The Marine Commandos also knows as MARCOS, are the special forces unit of the Indian Navy, responsible for conducting special operations. The MARCOS were founded in February 1987 and are capable of operating in all types of environments; at sea, in air and on land. These commandos are trained at the level of US navy seals and are considered one of the deadliest and specialized commandos. The MARCOS are even believed to be better than the US Navy Seals. They have been active for past 34 years with the moto “The Few The Fearless”. The MARCOS are capable of undertaking operations in all types of terrain but are specialized in maritime operations and are real experts in handling operations in water-bodies. These commandos are also referred as “The Crocodiles” and “The Bearded Army”.
Out of 1000 men only one becomes a MARCOS commando, and these commandos have to hide their identities, even the family members of these commandos don’t know that they are MARCOS. So this statement alone tells us about the level of dedication these commandos have.
Talking of level, MARCOS commandos are trained to use every type of weapon whether domestic or international. Also, these commandos are expert divers and they are the only Special Force after US Navy SEALs that can fight in water bodies with full-fledged weaponry.
As a specialized force, the MARCOS is also responsible for conducting operations at the strategic and the tactical level. MARCOS operations are usually conducted in support of naval forces, although MARCOS are also deployed in other domains. The responsibilities of MARCOS have evolved with time. Some of the duties of MARCOS include: Air assault, Amphibious warfare, Close protection, Close-quarters combat, Counter-terrorism, Direct action, Special operation, Underwater demolition, Providing support to amphibious operations, Operations inside hostile territory, including diving operations and special raids, Hostage rescue operations, Counter-terrorism operations, Asymmetric warfare and Foreign Internal Defence. Additionally, MARCOS can also assist the Indian Air Force in Suppressing Enemy’s Air Defences (SEAD). The MCF currently operates out of the naval bases at Mumbai, Visakhapatnam, Goa, Kochi and Port Blair. This unit was formed on INS Abhimanyu’s base in Mumbai.
Now moving on towards the equipment and other measures used by the MARCOS:
These commandos use lightweight helmets, head-mounted displays, tactical and soft ballistic vests along with communication equipment. The group-level gear requirements include command and control and surveillance systems, and high-speed communication equipment. The devices have a sight for the sniper, a laser rangefinder, a long-range thermal imager and near-IR laser pointer. The bullet prove jackets used by the commandos are light weighted and offer help while swimming with battle loads. Also, the Navy has recently started acquiring the Israeli IMI TAR-21 for the MARCOS. For firearms, they carry assault rifles with pistols as short range weapon depending on the type of the mission. As per Wikipedia, weapons used are:
1: Pistol Auto 9mm 1A 9mm Semi-automatic pistol
2: AK-103 7.62×39mm Assault Rifle
3: Scar (L) 5.56 x 45 mm assault rifle etc.
Other Supportive Fireworks include:
1: GP-25 40mm Grenade launcher
2: Machine guns etc.
These commandos have always helped the human kind and have saved many lives. Some of the operations carried out by these fearless commandos includes operations like Black Tornado, Operation Rahat, Operation Pawan, Operation Cactus etc.
So, this was the information collected about MARCOS commandos, I hope you liked it.
The Opus by Paras 