And that's for smaller countries.
For countries like China, it's enough to give them a competitive edge. Again, not enough to be as good or better than DEVGRU, but still enough to make it not matter as much.
I personally believe the average age difference between a SEAL (including DEVGRU) member and that of a Delta member is part of the reason why you don't hear Delta talking as much. They do as many missions, but it's rare to hear about it.
In fact, it is such a stark difference that when 2 weeks back a 'special operations team' rescued those hostages (at the cost of one of their own) I immediately posted it has to be Delta. Why? Simply because the story didn't have lots of details released (at least initially), and didn't have details such as which SEAL team plastered all over. If it's hush hush it's probably Delta.
Another factor: Expansion teams. 40 years ago there were 2 SEAL Teams, one on each coast, and 4 UDTs (which were NOT the same as SEAL Teams, even though they shared common basic training.)
Now I have lost count of how many SEAL Teams there are, but it’s double digits. Now, I think of them as “Sea Rangers.” Totally different from when I was in. We NEVER contemplated 50-man ops, for example. That was a Ranger op by definition.
Football analogy: What would happen to quality if, over a decade, the NFL expanded from 32 to 150 pro football teams?
ha, your screen name is perfect for this thread aint it?
I agree with your Delta / Seal Team point.....but as for borrowing? These elite units have been borrowing from each other for decades, and for those old enough, centuries.
Is this writing of books and everything else making it easier? Well, probably.