A spectacular USSOCOM helicopter assault demonstration in Tampa

This week Tampa (Florida) hosted a new edition of SOF Week, an event dedicated to special operations forces.

The special operations helicopters of the United States Army's 'Night Stalkers'
The AFSOC 524th SOS: the 'airline' of the United States special operations military

As is customary during SOF Week, Tampa has been the scene of spectacular assault demonstrations organized by USSOCOM (United States Special Operations Command), which coordinates special operations units from the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force.

During this demonstration, the public was able to see in action the MH-60L/M Black Hawk helicopters of the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (160th SOAR) of the US Army, also known by their nickname "Night Stalkers".

These helicopters arrived at the demonstration area firing their 7.62 x 51 mm NATO caliber M-134 Minigun rotary machine guns with blank ammunition, and disembarked special operators using the fast rope system on the upper deck of a vessel.

Once the assault was completed, the Night Stalkers' Black Hawks extracted the special operators using the SPIE (Special Patrol Insertion/Extraction) system, which exfiltrates the soldiers using a long sling.

The Special Operations Combat Crews (SWCC) of the US Navy's Naval Special Warfare Group 4 have gone into action with their SOC-R boats, designed for riverine operations.

The SOC-R boats are heavily armed: each one carries two Minigun rotary machine guns, one 12.7mm Browning M2HB heavy machine gun, two 7.62mm M240B machine guns, and two 40mm Mk.19 automatic grenade launchers. Seeing them in action and firing their entire arsenal is always impressive.

The best thing to do is add sound to all of this. Helicopter King has published a spectacular video of one of these demonstrations today, I recommend turning up the volume on your phones or computers:

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Photos: U.S. Air Force.