Every month our readers – professionals in the army or the defence industry but also a great number of “addicts” from all walks of life – find exceptional reports in our pages devoted to the elite troops of the French army and worldwide (paratroopers, legionaries, SAS, Navy Marines, US Marine Corps, Armoured and Mechanised Cavalry, combat swimmers, snipers, GIGN, special forces, Navy Commandoes, Air Commandoes) and to units of all arms, both French and foreign, who are deployed at every instant on the planet’s hot points. Every month Raids presents one particular conflict or one major operation, illustrated by photos taken in the height of the action, with full captions, written with all the rigour and accuracy by those “who know about these things”.
Apart from portraits of elite soldiers, Raids also reveals equipment and material for modern combat which is more and more specific and modern, deployed where the conflicts are or where peace is being re-established. The articles dealing with new material –which run from survival rations to the latest battle tanks, passing by light weapons and individual equipment for special forces – are read avidly by a number of the active military who know they can find as yet unpublished information, often revealed several months before it is by the services entrusted with divulgating the new equipment.
For the man in the field, by the man in the field.
The photographer-reporters, journalists and colleagues on the editorial staff of Raids know what they are talking about; and they have the right profile. They were very often in the armed forces; for years, they often knocked about under all latitudes and fought about in all the hottest points on the globe. Some of them have even been captured and imprisoned while reporting, missing death by an inch (some did not even have that luck). Today, these men of action meet other men of action, those who belong to our armed forces. The variety of articles indeed deal with some of the great areas and components of the French army, by means of reports and interviews with the highest military and defence authorities right down to the specialised NCO. Thus this and that subject are dealt with under a new light, or perhaps have never even been dealt with before, or if so, only in the military press. Their inclusion in Raids, which is an entirely free and independent magazine, also guarantees strict impartiality which is indispensable when trying to throw light on any subjects dealing with defence. This unique characteristic of Raids, associating total freedom of speech and the highest technical competence makes for its original characteristics and explains its success.
Over the years with every month’s 84 pages brimming over with colour and action, soldiers and material, Raids has made sure that it has got its unique place in the specialised press for armed forces, elite troops, and everyday defence questions for its readers. If you are already a reader of Raids, thank you for your loyalty. But if you have just discovered the magazine, it’s the opportunity to have a guided trip through these web pages.
Eric Micheletti
Editor
Raids
