#Ak5

Photo Of The Day and we’re in the archipelago outside Stockholm, Sweden, with US and Swedish marines. Two machine guns on each side of the boat, ready to go live if needed. But take a good look at the weapons and sensors turret on top of the boat, that’s probably where the real magic is hidden.

The Finnish and Swedish Defense Forces will purchase a range of various rifles from Sako Ltd. TFB reported about this almost two years ago, but it’s now official what the framework and the firearms will look like.

Photo Of The Day and we are off to an island called Gotland. This is Sweden’s largest island, and its location in the center of the Baltic Sea gives it great strategic importance, especially in times like these.

Photo Of The Day – Today we get a closer look at some tricked-out Swedish Ak5 rifles. “Ak” stands for Automatkarbin in Swedish, which translates to an automatic carbine. This is the current standard-issue rifle for the Swedish military.

One of the purposes of TFB’s  Photo Of The Day is to broaden the audience for the excellent work done by photographers of firearms. In this case  Cinematic Arms and his photos of the FNC. FNC stands for Fabrique Nationale Carabine.

Archipelago Endeavor is an annual, bilateral integrated field-training exercise, conducted to promote interoperability, strengthen partnerships, and enhance strategic and tactical cooperation between U.S. and Swedish Marines. This is TFB’s Photo Of The Day, and we take a closer look at the US and Swedish Marine snipers working together and their firearms. The Swedish Ak5 is clearly visible (FN FNC). Can you identify the sniper rifles?

Of all the pictures we have featured in our Photo Of The Day since 2014, this has got to be one of the oddest. I know sniper challenges are supposed to be a challenge, but this certainly takes the price. If I’m correct, we have a sniper and a spotter, with the PSG90B sniper rifle (AI AW) and the spotting scope supported by tripods on the bottom of the lake. The spotter has an empty Ak5 (FN FNC) on his back. Since they’re wearing hearing protection I think this is a photo taken in the heat of the action, during the competition, and not a staged one.

In today’s Photo Of The Day, we offer an experience from Exercise Archipelago Endeavor. Above you see a Swedish Marine with the 204th Rifle Company, 2nd Marine Battalion, 1st Swedish Marine Regiment, providing security aboard a Combat Boat 90 near Berga Naval Base, Sweden, September 2021.

Above you see a Swedish infantryman in a firefight with his Ak5 ( FN FNC) near the Norwegian village of Drevsjo. This happened during the NATO exercise Trident Juncture, in Norway, in November 2018. Trident Juncture 2018 was NATO’s largest exercise in many years, bringing together around 50,000 personnel from all 29 allies, plus partners Finland and Sweden. Around 65 vessels, 250 aircraft and 10,000 vehicles participated.

The amphibious forces are part of 17 NATO Allies and partner nations that are integrated in air, land, and sea operations to improve their combined-force capability to work together and to respond to threats in the Baltic region.

Born in the 1970s, the Belgian FN FNC (Fabrique Nationale Carabine) was adopted by the Belgian Armed Forces in 1989 to replace the FN FAL. It is now being phased out and replaced by FN SCARs. The FNC was also adopted by the Swedish Armed Forces, and it is still in use. Sweden calls their version the Ak5, and you can find more information about it here. The FNC uses a gas-operated long-stroke piston system with a rotating bolt locking mechanism, and I’ve spent quite a lot of time cleaning them. The lower receiver is made from aluminum alloy while the upper uses stamped steel.

Welcome to our daily selection of pictures. By this time you know it, it’s TFB’s Photo Of The Day to keep you in a good mood. Get a coffee, take a break and enjoy a few minutes looking at the U.S. SOF with the Ak5 (FN FNC) below. This is quite an unusual sight, although we recently saw some U.S. Special Forces with Swedish Ak 4B Rifles.

Photo Of The Day – and we’re kicking off with a KSP58 Machine Gun in the hands of a Swedish Marine above. This machine gun has been in use by the Swedish Armed Forces since 1958 and is essentially an FN Herstal MAG. The gun is chambered in 7.62×51mm NATO.

In previous Photos Of The Day articles, we have looked at Russian Combat Swimmers with the APS Underwater Rifle and US Naval Special Warfare Military Diving Operations. We also had the postcards from the German Kampfschwimmers from a much warmer place than Sweden.

In 1952 the Swedish Parachute Ranger School was created. Today they host the Parachute Rangers and the Special Operations Group. As you can imagine the focus is to use small and specialized Ranger units which are capable of operating deep behind enemy lines and inside the enemy-controlled territory. Their motto is “Will, Courage and Perseverance”.