Hellion’s Big Brother Spotted in the Wild on NATO Front Lines
Images captured on a shooting range somewhere in Lithuania have captured a familiar bullpup 5.56 at play in the snow.
Panzerbrigade 45 “Litauen” recently released a photo essay on social media with troops qualifying in the Baltics, a region of NATO allies that share a tense border with Russia in Northeast Europe.
Seen prominently is the HS Produkt VHS-2 rifle in its full-flavor select fire variant. Over on this side of the pond, the Croatian-made VHS is better known as its NFA-compliant sporting variant, the Springfield Armory Hellion.
Patches seen in the photos point to the troops as belonging to the 565-member 6th Croatian Contingent (6. HRVCON), a battalion of Cold War classic towed 122mm D30 RH M94 (2A18) howitzers, which is part of the NATO Multinational Battlegroup Lithuania (MN BG LTU), an outfit composed of troops from not only Croatia but also Belgium, Czechia, Germany, Norway, and the Netherlands.
The VHS, introduced in 2008, was adopted by the Croatian Army in 2016. In addition to Croatia, the VHS is standard issue to military and police units in a half-dozen countries.
More than 20,000 VHS series rifles are in service in Croatia. (Photos: Croatian Army)
Over here, the Hellion debuted on the commercial market in 2022 and is now available in several variants across numerous barrel lengths and colorways. We reviewed the 16-inch carbine model and found it to be exceptional in testing.
Despite its short length, the Hellion has a 16-inch CMV barrel with a 1:7 twist and a Melonite coating. Its overall length makes it ideal for CQB-style shooting, and the adjustable stock —you just don’t see that on bullpups —makes the gun modular for a wide range of shooters. (Photo: Chris Eger)