Crimson Strike Team

Name: Crimson Vipers
Group: Cobra, Crimson Strike Team
First Released: 2002

"We attack like a crimson tide washing over the battlefield, leaving only destruction in our wake."

Vipers are Cobra infantry soldiers. Compared to Cobra Troopers, they have additional training and better equipment. They are equipped with armored helmets and vests that can mask heat signatures, and assault rifles with built-in grenade launchers.

Cobra Vipers have always been the backbone of the Cobra Legions, But taken from their ranks are troopers who have been recruited into the Crimson Strike Team - an elite group of shock troops and bodyguards loyal only to the secret cabal formed by the Baroness and Tomax & Xamot. They are hand-selected not only for their superior skills and ruthless efficiency but also for their overwhelming greed. Untraceable financial incentives from the Crimson Twins, and brainwashing from the Baroness, ensure their unswerving loyalty - even to the point of following the orders of the treacherous trio in direct opposition to Cobra Commander himself, if not out of fanaticism then for the substantial mission bonuses!
Although they are not artificially enhanced like Cobra Neo-Vipers, the Cobra Vipers of the Crimson Strike Team are no less formidable. Their hand-to-hand combat training renders them so deadly that weapons and armor are virtually unnecessary. Nonetheless, They carry specially modified Viper gear: assault rifles, a wide variety of small arms, the latest energy-displacing body armor, and helmets with built-in night vision visors and radio telecommunications gear( specially tuned to their crimson commander's secret frequencies).

This version of Viper was only available at the 2002 G.I.Joe Convention "Legacy of Valor" in Norfolk, Virginia. Viper was included with a Crimson Strike Team boxed set that included a Crimson Baroness, Crimson Tomax, Crimson Xamot, and twelve Vipers.
Until it was released in the G.I.Joe Classified series in 2023.