Praying Mantis

"A sense of duty when the risks run high"

- Praying Mantis slogan

Praying Mantis is a Private Military Company that operates under the Outer Heaven mother company, run by Liquid Ocelot. It is based in Britain, and utilizes the SOP System, using nanomachines to enhance and regulate their senses. Their business activities include soldiers for hire, supply and logistics services, education and training for state armies, and everything expected from a PMC. The name is based on FOXHOUND member Psycho Mantis. At some point during the Iraq war, the Praying Mantis PMC contracted with the US Government to send large amounts of its soldiers into combat zones. In 2014, Praying Mantis was deployed in the Middle East to fight off the local militia soldiers, the reasons for the local regime hiring them was partially due to their aforementioned experience in the Iraq war. Numerous members were eventually killed and/or went catatonic after Liquid Ocelot tried to hijack the SOP System with Liquid's DNA.

Equipment
Praying Mantis soldiers are well known for their appearance. They wear khaki cargo pants and tactical armor. They can be seen wearing black jackets under their CIRAS armor vests and balaclavas as well as headets. Troops can be identified in their role depending on the headgear they wear; ones wearing the black ballistic helmet also have goggles and are seen to be regular troops while the troops wearing baseball caps also opt for specialized roles such as snipers, spotters and radiomen.

Their primary weapon is the Mk.17 and their basic sidearm is the GSR. Several of them can also be seen using the M14 EBR as their sniper rifles (or DMRs (Designated Marksman Rifles) in a sense) against the Middle Eastern militiamen with great precision and effect. Some of them can be seen with the M870 Custom, they use the "master key" variant in standalone configuration. In rare cases, they also use the FGM-148 Javelin. Vehicles used include the Humvee armed with an M2HB .50 caliber heavy machine gun and the Stryker APC (Armored Personnel Carrier). Praying Mantis have deployed Gekko extensively against the militiamen, and have been known to use smoke grenades as a means of escaping dusadvantageous situations; as evidenced when the Middle Eastern militiamen arrived in a BMP-3 Infantry Fighting Vehicle.

The Praying Mantis PMC are known to utilize jet-propelled attack helicopters armed with machine guns and missiles, for close-combat air support, as well as Slider UCAVs (Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicles) (belonging to Raging Raven).

Behind the scenes
Praying Mantis's equipment and tactics, as well as their TV-ad, suggests that the group specializes in urban warfare. The TV-ad also mentioned that they were an unmanned security unit.

From the map presented in Act 1 Briefing, Its headquarters appears to be located in the heart of England, apparantly in Sheffield or Nottingham.

Before Metal Gear Solid 4's release, the Praying Mantis soldiers in earlier versions of the game carried the M4 Custom equipped with a vertical handle grip, scope and laser sight. Soon, they were shown using the M4 carbines without the customization and this was later changed to the Mk.17 during the later stages of development. However, in the game, Drebin mentions to Old Snake that the M4 Custom is however a popular favorite weapon in use by the more powerful PMCs over the world (also referencing back to the earlier modes of MGS4 where photos of Praying Mantis troops with M4s exist). Their equipment can be imitated by soldiers in Metal Gear Online.