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Special Duties Unit
The Special Duties Unit (SDU; Chinese: 特別任務連), nicknamed the "Flying Tigers" (Chinese: 飛虎隊), is the elite tactical unit of the Hong Kong Police Force tasked with countering terrorist attacks, hostage rescue, underwater search and recovery, and tackling serious crime involving firearms.[2][3][4] The SDU is a subdivision of the Police Tactical Unit which is part of 'A' Department (Operations & Support).[5] The SDU is based at the Police Tactical Unit Headquarters in Fanling.[1] HistoryPriorIn the aftermath of a hijacking of a Philippine Airlines jet in 1971, the British Hong Kong government decided to raise a police tactical unit within the RHKP.[6] The unit was known as the Marksman Unit (Chinese: 神枪手队). Officers recruited to MU received British training at the time.[7] MU officers were deployed in 1973 in the hijacking of a Thai Airways jet and on 24 May 1974 during an armed robbery incident at Po Sang Bank. In 1974, the MU was renamed to the SDU and became a dedicated full-time unit to deal with terrorist attacks and serious crimes involving firearms.[7] SDU activationThe SDU was established in 1974 by the British Hong Kong Government,[1][8][9] taking over MU’s role.[7] The SDU, then consisting of ten odd members, used existing police weaponry and devised their own tactics.[1][10] In early 1978, the British Special Air Service sent an advisory team to Hong Kong, which was initially to evaluate the SDU and subsequently trained two land assault teams resulting in considerable changes to SDU equipment and tactics.[1][11][8] In 1982, the British Special Boat Service sent an advisory team to Hong Kong to establish a water assault team including training in military diving.[11] Known operations
Organisation
The Special Duties Unit consists of a support group, administration group, and the action group. The action group is the core of the SDU, further categorized into the assault team and the sniper team. The SDU structure consists of the following as of 2014:[13]
The SDU has five Belgian Shepherd dogs.[13] Selection and trainingA volunteer for the SDU has to successfully complete an 11-day selection course known as Hell Week which is held annually that has a success rate of only 25%.[2] After successfully completing selection, the applicant is required to complete a nine-month training course that includes weapons handling and marksmanship, tactical movement, unarmed combat, breaching, climbing and roping, chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear incidents, and combat medicine.[10][2][8] Applications are open to women officers, with no female officers to date.[3][26] Between 1974 and 2014, 383 officers had served in the SDU.[2] Prior to 1998, the SDU selection course was 10 to 14 days in length with most of the emphasis placed on physical endurance.[26] In 1998, this changed to a basic four-day selection course with more emphasis on mental attributes than physical ones.[26] Those who successfully passed the basic selection course were given a five-week build-up course followed by a week-long advanced selection course.[26] The course concentrated on weapons handling and use, elementary close-quarter battle, camouflage and concealment, physical fitness, observation and commentary, first aid, and map reading.[26] For the period 1998–99, 44 officers applied with 14 selected.[26] In a 2024 documentary, Commissioner Raymond Siu said that the SDU "conduct regular exchanges with other counter terrorism teams from around the world".[27] Equipment and weapons.jpg) SDU officers deploy in Crye Precision G3 combat dress of various camouflage patterns depending on the environment. Officers may also deploy in plain clothes during a rapid response when there is no time to change. Armor and accessories include Ops-Core FAST ballistic helmets[28] with attachable night-vision scopes and ear protection, MSA Advantage 1000 CBA-RCA respirators,[2] and Dräger LAR V rebreathers (for tactical diving).[26] Unlike many similar units around the world, most of the SDU officers do not display the word "Police" on their uniforms. The SDU mainly uses firearms manufactured in the United States and Europe, and its latest equipment primarily include the Glock 17 handgun,[2] the HK MP5 submachine gun, and the SIG Sauer SIG516 assault rifle.[28] Shotguns include the Remington 870[13] and Benelli M1 Super 90. Snipers rifles used are the Remington 700, Knight's Armament Company SR-25, Accuracy International AX308,[2] CS/LR4, QBU-203,[29] Accuracy International AS50[30] and SIG Sauer SSG 3000. In 2020, the United States, the United Kingdom, and the European Union placed restrictions on the sale of military equipment to Hong Kong following the passing of the national security law. As a consequence, an order of 1000 replacement MPX submachine guns and SIG516 assault rifles for the SDU and other units placed in early 2021 was cancelled by SIG Sauer, and the Hong Kong police will need to source firearms elsewhere for all units, including the SDU.[31][32] The SDU has several ground vehicles including the Mercedes-Benz Unimog U5000 armoured personnel carrier,[33] the Jankel Guardian Tactical Intervention Vehicle based on a Ford F-450 chassis,[2] Mercedes-Benz Vario van and Man LE14.224 truck. The SDU has two types of watercraft to support its maritime operations; the FB Design RIB 55 feet (17 m) high speed interceptor and Zodiac inflatables.[34][2] The Government Flying Service provides aviation support with Eurocopter AS332 Super Puma and Eurocopter EC155 helicopters. See alsoReferences
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