Аустриялық EKO Cobra жасағы

Austrian police tactical unit
the Austrian police tactical unit

EKO Cobra (; "Task Force Cobra") is the police tactical unit of the Austrian Federal Ministry of the Interior. EKO Cobra is not part of the Austrian Federal Police, but instead is directly under the control of the Federal Ministry of the Interior.

The roots of the EKO Cobra lie in the Gendarmerieeinsatzkommando Bad Vöslau that was originally formed by the regional police authority of Lower Austria to protect East European Jews during their migration via Austria to Israel against terrorist threats. As the tactical skills of this unit were welcome in other fields, too, the mission of the Gendarmerieeinsatzkommando became broader in the course of years, and it climbed the hierarchy, from being a regional unit to becoming assigned directly to the Generaldirektion für öffentliche Sicherheit, the leading authority for public security within the Ministry of the Interior. The name Cobra was coined by the press. It was a reference to the US TV series Mission: Impossible, which was aired in German under the title Kobra, übernehmen Sie. It first appeared in June 1973 in the Kronen Zeitung. In the course of the 2006 Lebanon War EKO Cobra assisted in the evacuation of Austrians and other EU citizens from Lebanon. 135 EKO Cobra operatives together with units of the Austrian Armed Forces were involved in the search for Alois Huber in the Annaberg shooting, who killed three police officers and one Red Cross EMT on 17 September 2013, in Lower Austria. In 2016, 42 officers supported the German Police in the Munich shooting. In 2017, 20 EKO Cobra operatives were directly involved to end the severe riots in the Schanzenviertel area during the G20 Hamburg summit, three operatives were wounded. EKO Cobra also is assisting in the manhunt of the remaining suspect who was involved in the 2020 Vienna attack.

Any member of the Austrian Federal Police may apply to the EKO Cobra. The tests consist of medical examinations, psychological tests, and vigorous physical tests. Upon successful completion of the tests the recruits attend 6 months of specialized training which includes marksmanship, tactical training, sports, driver courses, abseiling/rappelling, hand to hand combat, language classes, etc. Besides the courses taught in the basic training, further specialization is possible in fields, such as parachuting, diving, explosives, or sniping. Since its establishment in 1978, 1,140 officers have served in EKO Cobra.

The unit's headquarters is located in Wiener Neustadt (Lower Austria). It performs all administrative activities and the training for the EKO Cobra officers. Further departments exist in Vienna, Graz, Linz, and Innsbruck with small field offices in Klagenfurt, Salzburg, and Feldkirch. Each department contains four teams and each field office contains two. This structure allows the units to be deployed anywhere in Austria in under 70 minutes. On 1 April 2013, EKO Cobra was merged in the newly established Special Operations Directorate DSE (Direktion für Spezialeinheiten ). This organisation serves as a unified command for the units with special tasks of the Austrian Federal Police. Further units of the DSE are the police's bomb disposal units, the observation units and special investigative units.

EKO Cobra is armed mainly with Austrian weaponry, but sometimes foreign produced arms are used too. NameOriginTypeCalibreQuantityPhotoNotesAssault Rifle & Battle RifleSteyr AUGAustriaAssault Rifle5.56×45mm 3 variants:
Steyr AUG A1, Steyr AUG A2, Steyr AUG A3PistolGlock 17 Gen 3AustriaSemi automatic pistol9×19mmIs the standard issue sidearm of EKO Cobra, sometimes equipped with a tactical flashlight. Glock 18 AustriaMachine pistol9×19mmwith select fire capability (semi automatic, fully automatic)Glock 19AustriaSemi automatic pistol9×19mmManurhin MR 73FranceRevolverFormer sidearm, now replaced. Submachine GunSteyr TMPAustriaSubmachine Gun9×19mmH&K MP5A3GermanySubmachine Gun9×19mmH&K MP7GermanySubmachine Gun4.6×30mmSmall number used for close protection ops. Replaced by the B&T APC9. B&T APC9SwitzerlandSubmachine Gun9×19mmSniper rifleSteyr SSG 69AustriaSniper rifle7.62×51mmincluding sound suppressed variantPGM Hécate IIFranceAnti materiel rifle.50 BMGShotgunRemington 870United StatesPump action shotgun12 gaugeFranchi SPAS 12ItalyCombat shotgun12 gaugeH&K HK512GermanySemi automatic shotgun12 gaugeGrenade launcherH&K HK69A1GermanyGrenade launcher40mm

EKO Cobra competed in the 2011 Annual Warrior Competition winning top honors. EKO Cobra defeated a United States Marine Corps 13th MEU and a joint team from U. S. Army Special Forces 5th Group and Jordan SFG 101 among many others.