DAM Toys - Spetsnaz FSB Vympel.

 

 

 

Std. armaments:

 

Tactical glove x 2.

Altyn helmet.

Atyln helmet visor.

Balaclava.

Sailor shirt.

SPOSN Gorka suit.

SPOSN Gorka S pants.

Tactical belt.

COBRA assault boots.

VM armour vest.

SPOSN Partizan harness webbing system.

SPOSN double mag pouch x 2.

Stechkin / APS (Avtomaticheskiy Pistolet Stechkina) machine pistol double mag pouch.  

SPOSN mid pouch.

SPOSN buttpack.

SPOSN Vertex VX radio pouch.

Vertex VX radio with PTT (push to talk).

VOG-25 frag grenade pouch x 2.

KO-3 pistol holster.

Stechkin / APS (Avtomaticheskiy Pistolet Stechkina) machine pistol.

Pistol mag x 2.

Avtomat Kalashnikova Skladnoy AKS-74 assault rifle (plum polymer furniture).

RIS (Rail Integration System) tactical mount.

 Red dot reflex sight.

Avtomat Kalashnikova AK-74 mag x 4.

GP-25 40mm grenade launcher.

VOG-25 frag grenade x 3.

VOG-25P bouncing grenade x 3.

Avtomat Kalashnikova Skladnoy AKS-47 hider.

Avtomat Kalashnikova Modernizirovanniy AKM-47 tactical sling.

Avtomat Kalashnikova AK-74 6H3 bayonet.

Avtomat Kalashnikova AK-74 6H3 scabbard.

Kneepad x 2.

SPOSN buttocks pad.

Spetsgruppa "B" (Cyrillic for V), often referred to as Vympel (pennant in Russian, originated from German wimpel, and having the same meaning), but also known as KGB Directorate "B" , Vega Group is an elite Russian Spetsnaz (Special Purpose Forces/Voyska spetsialnogo naznacheniya) unit under the command of the FSB (Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation/Federal'naya sluzhba bezopasnosti Rossiyskoy Federatsii), the principal security agency of the Russian Federation and the main successor agency to the USSR's Committee of State Security (KGB).

Vympel is the sister unit of Spetsgruppa "A"(Alpha Group), a KGB/FSB unit, specialised in counter-terrorism missions and covert operations.

The exact lineage of Vympel is not known but the unit was formed in 1981 by the KGB Maj. Gen. Yuri Ivanovitch Drozdov within the First Chief Directorate of the KGB, as a dedicated spetsnaz unit specialised in deep penetration, sabotage, universal direct and covert action, protection of Soviet embassies and espionage cell activation in case of war. Most of the Vympel operatives mastered two or three foreign languages since they were intended to act in foreign countries, deep behind enemy lines.

Vympel quickly gained the reputation of being among the best Soviet special forces units, surpassing its GRU (Main Intelligence Directorate/Glavnoye razvedyvatel'noye upravleniye), the foreign military intelligence main directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation and MVD (Ministry of the Interior of the Russian Federation/Ministerstvo Vnutrennikh Del) counterparts. However, after the collapse of the USSR, Vympel was decimated by endless re-organisation and re-definition. It passed under the aegis of the Security Ministry before being receded to the GUO (the two institutions were short-lived offspring of the ex-KGB during the Boris Yeltsin era) and finally passed to the MVD. However, the militsiya had no use for such a unit. The bulk of the Vympel operatives could not stand the humiliation of being subordinated to the police, and duly resigned. Out of 278 officers, only 57 chose to remain within the MVD. The unit was renamed "Vega."

In 1995, the FSB Special Operations Center (TsSN FSB) was granted control over Vympel. The group regained its original name and was reintegrated into the Intelligence Service structures. The emphasis shifted from covert and clandestine sabotage operations to counter-terrorism and nuclear safety enforcement. Vympel operatives undergo special training related to improvised or special explosive devices, permitting them to use "terrorist-like" tactics to carry out their operations. Physical training includes close hand combat, parachute training, diving, underwater combat techniques, climbing, and alpine rope techniques. Regional groups of Vympel were deployed in cities with especially important nuclear facilities.

Vympel (i.e. the Directorate "V" of the TsSN FSB) is still a classified and secretive unit. It took part in Russia's Chechen campaigns and in storming of the Supreme Soviet building during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis. Little is known about its current operations and activities, the exception being the capture of the Chechen militant leader Salman Raduyev in March 2000, the Moscow theatre hostage crisis in 2002 and the Beslan school siege in September 2004.

Vympel training is the same as Alpha Group. All Vympel operatives are trained in tactical operations, parachuting, driving various vehicles, trained in methods of intelligence gathering, and other specialized skills.

- from Wiki.

 

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Spetsnaz, one of favourite reference to be used in recent action movies (apart from their Amerikansky counter-part), is an umbrella term for Russian special forces. DAM Toys recently taken the lead to release a number of Russian military/special force figures and it is a great news. It took awhile (more like over three days) to put it all together, with reference to a YouTube video on this figure pertaining where goes where and how. The single instruction leaflet doesn't help much, if not at all. And this is my first DAM Toys military action figure. The figure is sturdy, articulate finely, and the accessories are great with no breakage. Usually when it comes to putting a military figure together, there is bound to be some breakage caused by meself. Not this time 'round, regardless of how many manhandling I did while assembling it. The only time I used glue is to put on the helmet. However, the eyes and mouth opening of the balaclava seems to  fray at the edges. I passed on the Alpha version and missed the Russian Airborne but looking forward the Spetsnaz at Dagestan and Beslan versions, the latter which involved the notorious and controversial Siege of Beslan school.