This photo taken on March 14, at the opening ceremony of exercise Obangame Express 2019 in Lagos, Nigeria shows a Nigerian Navy honour guard rendering honours to distinguished visitors including Rear Adm. Heidi Berg, director of intelligence, U.S. Africa Command.

Most interestingly, the guard are armed with 7.62x51mm SIG 542 rifles, the larger calibre variant of the SIG 540. Also interesting is the SIG 542’s unusual socket bayonet which fits over the rifle’s flash hider. You don’t see SIG 540/542s very often. Introduced in the late 1970s they were purchased by a number of African nations with the Nigerian military purchasing a number in the 1980s.

Led by U.S. Africa Command and U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa Exercise Obangame Express will run from March 14 to 22 and involves over 30 nations.

Source

H/T – @FranticGoat