there.
On the boat section we have the worst mistake. On pages 333 and 345 they repeat the USA Mk V boat; same photo, same text with minor changes! So it isn't a simple repetition problem.
Finally, there is a section of 5 UAVs in the end of the book. Yes, we had one before.
So, is the book good? No. Is it good value for the money? No. Would I buy it again? No. Would I recommend it? A BIG NO!
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