The individual equipment of the soldiers of the Spanish Marine Infantry Brigade

The Spanish Marine Corps, founded in 1537, is the oldest naval infantry corps in the world.

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That corps celebrates the feast day of its patron saint, Saint John of Nepomucene, today. This week, the Spanish Defence Staff (EMAD) published a series of photos taken during NATO's Eagle Thunder exercise in Romania, which included the participation of the Marine Infantry Brigade "Tercio de Armada" (TEAR), the expeditionary force of the Spanish Marines. These high-quality images allow us to observe in detail the individual equipment of the soldiers in this unit, which was extensively renewed in 2024.

One of the main changes in this equipment upgrade was the camouflage pattern and color of the gear. Until recently, the Marines used almost exclusively uniforms with the M09 arid pixelated pattern, a camouflage pattern introduced in 2009 to the Spanish Armed Forces. In this deployment to Romania, the TEAR (Special Operations Group) has been equipped with uniforms with the M09 woodland pixelated pattern, a camouflage pattern used until then primarily by the Army (with exceptions such as the Naval Military Academy in Marín).

In addition to the change in camouflage, the TEAR has adopted coyote brown for its helmets, equipment, and boots. This color was adopted by the US Marines 25 years ago for the same purpose, as it combines well with their two camouflage patterns, the woodland and desert variants of MARPAT. Another important new feature is the new helmets, the FEDUR Fe-Águila model, one of the best combat helmets manufactured in Spain, OPSMEN F101 Stealth beacons on the helmets (providing constant green light, white strobe, and IR strobe), 3M PELTOR ComTac IX NIB headsets (integrated into the helmets), as well as El Siglo 1870 plate carriers, also manufactured in Spain, which appear to be considerably better than the FECSA vests used by the Spanish Army.

In these images (you can click on each photo to enlarge it) we also see that the soldiers carry an IFAK (Individual First Aid Kit) on their backs, under their vests, as well as dump bags for empty magazines, cut-resistant gloves (mostly Mechanix brand) and Glock 45 pistols, 9 x 19 mm Parabellum caliber, also introduced two years ago.

Uno de los elementos más notables de este equipo individual es el fusil de asalto, el excelente Heckler & Koch HK416A5, de calibre 5,56 x 45 mm OTAN, en su versión de cañón de 14,5 pulgadas. Se trata de un arma que fue adquiriendo un gran prestigio entre las unidades de operaciones especiales de distintos países. En la Armada Española fue adoptada en primer lugar por la Fuerza de Guerra Naval Especial (FGNE). En el TEAR sustituye a los fusiles de asalto Heckler & Koch G36E, el fusil estándar de las Fuerzas Armadas Españolas.

In this case, we see several accessories on the rifle: from right to left, an Aimpoint 3XMAG-1 magnifier and an Aimpoint Micro T-2 red dot sight (both mounted on the HK416's Picatinny rails) and a Steiner DBAL-A3 dual-beam laser aiming device (located on the handguard). I haven't been able to identify the type of scope on the weapon we see further back.

A shooter with a Heckler & Koch HK417A1 assault rifle, the 7.62 x 51 mm NATO caliber variant of the HK416, in this case with a 20-inch heavy barrel, the type used by precision shooters. The rifle has a bipod and a telescopic sight (I haven't been able to identify the model).

Two soldiers with highly explosive equipment. The one on the left is carrying a 90mm Instalaza C90-CR-BK (M3.5) rocket launcher. This model is specifically the bunker-buster version, with a range of 300 meters and a penetration of 140mm in steel armor and 300mm in concrete. The soldier on the right is aiming a 40x46mm Heckler & Koch AG36 grenade launcher. Initially purchased to be mounted on G36E assault rifles, these single-shot grenade launchers can also be used independently. The soldier carrying the grenade launcher also has an HK416 assault rifle with the accessories mentioned above.

We end with a spectacular photo of a shot from the Instalaza C90 rocket launcher.