A Spanish soldier from the BRIPAC Sapper Battalion displays his weapons and equipment

Today, Spanish soldiers carry very complete equipment with some peculiarities depending on their specialty.

A convoy of the Spanish Army's BRIPAC at the start of its deployment to Germany
Latvia shows two Spanish A400Ms in a large BRIPAC jump in that country

Yesterday, the NATO Joint Forces Command in Brunssum (JFCBS) published an interesting video showing the equipment of a soldier from the 6th Parachute Engineer Battalion (BZPAC VI) of the 'Almogávares' 6th Parachute Brigade (BRIPAC) of the Spanish Army, a Brigade that is currently participating in NATO's Steadfast Dart 26 exercise (on February 3rd we saw some photos of its deployment here):

The video has a few interesting details. As the soldier himself points out, his main weapon is a Heckler & Koch G36KV, a shortened version of the standard-issue G36 assault rifle used by the Spanish Armed Forces. The G36KV has a 318 mm barrel instead of the G36's 480 mm. The telescopic sight appears to be a Firefield RapidStrike 1-10x24, but I'm not certain. The stock is an S&T G36 G316 IDZ. Interestingly, the handguard, receiver, pistol grip, and telescopic sight are covered with an adhesive Flecktarn German camouflage cover, a simple and effective solution for camouflaging the rifle without painting it.

The handgun is a Heckler & Koch USP, the standard-issue pistol of the Spanish Army. It is chambered in 9×19mm Parabellum and carries no accessories.

Another significant detail is that several of this soldier's cartridge pouches are not standard issue. We see a utility pocket (on the front) and a Multicam camouflage magazine pouch. This is equipment the soldier purchased himself to improve his performance. Paradoxically, some units don't look favorably upon these things, but I find it commendable. The gloves are from the Polish brand Helikon-Tex (my favorite clothing brand, by the way), specifically the All Round Fit Gloves model.

Regarding the backpack holsters, we see a coyote-colored IFAK-type first aid kit with a tourniquet, a Rebellious model that was sold on Amazon. I've tried to identify the type of backpack and its camouflage pattern, but I haven't been able to. If anyone knows, please let me know in the comments section of this article.

It must be said that this soldier is very well equipped, but at his own expense. Spanish soldiers earn a very modest salary and, moreover, to perform their duties properly, they buy their own equipment that should be available to the Army (sometimes standard-issue equipment is of mediocre or poor quality). This speaks volumes in favor of soldiers like the one in this video, but unfortunately, it also highlights the shortcomings that still exist in our Armed Forces.