Bureau of Sabotage
Gear Analysis: Smersh LBE Derivatives In Idlib
Load bearing equipment, or LBE, is one of the most important components of a proper combat load-out. Load bearing equipment allows soldiers to carry extra magazines, grenades, medical gear, and sustainment materials such as food and water. Like every piece of military equipment, the LBE takes many forms (chest rigs, vests, battle belts, webbing systems, the list goes on). In Syria’s Idlib Province, we can see this variety in its full force on local opposition gear markets, with everything from $5 Chinese-made chest rigs to brand-new $200 Russian-made vests.
While there is an almost infinite variety of LBE styles in Idlib, one design stands out. Hailing from Russia, this LBE is known to its western users as a Smersh, and was designed and produced to this day by SSO (a large Russian military equipment manufacturer). Original and copied LBEs listed on Idlibi equipment markets are known by many names, but the design remains more or less the same. Presumably introduced by foreign fighters from the Northern Caucasus, who used them in combat (and saw their use by Russian forces) during the later stages of the 2nd Chechen War, this LBE has been viciously reproduced and copied into an infinity of variations.