Today, the world has joined hands to battle the forces of terrorism which are threatening our nations. The countries of Europe are no exception. Every nation has offered the alliance of their specific special operation units in an effort to show their commitment to eradicate terrorism from the face of this earth.

History of European Union

The nations of Europe have played an important part in global affairs since the 16th century. After colonization, European countries dominated most of Americas, Africa as well as Asia. However, after the divide of Europe, since its fall in World Wars I & II, they integrated finally to form the European Council as well as the European Union which now encompasses Central, Eastern and Western Europe.

Activities undertaken by various European special operation units Today, the main goal of the European Special Forces is to counter terrorism on a global level. To aid this goad, these forces are geared to participate in covert and special reconnaissance as well as offensive attack or action and surprise capture.

Committed towards a high level of interoperability and goal-based interaction, these special operation units are also part of operations which include countering revolutionary warfare, infrastructure disruption, capturing ‘specific interest’ subjects etc. The Special Forces are also used in the line of battle in the cases which demand battle space preparation, reconnaissance in battle situation as well as participating in offensive operations.

The nations in Europe are also using these special operation units to train armed forces in other nations in special areas of guerrilla warfare tactics. These activities are conducted with a view to share knowledge as well as learn specialist methods to collectively fight a common goal. Such training of external armed forces is also conducted under defence diplomacy.

Important special operation units in United Kingdom

With the rich military background of the various nations in this continent, today, there are various special operation units in Europe. After the integration of the European Union, some special forces which existed during World War I & II were disintegrated, while many others continue to serve the various nations even today. Of the most important special operation units, the ones widely talked about are the Special Forces of United Kingdom. This includes ‘Special Air Service Regiments’ or SAS which are manned by the British Armed Forces and the ‘Special Boat Service’ or SAB which is manned predominantly by the Royal Marines.

Special Forces in France and Germany

Among other nations of the allied European Union, France and Germany are the other two predominant nations with the maximum number of Special Forces. The French Army has such units like the ‘Army Special Forces Brigade’ (BFST), Intelligence Brigade etc. while the Airforce has many units like "Commandos Parachutiste de l'Air" and "Division des Operations Spéciales" as part of their elite Special Forces. The German Army or Deutsches Heer has various "Division Spezielle Operationen" like the Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol and the "Kommando Spezialkräfte (KSK)". The Deutsches Marine too have various "Spezialisierte Einsatzkräfte Marine" or (SEK M) which serve the German Navy till date.