The cadre presence company of Austria's Panzergrenadierbataillon 13 tackled a scenario straight out of modern hybrid warfare doctrine: an enemy force seizes critical infrastructure and must be expelled without destroying it. For two weeks in August, 130 soldiers drilled this complex balancing act at the decommissioned Riedersbach power plant in Upper Austria, a facility shut down in 2016 that offered what no purpose-built training range could match: industrial complexity on a realistic scale. In this POTD, the green Sturmgewehr 77 A1 MOD "Nightfighter" edition is the focus point.
Across the sprawling site's halls, mechanical levels, and technical installations, soldiers practiced dismounting from Ulan armored personnel carriers to clear rooms and advance through rubble while protecting the facility's sensitive infrastructure from damage.
Snipers established overwatch positions amid rusted catwalks and corroded steel. The scenario reflected growing Austrian concern about "little green men" and subversive state actors targeting grid and energy assets.
This is the kind of training that sounds like a Tom Clancy novel until you realize it's the calculus modern armies must now master.
This is one brave sniper.
