EKO Cobra (; "Special Intervention Unit Cobra") is a police tactical unit of the Austrian Federal Ministry of the Interior. EKO Cobra is not part of the Austrian Federal Police, but instead is part of the Directorate for Special Units/Special Intervention Unit Cobra (, DSE). The DSE reports to the Directorate General for Public Security (GD). The unit's missions primarily involve anti-irregular military, apprehension of armed and dangerous criminals, counterterrorism and hostage rescue crisis management, executive protection, high-risk tactical law enforcement situations, operating in difficult to access terrain, protecting high-level meeting areas, providing security in locations at risk of attack or terrorism, special reconnaissance in difficult to access and dangerous areas, support crowd control and riot control, and tactical special operations.

History

The roots of the EKO Cobra lie in the ''Gendarmerieeinsatzkommando Bad Vöslau'' that was originally formed by the regional police authority of

Lower Austria Lower Austria ( , , abbreviated LA or NÖ) is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Major cities are Amstetten, Lower Austria, Amstetten, Krems an der Donau, Wiener Neustadt and Sankt Pölten, which ...

to protect East European Jews during their migration via Austria to Israel against terrorist threats. As the tactical skills of this unit were welcome in other fields, too, the mission of the ''Gendarmerieeinsatzkommando'' became broader in the course of years, and it climbed the hierarchy, from being a regional unit to becoming assigned directly to the ''Generaldirektion für öffentliche Sicherheit'', the leading authority for

public security Public security or public safety is the prevention of and protection from events that could endanger the safety and security of the public from significant danger, injury, or property damage. It is often conducted by a state government to ensu ...

within the Ministry of the Interior. The name ''Cobra'' was coined by the press. It was a reference to the US TV series '' Mission: Impossible'', which was aired in German under the title ''Kobra, übernehmen Sie''. It first appeared in June 1973 in the '' Kronen Zeitung''. The determining step of founding today's Cobra as a unit of the Ministry of the Interior rather than a regional police unit was done in 1978, primarily as a response to the Munich massacre attack on

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

i athletes at the

1972 Munich Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and officially branded as Munich 1972 (; ), were an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. It was the ...

. Its main office is in

Wiener Neustadt Wiener Neustadt (; Lower_Austria.html" ;"title=".e. Lower Austria">.e. Lower Austria , ) is a city located south of Vienna, in the state of Lower Austria, in northeast Austria. It is a self-governed city and the seat of the district administr ...

, with sub-offices in

Graz Graz () is the capital of the Austrian Federal states of Austria, federal state of Styria and the List of cities and towns in Austria, second-largest city in Austria, after Vienna. On 1 January 2025, Graz had a population of 306,068 (343,461 inc ...

Linz Linz (Pronunciation: , ; ) is the capital of Upper Austria and List of cities and towns in Austria, third-largest city in Austria. Located on the river Danube, the city is in the far north of Austria, south of the border with the Czech Repub ...

Salzburg Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Alps moun ...

, and

Innsbruck Innsbruck (; ) is the capital of Tyrol (federal state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the Wipptal, Wipp Valley, which provides access to the ...

. GSG-9 and

Sayeret Matkal Sayeret Matkal () (formerly Unit 269 or Unit 262) (English: General Staff Reconnaissance Unit), is the special reconnaissance unit (''sayeret'') of Israel's General Staff (''matkal''). It is considered one of the premier special forces units of ...

trained the first operators of the GEK. The Federal Ministry of the Interior changed the unit's name from GEK to EKO Cobra in 2002.

Known operations

EKO Cobra was involved in a hostage rescue in the Graz-Karlau Prison in 1996, and numerous other operations. Although it has never participated in the same type of hostage rescue operations that the HRT,

GIGN The GIGN ( ; ) is the elite police tactical unit of the French National Gendarmerie. Among its missions are counterterrorism, hostage rescue, surveillance of national threats, protection of government officials, critical site protection (such ...

GIS A geographic information system (GIS) consists of integrated computer hardware and software that store, manage, analyze, edit, output, and visualize geographic data. Much of this often happens within a spatial database; however, this is not ...

, NSG, ERU,

GSG 9 , formerly , is the police tactical unit of the German Federal Police (Bundespolizei). The unit is responsible for combatting terrorism and violent crime, including organized crime. In addition to its headquarters location in Sankt Augustin-H ...

, and the SAS have had, the EKO Cobra is the only Counter-Terrorism unit to end a hijacking while the aircraft was still in the air. On 17 October 1996, four Cobra officers were on board an

Aeroflot PJSC AeroflotRussian Airlines (, ), commonly known as Aeroflot ( or ; , , ), is the flag carrier and the largest airline of Russia. Aeroflot is headquartered in the Central Administrative Okrug, Moscow, with its hub being Sheremetyevo Interna ...

Tupolev Tu-154 The Tupolev Tu-154 (; NATO reporting name: "Careless") is a three-engined, medium-range, narrow-body airliner designed in the mid-1960s and manufactured by Tupolev. A workhorse of Soviet and (subsequently) Russian airlines for several decades, ...

escorting deported prisoners to

Lagos Lagos ( ; ), or Lagos City, is a large metropolitan city in southwestern Nigeria. With an upper population estimated above 21 million dwellers, it is the largest city in Nigeria, the most populous urban area on the African continent, and on ...

when a Nigerian man threatened the cockpit crew with a knife and demanded a diversion to Germany or South Africa. The team overpowered the man and handed him over to authorities after landing. In the course of the

2006 Lebanon War The 2006 Lebanon War was a 34-day armed conflict in Lebanon, fought between Hezbollah and Israel. The war started on 12 July 2006, and continued until a United Nations-brokered ceasefire went into effect in the morning on 14 August 2006, thoug ...

EKO Cobra assisted in the evacuation of Austrians and other EU citizens from Lebanon. 135 EKO Cobra operatives together with units of the

Austrian Armed Forces The Austrian Armed Forces () are the combined military forces of Austria. The military consists of 16,000 active-duty personnel and 125,600 reservists. The military budget is 1.0% of national GDP (including pensions) or €3.317 billion (20 ...

were involved in the search for Alois Huber in the Annaberg shooting, who killed three police officers and one

Red Cross The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteering, volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ...

EMT on 17 September 2013, in Lower Austria. In 2016, 42 officers supported the German police in the Munich shooting. In 2017, 20 EKO Cobra operatives were directly involved to end the severe riots in the Schanzenviertel area during the G20 Hamburg summit, three operatives were wounded. EKO Cobra assisted in the manhunt of the remaining suspect who was involved in the 2020 Vienna attack. EKO Cobra assisted with the arrest of suspects in the foiled 2024 Vienna terrorism plot, in which a concert by the American singer-songwriter

Taylor Swift Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Known for her autobiographical songwriting, artistic versatility, and Cultural impact of Taylor Swift, cultural impact, Swift is one of the Best selling artists, w ...

as part of

The Eras Tour The Eras Tour was the sixth concert tour by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. It began in Glendale, Arizona, United States, on March 17, 2023, and concluded in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, on December 8, 2024. Spanning 149 sh ...

was targeted. EKO Cobra would be deployed in response to the Graz school shooting on 10 June 2025.

Recruitment and training

Einsatzkommando Cobra Tag des Sports Wien 2008 b

Any member of the Austrian Federal Police may apply to the EKO Cobra. The tests consist of medical examinations, psychological tests, and vigorous physical tests. Upon successful completion of the tests the recruits attend 6 months of specialized training which includes marksmanship, tactical training, sports, driver courses, abseiling/rappelling, hand-to-hand combat, language classes, etc. Besides the courses taught in the basic training, further specialization is possible in fields, such as parachuting, diving, explosives, or sniping.Spiegel TV Spezial: ''Einsatzkommando Cobra - Ausbildung einer Elite-Einheit.'' Fernsehreportage, 2006. Since its establishment in 1978, 1,140 officers have served in EKO Cobra.

Organization

The unit's headquarters is located in

(

). It performs all administrative activities and the training for the EKO Cobra officers. There are departments in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, and

with small field offices in Klagenfurt,

, and Feldkirch. Each department contains four teams and each field office contains two. This structure allows the units to be deployed anywhere in Austria in under 70 minutes. On 1 April 2013, EKO Cobra was merged in the newly established Special Operations Directorate - DSE (''Direktion für Spezialeinheiten''). This organisation serves as a unified command for the units with special tasks of the Austrian Federal Police. In the meantime, the organization has been renamed to "Directorate for Special Units/Special Intervention Unit Cobra" (DSE). Further units of the DSE are the police's bomb disposal units, the observation units and special investigative units.

Equipment

Weapons

EKO Cobra is armed mainly with

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

n weaponry, but sometimes foreign-produced arms are used too.

Special equipment

EKO Cobra use a variety of equipment designed for a variety of situations. *

Protective gear Personal protective equipment (PPE) is protective clothing, helmets, goggles, or other garments or equipment designed to protect the wearer's body from injury or infection. The hazards addressed by protective equipment include physical, elect ...

made of

kevlar Kevlar (para-aramid) is a strong, heat-resistant synthetic fiber, related to other aramids such as Nomex and Technora. Developed by Stephanie Kwolek at DuPont in 1965, the high-strength material was first used commercially in the early 1970s as ...

or ceramic * Balaclavas *

Camouflage Camouflage is the use of any combination of materials, coloration, or illumination for concealment, either by making animals or objects hard to see, or by disguising them as something else. Examples include the leopard's spotted coat, the b ...

suits * Tonfa batons * OC sprays

Uniforms

EKO Cobra officers wear the uniform of the Austrian Federal Police with certain modifications: * Maroon beret to indicate their elite status * The unit's insignia is worn instead of the police insignia * The rank insignia's background is black instead of red as from the regular Federal Police uniforms During tactical operations the officers wear green or black coveralls along with their tactical gear.

Annual Warrior Competition

EKO Cobra competed in the 2011 Annual Warrior Competition winning top honors. EKO Cobra defeated a

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...

13th MEU and a joint team from

U.S. Army Special Forces The United States Army Special Forces (SF), colloquially known as the "Green Berets" due to their distinctive service headgear, is a branch of the United States Army Special Operations Command (USASOC). The core missionset of Special Forces ...

5th Group and Jordan SFG 101 among many others.

Ranks

These are the former ranks of EKO Cobra, before the current standard rank insignia were adopted in 2015. File:Distinktionen Cobra gesammelt.png, Ranks of EKO Cobra

References

Bibliography

External links

Official website
{{Law enforcement in Austria 1978 establishments in Austria ATLAS Network Police tactical units Special forces of Austria