The best-of-the-best in the US and Russian militaries look eerily similar to each other both in appearance and in tactics.
The US Army Special Forces has some of the smartest and most lethal fighters in the world, which could explain why Russia has increasingly modeled its own Special Forces — or Spetsnaz — off its American counterparts.
Those Russian Special Forces most recently infiltrated and took over Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, and they are now operating on the ground in Syria. And according to a US military official who spoke with The Wall Street Journal on Thursday, they are practically indistinguishable on the battlefield.
That's not an accident. According to the Journal, Russia's military chief used a meeting with US Special Operations Command to learn more about how the US operates, in order to more closely mirror his force in Russia. Moscow has also benefited from a framework of understanding signed between the two nations that offered military-to-military exchanges and operational events, orientation at the West Point military academy for Russian cadets, and sharing of ideas among both countries' combined arms academies.
We decided to look at photos of Spetsnaz in action, along with US Special Forces. It's sometimes hard to spot the difference.
SEE ALSO: The elite Russian special forces who took over Crimea are doing the same thing in Aleppo
After US Army soldiers finish their roughly year-long training to become Special Forces-qualified, they don the distinctive green beret for the first time.
Their counterparts in Russia do much the same, though their head gear is crimson. Russia's Spetsnaz unit modeled their competition for the crimson beret from the US, after a former commander read a book by a former US special forces soldier.
Source: Russia Beyond the Headlines
The resemblance between the two nations' special forces don't stop there. This US Special Forces soldier looks pretty similar ...
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