Sniper
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The traditional definition of a sniper (from French franc-tireur) is that of an infantryman expert in camouflage tasks and an elite marksman, who shoots with firearm (usually a sniper rifle), at great distances and from a concealed location, at selected targets. Typically and ideally, a skilled sniper approaches the enemy (who is unaware of their presence) and uses one round for each target.
Etymology
Although the origin of the term in Spanish dates back to the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871,[citation required] the term is older, being used in the Danish-Swedish War of 1563-70; the words in the Danish and Swedish languages are friskytte/friskytt or snaphane/snaphan. Technical improvements had allowed the French army to equip itself with long-range rifles, ideal for taking down enemies from distant positions. Prussian soldiers called them franc-tireurs, that is, "free shooters" [citation required].
On the other hand, the term sniper comes from ancient Scotland and England, where hunters tried to hunt the snipe (snipe, in English), a fast, agile bird that moved peculiarly zig-zag flying. Hence, the most skilled hunters and those who possessed a better handling of the rifle were called sniper, thus recognizing them the difficult task of hunting this elusive bird.
In recent decades, the term sniper has been used loosely, especially by the media in relation to police sharpshooters, those responsible for murder, those who shoot at long distances, and any criminal who be equipped with a rifle in a civilian context.
These new meanings have given the word sniper pejorative connotations. It also explains the increased use of alternative terms, especially for police snipers, such as sharpshooter, sharpshooter, tactical shooter, etc.
History
American War of Independence
During the War of Independence, the Congress of the Union authorized the creation of 10 rifle companies, elite shooter units made up of farmers and ranchers. The British learned in several battles the lesson of what a good rifle can do in the hands of a good marksman. In 1777, at the Battle of Saratoga, 500 sharpshooters were assigned to General Daniel Morgan's troops to deal with British General John Burgoyne and his army. One of these marksmen, John Murphy, used his Kentucky rifle against Brigadier General Simon Fraser. His shot hit the general, who died the next day, and the British withdrew demoralized.
The consequence was that in 1798 the British Army Ordnance Board began the search for a precision rifle with which to equip a small number of select riflemen. Around 1800 he opted for a weapon designed by master gunsmith Ezekiel Baker.
Napoleonic Wars
During the Napoleonic Wars rifles were used by expert marksmen. Although the rifle basically functioned like a musket, its barrel was rifled, which gave it greater accuracy. Their targets were the servants of the artillery batteries, the officers and the enemy shooters. Another feature of the rifles was their shorter barrel, which made it possible to load and aim with the rifleman kneeling or lying down, an advantage over muskets.
In France, snipers (franc-tireurs) were already known in 1792, when, when the country was invaded, the National Assembly made a general call asking for volunteers from the Departments. It was possible to organize 15 battalions of light troops in the Vosges with the mission of attacking scouting groups and convoys, and harassing enemy camps; they had complete freedom of action and operated in rough and mountainous terrain, and even in the navy, where they climbed on the tops of ships; in fact, it was a sniper who killed Admiral Nelson from the top of the Redoutable at the Battle of Trafalgar. The French had companies of skirmishers, the Voltigeur, who engaged in harassing fire armed with standard infantry muskets.
The English also resorted to this type of force during the 18th century, creating regular units armed with Baker rifles, which it had an effective range of about 200 meters. The adoption of the Baker was not only motivated by the experience in the American War of Independence, units in the style of the German Jäger had previously been thought of, considered as elite soldiers. The Baker was not only supplied to the famous 95th Regiment, but also made its way to the 60th "Royal Americans" and to the sections of shooters and elite companies of the KGL (King's German Legion) battalions. These soldiers received special training to fire their rifles lying on the ground, sticking their foot inside the Baker rifle's sling to stabilize the weapon. They were also trained to target and kill any soldier involved in command, control, and communications on the battlefield. These English soldiers acted against the French in Spain and later at the Battle of Waterloo. In January 1809, a rifleman from the British 95th Rifle Regiment, Thomas Plunkett, managed to kill the French Brigadier General Auguste François-Marie de Colbert at a distance of more than 150 meters during the battle of Cacabelos. With a second shot Plunkett also killed the general's aide.
Crimean War
In the Crimea, the English found that the Enfield rifles they used could hit targets at great distances, the problem was more one of precision than range. As a result of combat experience, Lieutenant Colonel Davidson suggested installing scopes on British infantry rifles to increase long-distance shooting accuracy, as well as improve training. The telescopic sight was little used in combat in the Crimea, but it did take advantage of long-distance shooting tactics. After the war he patented the idea and work began on sights in Britain. Another Briton, John Jacob, used a rifle with an explosive bullet in combat with an effective range of up to 1800 meters. It was tested in the conflict against a Russian gun position which, after being fired upon, withdrew. the US Civil War
Russian troops suffered and appreciated the initiative of British soldiers who used bulky long-range rifles with optical sights mounted on them. For this reason, individually, some Russians began to adopt this practice. Thus, for example in the Russo-Japanese War, it was not uncommon to see Russians with sniper rifles and telescopic sights.
Civil War
It was during the American Civil War, in the second half of the XIX century, that the sniper experienced a great development thanks to the Kentucky rifles. When the Civil War broke out, select marksman units were created, such as Berdan's Sharpshooters or the Confederate marksman battalions. At first each volunteer carried his own weapon and the so-called target rifles triumphed, rifles manufactured with special care to make them more precise. The federal sniper companies were supplied with shooters selected through shooting contests and who acted freely in combat, apart from the rest of the army. They also wore a green uniform that helped them camouflage themselves, instead of the characteristic dark blue color of the federal army.
In this war, the first specific units of select marksmen were created, encouraging the Union army the use of snipers equipped with specialized weapons and, for the first time, equipped with optical sights to improve their precision. In order to go unnoticed, the Berdan shooters were equipped with a green uniform, with its brass button fastening replaced by one made of hardened rubber to avoid reflections. During the war, the first duels between shooter squads began to take place, since the gunpowder used created a dense smoke that indicated the position to the enemy. It was important to fire the shot and claim the victim to ensure survival. Surviving was not an easy task, 28% of the initial troops of the Berdan Shooters were killed for various reasons.
In the Confederate Army the Whitworth rifle was favored as a sniper weapon, hard to come by due to the blockade but the most accurate at the time. With this weapon a Confederate sniper killed General Sedgwick at a distance of more than 500 meters. Confederate sharpshooters, called the "Whitworth Sharpshooters" due to their use of the rifle of the same name, they were not organized into independent units as in the federal army, but rather their platoons accompanied the regular units. His priority objective was to eliminate the artillery servants, as well as any other targets of fortune.
The Union Army decided to standardize their rifles, opting for the Sharps rifle. This was a 1.2 meter long, six-rifle bore and breech-loading weapon. A good shooter could shoot between 8 and 10 times per minute, more than the two shots that were achieved with muzzleloaders. The Sharps company made 80,512 carbines and 9,141 rifles during the war, so prized that the Confederates did everything they could to capture them and would even make copies, albeit of lower quality. The Sharps rifle was expensive (three times the price of a Springfield Model 1861), so only 11,000 of the Model 1859 were made. Most of the initial order was not supplied and were only issued to sniper shooters.
Spanish-American War (1898)
A few years before the war, the Mauser Model 1893 rifle had become the standard weapon of the Spanish infantry. The Mauser allowed precision at great distances, as well as a high rate of fire. In the fight against the mambises, the select shooter had already been used, shooters stationed at points where they had a good shooting range. The cazadores regiments of Spanish infantry positioned marksmen stationed in the vegetation, which ambushed the columns of Cuban guerrillas.
These tactics were used with the US landing in Cuba. US troops were harassed by sharpshooters, who were stationed in protected or concealed positions. In spite of everything, the military tactic of the sniper did not yet exist, but rather it was due more to the initiative of some soldiers and officers. Proof of the effectiveness of the Mauser is that in the battle of Las Guásimas the Spanish inflicted a high number of casualties on US troops far superior in number, but more inexperienced in combat and lacking in preparation. In the defense of El Caney, General Vara de Rey and his little more than five hundred troops (391 members of the Infantry Regiment of the Constitution, 41 of the Cuban Regiment and 95 volunteers) stopped the advance of the US contingent for hours, more than 6,000 troops, towards Santiago de Cuba. In the battle of the San Juan Hills, 700 Spanish infantry faced 15,000 Americans, causing more than 1,400 casualties.
Second Boer War (1902)
The Boers did not have a regular army, but in the face of a possible confrontation with the United Kingdom they acquired 25,000 Mauser rifles. The British soldiers thus faced Boer marksmen, endowed with good aim and armed with Mauser Model 1895 rifles that fired with great effectiveness at about 800 meters, exceeding the range of British weapons. The English troops were harassed, choosing the right moment and the appropriate target. On the British side, the creation of the Lovat Scouts stands out, a Scottish regiment made up of expert marksmen who were trained in shooting, sabotage and guerrilla tactics. After the war this regiment became the first regular sharpshooter unit of the British Army.
Rif War
The word "paco" began to be used in the first months of 1909 to designate the riflemen from the Riffs who, located in excellent observation posts, fired with great accuracy at the Spanish troops. His performance extended to all the campaigns in North Africa and generally consisted of harassing convoys and detachments.
Years later, the Ifni Shooters Group was formed in the Spanish army, immediately after the occupation of the Territory in 1934. This unit was made up mostly of natives, with Spanish commands, taking advantage of the skill in shooting and marksmanship of the native people. The Spanish troops faced an enemy in Morocco that had good marksmen. In the Moroccan Protectorate, the civil war and the conflicts in Ifni and the Sahara, the Tercios organized the shooting patrols, as a direct legacy of those shooting specialists who have always characterized this body. The firing patrol training was extended to the rest of the Spanish army, this training being a test that requires great physical fitness, agility and skill with rifle shooting.
World War I
Trench warfare, with lines of defense within effective rifle range, is well suited for pack-up. This was understood by both sides, deploying their best marksmen in carefully chosen positions, to make mainly harassing fire and meanwhile they watched the terrain with binoculars. The fire of the snipers was answered with that of the counter-snipers, who were so well chosen and located that they fired on the muzzle fire of the enemy snipers.
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During this war, the Imperial German Army already made extensive use of rifles equipped with telescopic sights. However, the regulatory Gewehr-98 would have to be added a multitude of hunting rifles with telescopic sights that were requisitioned due to the haste of their use and the need for war. Many of these weapons were not used by snipers themselves, but by experts who harassed the one in front from their trenches to "prevent boredom" among the enemy troops and shot down any enemy that showed its head. At the beginning of the war, the first to use them were the Germans, since they realized that the skills of some soldiers who in civilian life had been hunters and forest rangers were ideal for trench warfare. Measures and countermeasures were designed against those deadly and demoralizing shots: steel shields attached to the sniper's helmet to protect his face, mannequins to deceive the enemy into discovering his position, etc.
Given the impact on morale of the German snipers, the English, driven by the insistence of Major Hesketh-Prichard, created in 1915 a sniper school called 1st Army Sniping, Observation and Scouting School (1st SOS), based on Linghem. There English, Canadian, American, French, Australian and Portuguese snipers would form. Several schools were later created in France by the English, and even another in Egypt in 1917. In them the soldiers learned to use all kinds of camouflage and to act in pairs of shooter and observer (the Germans preferred to act alone). The arrival of allied snipers marked the beginning of the fight between snipers from both sides. The most common firing position for a sniper was in the trenches, although they also took up positions in no man's land to take down important targets such as machine gun nests and artillery spotters before an attack.
Outside the Western Front, snipers also took action. In the Gallipoli trenches Turkish snipers, numerous and with the advantage of higher ground, engaged Australian and New Zealand snipers, expert marksmen in civilian life. Lieutenant Grace organized a sniper team in Gallipoli to defeat the Turkish snipers, managing to kill many of them. In Gallipoli, the Australian sniper Billy Sing stood out, with more than 200 enemies killed and among them the Turkish sniper baptized as "Abdul the Terrible". ANZAC and Turkish snipers also clashed in the Palestine campaign. In the East the Imperial Russian Army used conscripted Siberian hunters and the hunting experience of some officers to assign them the role of snipers. At the end of 1916 the decision was made to create sniper forces, ordering the manufacture of sniper rifles. However, ultimately the number of weapons produced was very low, mainly due to a lack of sights, and the selection and training of snipers was not made effective by the start of the 1917 revolution. This experience with snipers would be transferred to the Red Army, which in 1929 he would create the sniper specialty.
Rifles with telescopic sights were used by all sides, being the Germans who stood out in variety, quality and quantity of material, since their optical industry was already one of the best in the world. In 1915 the German Army selected 15,000 Mauser 98 rifles, which proved exceptionally accurate during factory tests, to be fitted with telescopic sights to equip their snipers. This was done despite the fact that the Mauser 98 was not designed to use a telescopic sight. Commonwealth snipers preferred the more accurate Ross Mk II rifle than the SMLE No.1 Mk.III Rifle with Aldis scope. Between 1915 and 1918 approximately 6,000 Mannlicher M1895 sniper rifles were manufactured for the Austro-Hungarian Army, which also used Mauser rifles. France adapted its service Lebel and Berthier rifles to equip its snipers, as did the United States with the Springfield rifle.
Spanish Civil War
In the civil war, snipers were also used, more select marksmen than snipers, since it was a well-known tactic by the Spanish army in its colonial wars. Snipers were called pacos in the jargon of the time. There was no specific sniper training or regulatory rifles with telescopic sights in the Spanish army at that time, as it was something frowned upon in the army at the time. If the best shooters were encouraged to stalk the enemy, the use of telescopic sights would not reach the Spanish army until the 1960s, when some Mauser 43s were equipped with Enosa sights when they were replaced by the Cetme. During the Civil War, the sniper had to resort to standard rifles and good marksmanship. It is known that Russian advisers personally brought some Mosin-Nagant sniper rifles with PE sights, according to some sources in response to the Mauser sniper rifles that Germany would have sent to Spain. In addition, the advisers issued on their return to the USSR favorable reports of the combat use of snipers. It is possible that among the German and Italian contingents some snipers could have arrived and that later in the national army towards the end of the war there were also some.
Numerous battles saw the use of snipers. This was especially the case where trench warfare or urban combat took place, as happened on the Madrid Front. George Orwell was wounded by a sniper near Huesca in May 1937. In the Spanish Civil War it was common for snipers to be positioned next to machine gun positions to mask the shots.
Russian-Finnish War
During the winter war between the Soviets and the Finns, the Russians learned firsthand the hard lesson of the effectiveness of snipers. Finnish snipers killed hundreds of Soviet soldiers, who were often entrenched and were killed one by one. The Finns dressed entirely in white, lurking in camouflage in the forests sowed panic among the Soviets. This war saw the deadliest sniper in history: Simo Häyhä, nicknamed "the white death", killed at least 542 enemies.
Finnish snipers avoided the use of telescopic sights, preferring to use the rear sight and front sight. Partly because they were damaged by the low temperatures, but also because the telescopic sights closed the field of vision and made it impossible to react quickly. Finnish snipers went to great lengths to reduce the pockets in which the Soviet soldiers had been trapped, from close range.
The Red Army took note, and soon ramped up the sniper formation. If 53,000 sniper rifles had been manufactured since the mid-1920s, that figure was since 1940 annual production. More sniper schools were opened. The largest school was in Moscow, where a 3-week training period was carried out, including urban combat as a consequence of the experience in Spain. One of the differences in the USSR was the creation of sniper battalions, kept in reserve to be deployed to critical sectors.
World War II
Snipers hardly played a role at the beginning of the war, since it was a war of movement. With the German invasion of the Soviet Union and the emergence of urban combat, the use of the sniper became widespread, especially on the Soviet side to slow down the German advance.
Throughout this confrontation, snipers developed greatly, both because of the profusion of their use and because of the specialization of their rifles, equipment, and techniques.
- The British used Lee-Enfield and P14 high-precision rifles for this task with Aldis telescopic eyes.
- The Germans and the Soviets used snipers, especially in combat in cities. The German army created an insignia for the same (the eagle's badge) with distinctions of honor to which it had struck 20, 40 or 60 enemies. Vasili Zaitsev, Siberian hunter, received the Order of Lenin and was declared “Hero of the Soviet Union”. He is attributed to having caused only more than 280 casualties. He has now taken his life to the cinema in the film “Enemy at the Doors”. Among the select German shooters we must highlight Matthäus Hetzenauer, who on the eastern front from 1943 to 1945 succeeded in causing 345 confirmed deaths, and Sepp Allerberger, with 257 deaths in his possession. In the battle of Berlin the German snipers delayed the taking of the city by the Soviets, causing hundreds of casualties.
- Simo Häyhä, of Finnish origin, was the most lethal sniper of the Second World War, resulting in some 505 enemies (542 by unofficial sources).
Germany
After repealing the Treaty of Versailles, after the Nazi Party came to power, Germany began in 1935 a spectacular rearmament that brought with it the reestablishment of military service. Just in that year, a new basic weapon that they called a carbine and that here would be called a carabiner, the Kar 98k (K for kurz, short in German) became regulation. This awakening of the new Germany also included the youth, as they were initiated into shooting, either with compressed air or 5.5 mm caliber weapons, achieving a very high number of select shooters. Alongside the arms industry, the optical industry was developing precision sights: mainly Carl Zeiss in Germany and Kahles in Austria, who had already produced sporting scopes before, joined the Reich war effort. The German army had a medal and badge for snipers, although very few used it since if they were captured they could be executed on the spot.
Germany pioneered sniper training. The Germans officially established that snipers operate in pairs, to take turns and rest. As soon as the war on the Russian front came to a standstill, the presence of Russian snipers intensified to such an extent that the German high command decided, in 1943, to develop a course to improve the skills of its snipers. This was necessary as German snipers coming straight from training with no combat experience would often manage to take down several enemies before being shot down by an experienced enemy sniper. Instruction was given by veteran snipers in groups of five students and one instructor. Camouflage uniforms became standard and new weapons and equipment were provided to the sniper. There were dozens of sniper schools, the most famous in Zossen and Seetaleralpe.
As the tide of the war turned, German snipers assumed an even more crucial role in resisting the Allied advance. They were often left behind to slow or even halt enemy advances, if only for a few hours, while the rest of the troops fell back to new positions. German tactic involved each battalion using its 4-6 snipers to cover its withdrawal as a machine gun would be easily spotted whereas long range shots were harder to spot and slowed down the enemy for longer forcing them to move cautiously and eliminate to the snipers.
Soviet Union
Faced with the lightning invasion, the Soviet Union sniper had to progressively improvise the response: beginning with isolated combats and withdrawing on the ground in the face of the unstoppable enemy advance, to later go on to constitute a very large, well-instructed and very effective contingent in their operations, establishing teams of "pairs" that complemented each other at all times. Many Soviet snipers became legends and received the title of Heroes of the Soviet Union, the highest decoration. The propaganda of the Soviet army created the cult of the sniper, in addition the snipers enjoyed privileges that were not available to the rest of the infantry soldiers. Soviet propaganda found in the sniper the ideal symbol, they caused terror among the enemy military and were a model for the soldiers of effectiveness and economy in fighting the enemy.
Since 1932, the Soviets used their infantry's regulation rifle, the Mosin-Nagant, equipping it with optical sights (PU of 3.5 magnification, which, although they fulfilled their purpose, were of a much lower quality than the ones Zeiss and Kahles of the German Army). In 7.62 mm caliber, this somewhat awkward and long bolt-action rifle was perfectly comparable in power and accuracy to the Kar 98k. The Samorzaryadnaya Vintonvka Tokarev 40 (Tokarev-SVT semi-automatic rifle) was also used, although its accuracy was not like that of a bolt-action rifle, it had a higher rate of fire and doubled the ammunition capacity.
The Soviets found that the position of sniper was a good fit for women, since they were patient, small by nature, and with a higher aerobic fitness than men, so they avoided using them in hand-to-hand combat, some of them turned out to be as lethal as their male counterparts, including Roza Šánina (59), Ziba Ganiyeva (21), Liudmila Pavlichenko (309 kills specializing in headshots), Nina Alexeyevna Lobkovskaya (89). The Central Sniper School, near Moscow and directed by Nora Chegodaeva, existed before 1941.
Soldiers chosen for snipers received three weeks of training at a sniper school before the war. There they learned to shoot, camouflage, observe, orient themselves in the terrain, and fight in wooded or urban regions. Many schools were organized from June 1941 into combat units due to the needs of the war, although more focused on select shooters than true snipers. Russian snipers always acted in pairs, made up of an observer and a shooter who could switch roles. His most precious target was enemy snipers so that he could act freely. Then there were the officers and non-commissioned officers and, finally, the machine gun and mortar servers and artillery observers. Occasionally several pairs acted together for special missions, such as pinning down an enemy column. During the first months of the German invasion, the immense casualties suffered forced the duration of sniper training to be shortened to just a few days. To make up for training gaps, combat novices were paired with a veteran who tried to teach them how to survive in combat before the enemy killed them.
In June 1941 the Soviet Army had two types of sniper. Some were assigned to the High Command Reserve (RVGK) and the others were assigned to the infantry troops. RVGK snipers were organized into separate brigades. During the initial phases of the German invasion, snipers delayed the German advance, claiming dozens of victims each day and often being overwhelmed by the advance and thus being captured or killed. Urban battles (in Odessa, Sevastopol, and above all, Stalingrad), in buildings destroyed by heavy fighting and with a poorly defined front line, became an ideal place for Russian snipers. The Soviets knew how to take advantage of the infinite number of positions from which to shoot and the echo of the shots made it difficult to detect their position. The most prized targets for Soviet snipers were artillery officers and observers, although the most frequent were soldiers in charge of transporting supplies and ammunition to the front. In Stalingrad, duels began to take place with German snipers, considered by the Russians to be targets of the highest priority. By the end of the war each platoon had two soldiers armed with sniper rifles, although these were not true trained snipers but rather select marksmen who were palliating the replacement of rifles with shorter-range automatic weapons. Cases of snipers were frequent with dozens of confirmed deaths. Ivan Mikhailovich Sidorenko was the deadliest Red Army sniper during World War II, responsible for some 500 confirmed casualties and an instructor to dozens of snipers.
Japan
After facing snipers trained by German advisers in China, Japan created its sniper school and in 1938 the Arisaka Type 97 rifle entered service for elite marksmen equipped with a 2.5x magnification telescopic sight. Like the Marines, Japanese snipers also received reconnaissance and scouting training. Sniper versions of the standard Type 38 and Type 99 model infantry rifles, equipped with telescopic sights, were used in combat. In the army, one sniper was assigned per platoon, although in some cases sniper teams were made to delay the enemy attack. But the usual practice was for the sniper to act alone.
Due to the needs of war, snipers were trained at the front, and they were rarely volunteers, but rather soldiers with good marksmanship appointed by their officers. Japanese snipers acted differently from European ones. They camouflaged themselves in ambush on the ground, in the undergrowth or in the palm trees and waited to have the enemy soldiers at distances of less than 50 meters before opening fire, thus ensuring the target. Normally the enemy soldiers if they were veterans quickly finished off the Japanese shooter. Although they were called snipers by the allies in many cases what they faced were not true trained snipers. To fight the Japanese snipers, the Americans resorted to various methods, from sniffer dogs to intensive shelling. At Kwajalein, a Japanese sniper halted the advance of a Company of the 32nd Infantry Regiment, until artillery and aircraft bombarded the sector.
United States
Before the war, the US Army had a short sniper course at the Camp David training school, with almost no practical training. In the instruction of the soldiers, theoretical manuals were taught, among them the "SCOUTING, PATROLLING AND SNIPING", which explained how terrain reconnaissance missions should be carried out in addition to the fundamentals of a sniper. With the start of the war, army snipers were equipped from 1943 with the Springfield M1903A3 rifle. In the United States, courses were started at the Infantry School and at Camp Perry, which left something to be desired in terms of concealment and observation techniques. In the absence of enough personnel to go through official training in the United States, various army units organized their own courses at the front, also more focused on shooting skills than on camouflage and other necessary skills. Little by little, in Italy and France, the army snipers were gaining in experience and effectiveness until in 1945 they proved their worth fighting in German cities.
The United States Marine Corps had always encouraged precision shooting, training its scouts/snipers in the field until a sniper school was opened at Quantico for the Corps in December 1942, followed later by another. in San Diego. In the theater of operations, the need prevailed and in Guadalcanal the Marines opened a sniper school in September 1942 to train at least two soldiers for each rifle company, in addition to having additional snipers assigned to the Division. The 2nd Division also established a sniper school in New Zealand. By April 1943, a team of 43 soldiers were to form the scout/sniper team assigned to each Marine regiment, although their employment doctrine varied based on each division's combat experience. Unlike the Army, the Marine Corps did not integrate snipers into squads as a support weapon, preferring instead to form small independent units. In 1941 each Marine Corps regiment had a separate platoon dedicated to scouting/sniper duties. These used as standard rifle the M1903A3 version of the Springfield rifle as well as their own version equipped with Unertl scope and other modifications, made by USMC gunsmiths for snipers from the Springfield M1903A1 in service. In their search for a suitable sniper rifle, the Marines eventually purchased 400 Winchester Model 70 rifles in 1942, which ended up being used for training. According to some accounts several unauthorized Winchester Model 70s were used in combat during the early stages of the war in the South Pacific. In the Marines the spotter carried a Thompson submachine gun or BAR light machine gun to protect the team shooter. These teams provided fire support and also performed scouting missions behind enemy lines. As snipers they sought to undermine Japanese morale, selectively eliminating targets such as enemy officers, artillery spotters, and snipers. Also in the beachheads they eliminated snipers and machine gunners. In the Pacific, anti-sniper groups were created dedicated to eliminating Japanese snipers. The sniper version of the M1 Garand semi-automatic rifle with a 2.2x Lyman scope was also used in the Pacific at the end of the war.
United Kingdom and Commonwealth
Before the war, there were snipers, but training and weapons had to be revised. The need for new sniper rifles led to the adaptation of the Enfield No. 4 Mk.I rifle in 1942, adapting it to a No. 32 telescopic sight, which thus became the standard sniper rifle with the name Enfield No. 4 Mk.I (T). Its success meant that after the war it was re-chambered for the 7.62 x 51 NATO cartridge and continued in service until the early 1990s as an L42A1 sniper rifle.
Given the experience gained in France and Norway, the British soon opened sniper schools, with a 3-week course. There they learned camouflage, shooting techniques, moving stealthily, etc. They were also taught to fight with the minimum necessary equipment. The camouflage of a British sniper was based on both ghillie suits, camouflage jackets and camouflage netting. In Malaya and New Guinea, the British and Australians suffered in the flesh from the effectiveness of Japanese snipers. This is why Commonwealth troops also placed great importance on training their snipers in counter-sniper tactics. In fact Commonwealth troops were very effective in planned sniping operations, as demonstrated in Burma in 1945 by the use of coordinated sniper teams that killed 296 Japanese snipers, losing only two of their own snipers.
In 1943, each British infantry battalion was assigned a sniper platoon, as opposed to the earlier practice of assigning a pair to each company. Snipers operated freely and were also trained to scout and gain intelligence on enemy positions.
With the landings in Sicily and Italy in 1943, British and Canadian snipers could begin to demonstrate their expertise against the Germans. Among their equipment they had a scouting telescope, which helped them find targets from distances much further than the enemy. In Normandy they also had to face the threat of German snipers, many times the best weapon against them were British and Canadian snipers. In Normandy British snipers also used the terrain against German soldiers.
The Australians also proved to be excellent snipers, which inflicted heavy casualties among the Japanese. The first few years combat units had to improvise, drawing on the experience of some soldiers as hunters and the lessons learned in World War I by some officers. From the end of 1941 they began to have sniper rifles. Australian soldiers received sniper training at the school established in Palestine by the British. All this led to the inclusion of a sniper section in the battalion organization and a sniper school was established in Australia.
France
Like Great Britain France began the war with the same sniper rifles it had used in 1914-1918, the only improvement being the use of APX21 scopes. The Lebel M1886/93 were the most widely used rifles by French snipers in 1939 and 1940. Theoretically each French platoon had a sniper assigned to it, as a support weapon.
Free French forces snipers used British SMLE No.3 MkI(T) and No.4 MkI(T) rifles. From 1943 they were equipped with Springfield 1903A4 sniper rifles, with M73B sights, received from the United States and identical to those of the US Army. The post-war French army used in Indochina all types of sniper rifles that came into their hands (Springfield 1903A4, M1D Garand, Gewehr 43, etc.), until the arrival of MAS49 sniper rifles with APX L806 sights brought order. from 1953. After 1945 the French Army introduced a sniper in each infantry platoon.
Korean War
Korea's mountainous terrain favored long-range shooting when it entered the positional warfare phase. The Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China delivered large numbers of Mosin-Nagant sniper rifles to North Korea during the Korean War. Both China and North Korea also received sniper training from Soviet advisers.
During the Korean War, the United States resumed production of the M1C Garand sniper rifle, upgrading 4,796 rifles produced during World War II. The US Army and Marine Corps adopted the M1C as their standard sniper rifle, with additional proprietary modifications for the Marines. In the front line of combat, the Springfield M1903 was also used as a sniper rifle, by the army with better telescopic sights than those used in World War II, and the Winchester Model 70 to a lesser extent. Commonwealth snipers used the Enfield No. 4 MK I (T) rifle. Sniper training was resumed in Western armies, and a permanent school was established in the United States after the war for a few years. Notable UN troop snipers include Chester “Chet” Hamilton (US Army 7th Division), who shot down some 40 enemies with his M1D Garand at the Battle of Pork Chop Hill. The Marines also had good snipers, like Sgt. John E. Boitnott and his duo Pfc. Henry Friday, specialized in killing enemy snipers. Friday acted as bait and Boitnott finished off any enemies that would have given away his position. The Australians were the best prepared, since in each company they had some snipers.
Cuban Revolution
Fidel Castro's guerrillas, in their confrontations with the regular columns, had for a long time only one objective: to kill the first man at the vanguard point. Over time, demoralization paralyzed the Army, with a proliferation of councils of war and executions against those who refused to march first.
Vietnam War
This device was used by the regular North Vietnamese forces. In one case, a single Vietnamese sniper managed to infiltrate the landing zone of a group of US Cavalry helicopters and with a well-aimed shot, killed a squad leader, introducing insecurity even within the defensive perimeter. The sniper was not discovered (Ia Drang Valley combat, November 1965). In several battles, the Vietcong and the North Vietnamese army used snipers: Hué, Khe Sanh, etc. Mosin-Nagant rifles were used by snipers of the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese Army. Select marksmen from rifle companies carried Dragunov rifles. In the North Vietnamese Army there were three battle groups of 10 snipers assigned to each Regiment, which assigned a platoon to protect each battle group. Regular army snipers underwent three months of training, and among their duties was training Vietcong snipers. Helicopters were among the targets considered the most valuable, but they were also the most difficult, leaving the sniper exposed to supporting fire covering the landing zones.
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The Americans also used snipers for harassment, though the war initially found them without sniper units, training, or weapons. In 1965, the Marines established a sniper school in Da Nang. The Marines soon saw the need for a standard sniper rifle and their gunsmiths adapted the Winchester Model 70 for combat use, naming them the M40. In Vietnam many of the Marine snipers used the M14 instead of the M40 since in the jungle the distances were small and the automatic fire option was useful in the case of close contact, ambushes or urban combat. Each Marine reconnaissance battalion in Vietnam had four sniper groups, each with three pairs. The Marines only accepted soldiers who already had combat experience as snipers.
In 1968 the army followed suit, creating a sniper program within the 9th Infantry Division that was fighting in the Mekong Delta area. Army gunsmiths converted M14 semi-automatic rifles for sniper use, creating the M21 SWS (Sniper Weapon System). Later other army divisions would also create their sniper schools. During the first six months of 1969, US Army snipers claimed to have killed 1,245 enemies. Both rifles saw service as a standard sniper rifle well into the 1980s.
In Vietnam, silencers were used, very suitable for night shooting since they eliminated the flash and the dense vegetation was in charge of muffling the rest of the sound. Due to night operations, an image amplifier and a silencer installed on an M14 rifle were used for the first time in combat. With this equipment, snipers could hit a target 400 meters away without being detected. By operating the army on the southern plains, with many plantations and open terrain, their snipers had more opportunities. The Marine snipers operated in wooded terrain and without good observation and firing ranges. Initially the snipers were assigned to support the patrols, but to be more effective they were released to operate freely. They operated both at short and long range.
During his rotation in Vietnam as a US Army Marksman, Sergeant Adelbert F. Waldron killed 109 enemies, the most by a US sniper in Vietnam. Carlos Hathcock was arguably the most prestigious, with 93 confirmed USMC kills. Carlos Hathcock is considered the forerunner in the use of 12.7 mm caliber rifles as a sniper weapon, modifying a Browning M2 machine gun, to which he attached a telescopic sight, which allowed him to hit targets at more than 2,000 meters. which were not possible with the 7.62 x 51 NATO cartridges used.
Invasion of Grenada
The performance of the Rangers Regiment's snipers and their effective use of the M21 rifle was directly responsible for reducing the defenders' will to fight, attacking enemy mortar teams for example. Fear of snipers led US forces to order the bombing of a house where enemy snipers were believed to be present, but a building where US soldiers were sheltering was mistakenly bombed, causing 17 injuries, including one fatality. In the SEAL team that tried to rescue the British Governor, the sniper helped hold off the local troops, causing several casualties.
Lebanon
In 1975 the civil war began, which would see numerous urban combats where snipers were used by all sides. In 1976, Beirut experienced the Battle of the Hotels, where tall buildings were the favorite points for snipers. The war saw the use of the sniper proliferate, which could be equipped with any type of weapon. The very dynamics of the war meant that only the fittest snipers remained.
In 1982 Israel invaded Lebanon and upon reaching Beirut faced urban combat and Palestinian snipers. The Israeli paratroopers resorted to their snipers in Beirut but the regular infantry units had to resort to other tactics. Years later, the Israelis subsequently introduced changes to their urban combat tactics, increasing the number of snipers and having them support the deployment of infantry. Multinational troops deployed in 1983 suffered the same experience against local snipers. In the case of the Marines, their sniper teams were counted on for counter-sniper missions. The Beirut experience made the Marines among the first customers of Barrett rifles.
Falklands War
During the Argentine invasion of South Georgia, Sergeant Major Leach began shooting with his sniper rifle at the Argentine corvette ARA Guerrico. He directed his shots at the five front windows of the bridge. The three men on the bridge were forced to duck behind the ship's structures to avoid being hit by Leach's accurate shots.
Argentine snipers mainly used the locally made Mauser Model 1909 rifle and the M14. Most non-professional snipers used FN FAL rifles with telescopic sights and PVS-4 night sights, better than British Starlights but rare among Argentines. The Argentine snipers made precise fire at night with their night vision devices. The action of a single Argentine sniper halted, for hours, the attack by a British paratrooper company on Mount Longdon. However, it must be said that on the Argentine side the most effective snipers were soldiers without special training, but with good marksmanship. However, this lack of training took its toll and many ended up being captured or killed by the British, sometimes using their few snipers to finish them off. Among the few known Argentine snipers is Marine Corporal Carlos Rafael Colemil. The 25th Infantry Regiment deployed some snipers, professional soldiers who had received training. The non-professional snipers stood out in the battle of Mount Longdon, where they managed to stop the night attack by the English paratroopers for several hours. During the fighting for Mount Harriet the British marines were held back by a non-professional sniper, until he was detected and eliminated.
British snipers used in those years the veteran L42 rifle, which had given good service in numerous conflicts (Borneo, Oman, Ulster, Aden, etc). However, the L42A1 rifles, due to old age, frequently jammed and their telescopic sight was clouded. Some chose to use Argentine FAL rifles. British snipers, scarcer than the templates should have been, it was decided that they would remain with their units, acting as support when required to eliminate Argentine snipers or other tasks. At Goose Green, British snipers were firing into bunker embrasures to support the attack.
War in Afghanistan (1978-1992)
Afghan guerrillas, armed with old British Lee-Enfield rifles, harassed the Soviets at distances of more than 800m, being answered by sharpshooters armed with Dragunov SVD and SVP rifles. Dragunovs were used as sniper rifles, despite their limitations, successfully by Soviet regular forces and special forces. Sergeant Vladimir Ilyin claimed to have shot down a guerrilla commander at a distance of 1,350 meters with his Dragunov rifle.
In the Soviet Army each platoon numbered 22 men, including a soldier equipped with an SVD Dragunov, although in Afghanistan additional marksmen were assigned to the platoon. Afghan guerrillas also eventually adopted the Dragunov as a sniper rifle, equipping themselves with shipments of Chinese copies and Egyptian copies that reached them across the Pakistani border.
Until 1984, sniper training in the Soviet Army was carried out by the regiment, which selected the best shooters from among the recruits. There they were trained to attack officers, artillery observers, anti-tank and machine gun teams, and low-flying helicopters. The experience in Afghanistan taught that better trained and more lethal snipers were needed. In 1984 the regimental schools were amalgamated into one army-level school, and in 1987 these were amalgamated into one military district school. Sniper courses were extended in duration.
Conflicts in Latin America and Africa
During the Suez Crisis, marksmen from the 2ème Régiment Parachutiste Colonial used their MAS-36 rifles with telescopic sights to eliminate Egyptian snipers. In 1978, in Kolwezi, the 2 REP snipers once again proved their effectiveness, proving the use of snipers very valuable in this and other French military interventions in Africa.
During the Cuban intervention in Angola, Cuban troops faced UNITA and the South African army. both regular troops and Cuban special forces used SVD Dragunov rifles in combat.
To face the government offensive, the FARC established a sniper training plan. Barrett rifles were purchased on the black market. Some of the early FARC snipers were trained by members of European or Middle Eastern terrorist groups.
During the civil war in El Salvador, the FMLN guerrillas received Dragunov rifles with which they armed their snipers. In early 1989 Dragunov SVD-63 rifles appeared in combat. The Dragunov was also used in Nicaragua after the Sandinista guerrilla army overthrew dictator Anastasio Somoza in 1979. They were used in the war against the Contra groups during the 1980s. The Sandinista army trained many soldiers to use the Dragunov rifle..
First Gulf War
The US Marines used snipers with Barrett 12.7 mm (.50) caliber rifles in Operation Desert Storm, managing to destroy Iraqi armored command and reconnaissance vehicles at a range of 1,600 m. They also deployed some 600 Remington M24 7.62 mm rifles, with confirmed good results at a distance of 1,200 m.
Chechen War
After the conflict in Chechnya, the Russians had to relearn urban combat tactics and sniping. They tried new weapons and tactics. The Russian problem was that their marksmen were trained to act as part of a team, and were not prepared to take out snipers and set up ambushes. Each Russian platoon had a sniper armed with an SVD rifle.
At the beginning of the war in Chechnya in 1994, Russia had only a few reserve snipers (RVGK) and platoon marksmen. The FSB and MVD teams were trained for police type actions and not for hunting snipers or war. The Russians had abandoned military sniper training. The SVD rifle used by Russian snipers was designed for long-range fire support and not pure sniper, increasing the platoon's range of fire to 300m. up to at least 600 m. But the SVD was used by a lone shooter without an observer to be able to adjust the fire effectively, as is the case with real snipers.
The Chechens knew the terrain well and had plenty of sniper weapons. A few Chechen snipers were enough to stop entire Russian units. The battle for Grozny lasted more than 2 months and in it the Chechen snipers acted alone or as part of a team also armed with PKM machine guns and RPG-7 rocket launchers, very effective in combating armored vehicles. While the shooters with their SVD and PKM fired at the support troops of the armored vehicles, the Chechens armed with RPGs fired at the armored vehicles. Groups of 4-5 teams acted against a single armored vehicle. In the mountains, Chechen snipers fought alongside support teams.
In 1999 a sniper school was opened in Russia. They tested various combinations of teams of 2-3 soldiers with various types of weapons such as PKM, RPG-7, SVD and AKM rifle. Various detachments acted together for mutual support. Then they went back to using RVGK snipers. They acted in pairs with a support team of five soldiers. The Russians invaded Chechnya again in 1999, but this time they had teams of two or three snipers along with a security team of at least five soldiers. They were prepared to position themselves by day and act at night.
If in World War II the pair of snipers were together in the same shooting position, in Chechnya they were separated and could see each other. They created ambushes, shooting at distances of 200-300 meters from the target. The support group was close, about 200 m behind and about 500 m. on both sides, in a camouflaged position. One or two nights were operated and then they returned to the base. The Russian snipers had no option to surrender and therefore, in addition to the sniper rifle, they carried an AK-74 rifle or pistol. They counted for night combat with night vision goggles, flares, grenades and radio. A red flare was used to request supporting artillery fire in case of trouble. The Russians did not act with observer/sniper pairs but in groups of one to three shooters. The priority targets were Chechen snipers and ERP operators. They were followed by PKM and RPG-7 operators. But in 1999 the rule was that Russian snipers always operated with infantry escort.
In 1999 the SV-98 was the new Russian sniper rifle. Following the Chechnya experience, the Russians tried various combinations to increase the effectiveness of sniper teams. Also the KSVK rifle was used by Special Operations units in Chechnya as a counter-sniper rifle, being able to penetrate a brick or thick wooden wall and eliminate the sniper stationed behind it.
Israel
During the Six Day War, paratroopers had to resort to adapting Lee-Enfield and FN FAL rifles for use as precision rifles. Regular units had neglected sniper training, but units like the paratroopers were trying to maintain training and modify weapons for use as sniper rifles. After the war Egyptian snipers harassed the posts of the Bar-Lev line. In an anti-terrorist operation in Maalot in 1974 the Sayeret Matkal sniper team assigned to eliminate three Palestinian terrorists missed their target and as a consequence the terrorists killed 22 children during the time the school was stormed. Due to this, the training in the special units intensified. As a result of the experience in combat in Lebanon, the Israeli army once again paid attention to the figure of the sniper, until then only appreciated by Israel's elite troops. As part of this reorganization, M14 SWS rifles were incorporated and all infantrymen have since received precision shooting training. In addition, each battalion has a team of soldiers who have received sniper training and have precision rifles. The rest of the snipers are in special units.
Israel also found usefulness in the use of snipers against the Palestinians. The use of snipers against demonstrators by the Israeli army was put into practice in 2011 on the Lebanese border, in incidents that left 15 dead. Faced with the clashes in Gaza and the West Bank, the Israeli army has since deployed dozens of snipers to the hottest spots, many of them from special units.
South Africa
On several occasions, snipers from South African special troops eliminated rebels from the March 23 movement who were fighting UN troops in the Democratic Republic of Congo. On one occasion the target was hit at a distance of more than 2,000 meters, using a Denel NTW-20 rifle.
Afghanistan
In Afghanistan, Western armies have deployed snipers to protect their infantry and counter fire from Taliban guerrillas, traditionally great marksmen. In Afghanistan, many confrontations take place at distances greater than usual, in which the sniper can replace the deficiencies of the 5.56 x 45 NATO cartridge. In addition to scouting the terrain and avoiding ambushes, the use of snipers makes it possible to resort less frequently to air support, with its risks of collateral damage to civilians and own troops. This counteracts the Taliban tactic of attacking from as far away as possible (using mortars, machine guns, rocket launchers, and snipers) and withdrawing before air or artillery support arrives. Virtually all NATO countries have included sniper teams in their deployments to Afghanistan.
Afghanistan has seen world records in precision shooting. Rob Furlong, a Canadian Army corporal, shot down a combatant from 2,430 meters during "Operation Anaconda" in 2002, using a McMillan Tac-50 rifle.
Allied forces in Afghanistan have experienced multiple casualties to their ranks from Taliban sniper fire. There have been cases where a sniper killed two British soldiers with a single bullet fired from an old Lee-Enfield rifle. The Marines and SAS/SBS deployed counter-sniper teams to deal with the increase in Taliban sniper attacks, up to 1,000 attacks in July 2009 alone. Large numbers of M14 sniper rifles have been distributed among American platoons to give more fire support at long range. The quality of Taliban snipers has been improving, joining the traditional presence of sharpshooters equipped with old Lee-Enfield rifles with the emergence of trained snipers equipped with better precision weapons.
Iraq
Royal Marine marksman Matt Hughes during the 2003 invasion of Iraq shot down an enemy sniper. The wind was blowing tremendously. Furthermore, Hughes only had one chance, since the target was protected and just over 860 meters away. During the invasion, allied aviation and artillery bombarded the buildings where the Iraqi snipers were sheltering.
The first years of the occupation in Iraq, American snipers got many confirmed kills. Then the insurgents adapted their tactics and the allies scored fewer enemies downed. Soon the United States and Great Britain saw the utility that snipers could have in occupation tasks, such as using Barrett rifles to stop suicide vehicles. American soldiers soon incorporated snipers into their urban counterguerrilla tactics, imitating the Israeli example. In the urban battle of Fallujah in 2004, the Marines successfully used their snipers against the insurgents Army Sergeant Jim Gilliland killed an enemy marksman from 1,250 meters away with his M21 rifle in Ramadi in 2005, the farthest hit with ammunition 7.62 mm. Some of the ten snipers on Gilliland's team killed as many as ten people a month, downing the team to about 200 in 6 months. The snipers acted in support of the infantry in dangerous places such as Fallujah or Ramadi.
Thousands of SVD sniper rifles were captured during the invasion in 2003, but Saddam's forces had stored weapons in secret caches. The insurgent snipers did not have night sights, and only carried the rifle and a magazine to make it easier to escape. Insurgent snipers were usually a civilian or ex-military armed with a sniper rifle, usually an SVD. Skilled snipers were few, but deadly. On some occasions they were foreign snipers, volunteers or mercenaries. Battles such as Fallujah saw the use of mosques, whose minarets were occupied by guerrilla snipers, or in the case of Samarra Americans.
With the enemy dressed in civilian clothes and fleeing quickly after each attack, US troops switched to using police kits to tell who had fired weapons. Iraqi civilians were rewarded if they pointed out sniper hideouts. US anti-guerrilla tactics soon learned to make efficient use of snipers. The British SAS used snipers to take down suicide bombers, with bombs attached to their bodies.
In 2004 the battle for Najaf began openly when an Iraqi sniper hit US Captain Matthew Eddy, who was on the roof of the base. From that moment on, the Iraqi militias tried to take over the Spanish base in Al Ándalus. The snipers of the M.O.E. Spanish took up positions and began to act. Spanish snipers located the sniper who shot down an American and seriously wounded two soldiers, using a Barrett rifle and was eliminated. Throughout the battle, the M.O.E. they caused 3 more confirmed casualties. The Najaf hospital building, which dominated the Spanish camp with its height, was assaulted by Salvadoran troops.
Urban combat in Iraq meant shooting distances were shorter than usual, and cities offered many hiding places and high places where snipers could be positioned. Likewise, in the cities there was a danger of being surrounded by the local guerrillas, for which reason many snipers preferred semi-automatic rifles or equipped themselves with M16s for personal protection. An ambush in Ramadi in 2004 and another of a team of six Marine snipers in Haditha in 2006 led the snipers to operate from the recesses of larger groups for protection.
The US Army trained US troops in Baghdad as snipers. They held four-week courses. In Iraq, American snipers protected oil installations from UH-60 helicopters, armed with M24 or M107 rifles. This tactic had already been used in Vietnam. British SAS and SBS snipers reached a high level of excellence in shooting from helicopters. Snipers were also used to support patrols, standing out ahead of them, and spotting suspicious local people and improvised explosive devices. Powerful scopes allowed snipers to search for targets and threats from points overlooking the urban landscape. As for weapons, the Barrett rifle proved to be ideal both for stopping vehicles and for destroying improvised explosive devices at safe distances. It was also used to attack stationary shooters, especially behind concrete blocks or brick walls. The shorter distances and need for self-protection favored the use of semi-automatic rifles by snipers.
War against Daesh
Snipers from the Federal Police and the Iraqi army distinguished themselves in the fight, managing to kill dozens of members of the Islamic State (IS). They stood out above all in the urban fighting that took place in numerous Iraqi cities. The IS also had snipers with which it confronted the Iraqi soldiers.
Western countries have deployed soldiers, including snipers, to support the Iraqis. In 2015, a sniper from the Special Air Service stalked for hours in Mosul a Daesh sniper who had killed several soldiers of the Iraqi security forces. When the sniper was exposed, the British shooter managed to kill him even though he was more than 2 kilometers away from him. Another SAS G Squad sniper killed an Islamic State chief with a shot fired overnight and at 1,600 meters.
Ukraine
At the start of the Donbass conflict in 2014, Ukrainian snipers were mainly equipped with Dragunov SVD rifles. The Dragunovs were widely accepted to be ineffective against very distant targets, although they were more than adequate for urban combat. The sniper had never been a priority in the Ukrainian army, only the spetsnaz unit and the 3rd and 8th Special Operations Regiments gave importance to the role of the sniper. In addition, special troops had purchased Western sniper weapons before 2014. Ukraine also had Fort-301 semi-automatic rifles, a local copy of the Israeli Galil sniper rifle. Fort-301s were used for platoon fire support, being used by the National Guard.
So it is not surprising that a sniper from the 3rd Regiment claimed to have fired the first combat shot in May 2014, near the Donetsk airport. The fact that snipers supported the pro-Russian militia prompted Ukraine to buy weapons for its snipers, with longer range and lethality. At the end of 2014, the Barrett M82A1/A1M and M82A3 rifles arrived, which Ukraine had had since 2010. The Barrett and its 12.7mm cartridge made it possible to kill snipers and militia fighters at distances of more than 1,000 meters. The Ukrainians also began sniper training, with the help of advisers from NATO countries, so that regular formations would also include them in their ranks.
The militias also sought to improve, so their snipers received Russian-made Orsis T-5000 rifles. According to some sources, the militia has snipers from the Russian army, or at least trained in Russia. The most famous sniper used a T-5000, Serb Deyan "Deki" Beric. To counteract them, Ukraine equipped itself with thermal sights, which make it possible to detect and kill snipers and militia fighters day, night and at any time. The result of the years of war and various sources of supply is a wide variety of sniper weapons on both sides.
Syrian civil war
The sniper has also been inevitable in the war in Syria, counting on all sides with them. The indiscriminate violence unleashed has meant that the civilian population is the one who has suffered the most casualties from sniper fire. The weapons used by snipers range from old Mosin-Nagant to modern precision rifles, from the most diverse sources. The use of anti-materiel rifles has also been very popular over the years, with the Russian OSV-96 rifle and the Iranian AM50 being in widespread use in Syria.
Syrian rebels soon resorted to snipers, which would form up in combat, to halt the government advance and make up for rebel weakness. Rebel sniper shots were often directed at commanders and vehicles in charge of supplying government forces. In the numerous urban combats, snipers proliferated.
At the beginning of the civil war, since there were not too many observation points in the upper parts of the buildings or enough snipers, suicide bombings were frequent in the cities, managing to successfully attack checkpoints and concentrations of the government Syrian Arab Army. At the beginning it had few snipers and only had old sniper rifles, Dragunov and the DRM (Chinese copy of the American M14). Subsequently, the Iranians supplied their local copy of the Steyr HS.50 and the Russians sent batches of Orsis T-5000 and KSVK rifles. With the help of Iranian and Russian advisers, the Syrian Arab Army created a sniper school. The government also enlisted the help of foreign snipers, who bolstered their ranks. As in other wars, the best weapon against snipers was soon discovered to be other snipers.
Military snipers
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Countries have different military doctrines regarding snipers in military units, settings, and tactics. Generally, the goal of a sniper in war is to reduce the enemy's fighting capacity by taking down a small number of important targets, such as officers.
Soviet and derivative military doctrines include sniper squads that are often referred to as "marksmen" or "assigned infantry." This is because its ability was lost among ordinary troops when assault rifles came into use.
Snipers from the UK, US and derived doctrines deploy two-man teams, consisting of a sniper and a spotter. They both have different roles and are therefore assigned according to their abilities, but it is common practice to switch roles to avoid eye strain.
In combat the main mission is to neutralize targets of high value and high profitability. Another of the tasks they carry out is to gather information, since they work very discreetly, lying in wait, and avoiding being seen by the enemy. Typical tasks therefore include reconnaissance, surveillance, eliminating enemy snipers, eliminating enemy officers, selecting targets of opportunity, and even eliminating military equipment, which requires the use of large caliber rifles, such as those using.50 BMG and.50 cartridges. 338 Lapua Magnum. Snipers have recently been shown to be useful in the US and UK forces in the Iraq War as fire support to cover troop movement, especially in urban areas.
In the Yugoslav wars and the siege of Beirut, the term "sniper" referred to soldiers terrorizing civilians. During the siege of Sarajevo, the city's main street became known as Sniper Avenue, where snipers wounded 1,030 people and killed 225 people.
Police snipers
Police forces often deploy snipers in hostage scenarios. These snipers are trained to act as a last resort when there is a direct threat to life. Police snipers generally operate at shorter ranges than military snipers.
The consistency of the sniper
The key to the sniper is consistency, which applies to both the weapon and the person. While consistency does not necessarily ensure accuracy (which requires training), sniper shooting cannot be accurate without consistency.
While there is always a degree of randomness due to the physics of bullets and explosions, a sniper rifle should limit this effect. When shooting from a fixed position, all shots must be extremely close, even at long distances. Likewise, a sniper must have the ability to estimate range, wind, elevation, and any other important factors that may affect the shot. Errors in estimation can reduce the lethality of the shot or even miss it completely.
Snipers generally prefer to set their weapons at the target range, although this can also be done on the spot. This is where the sniper adjusts his rifle with his scope at a particular distance so that he can reliably hit his target. A rifle must maintain its setting in the field, or be set before the next target. Once set, the rifle can be set to other distances for other estimates depending on wind, calculations, and scope characteristics.
The military need for consistency is highest when the sniper is shooting at an enemy who is unaware of the enemy's presence. At this point, priority targets, such as enemy snipers, officers, and critical equipment, are the most prominent and can be more accurately targeted.
Once the first shot is fired, any surviving enemies will try to seek cover or locate the sniper, making engaging strategic targets more difficult or impossible.
The need for the police sniper for consistency is high in hostage situations. Firing a missed shot that does not immediately incapacitate the threat can result in the death of hostages and cause the assailant to leave negotiations and seek protection.
Sniper Training
Training is essential to equip the sniper with the necessary skills to perform his tasks successfully. Military sniper training teaches improvement in camouflage and concealment, stalking and observation, and precision shooting under a wide range of operational conditions.
Snipers are volunteers accepted for training based on their perceived aptitude by their commanders. Military snipers can be trained as frontline air controllers to direct military airstrikes, as frontline observation officers to indicate targets to artillery, and as mortar fire controllers.
Snipers are trained to pull the trigger with the surface of the finger facing backwards to prevent the weapon from moving. The most precise position is prone (decubitus), with a sandbag supporting the butt and the cheek attached to it. In the field a bipod can be used instead.
The Royal Marines run the toughest sniper course. The sniper needs a certain type of personality as he sometimes has to work alone for long periods and in harsh physical and psychological conditions. He must have a high IQ, initiative, self-confidence, and possess quite a bit of common sense, as well as an innate hunting instinct.
Aim
The range of the target will be measured or estimated as precisely as conditions permit. Laser rangefinders can be used, but it is not a battlefield preference, because a laser can be seen by both the sender and the receiver.
A useful method is to compare the height of the target (or nearby objects) with its size in a calibrated spot scope, or by taking the known distance and using some kind of measurement to determine the additional distance.
To determine the range to the target without a laser rangefinder, the sniper must use a line of dots in milliradians (mil) to accurately find the range. The mil points are used as a slide rule to measure the height of the target, and knowing this height, the range is calculated.
At long distances, the drop of the bullet due to gravity plays an important role. The effect can be estimated from a card that can be memorized or pasted on the rifle, although some scopes come with a compensation system that only requires the scope to be readjusted. These systems are tailored to both a specific class of rifle and the class of ammunition used.
Shooting in a high or low position may require more adjustment due to the effects of gravity. The wind also influences and the inclination of objects to the wind is often used to determine the speed and direction and to aim correctly.
For moving targets, the target point is located to the side. This is known as "driving on target" or "shooting ahead," where the amount of deflection depends on the speed and angle of the target. Knowing the behavior of the target in advance is necessary to make an accurate shot.
Sniper Rifle
Historical sniper rifles used to be the standard rifles of each country. These included the German K98k, the American Springfield 1903 and M1 Garand, the Soviet Mosin-Nagant, the Norwegian Krag-Jørgensen, the Japanese Arisaka Type 97, and the British Lee-Enfield No. 4. They were selected because they were, and in some cases they are, the most accurate models.
Modern sniper rifles are specially built for this purpose. The main objective is that the rifle can fire the first shot within an angle of one minute of arc. Most include special features for this purpose, including tight tolerance constructions and precise components.
The three best-known sniper rifles in the United States Army are the M24 SWS, the United States Marine Corps M40, and the British L96/AWM. The M24 and M40 are sniper rifles built on the Remington 700 civilian bolt-action rifle. The British L96/AwM was designed by Malcolm Cooper, an Olympic marksman.
Sniper rifle scopes are almost always augmented. The telescopic sight reticle often contains markings other than the crosshair. Some marks are used to estimate distance, or to adjust distance depending on altitude and angle.
Telescopic sights don't usually exceed 11x magnification; in some cases they only have three magnifications. Police rifles often have an adjustable zoom, as magnification reduces the angle of view. Other scopes incorporate image intensification adapters for night operations.
Semi-automatic rifles are less common than bolt-action rifles, such as the Dragunov, HK PSG-1, M21 SWS, SR-25, among others, and are more often used as designated shooters, for distances of 800 meters, supporting the peloton. For greater distances, bolt-action rifles made for precision shooting tend to be more effective, with some exceptions.
Ammo
Most snipers use high-precision military ammunition. Ideally, a sniper purchases ammo from the same batch, calibrates the rifle with that ammo, and then only uses that class until it runs out.
This ensures that each bullet is as similar as possible to the previous one, which helps to maintain consistency. However, this is rarely practicable. A sniper should record information such as lot number, temperature, wind strength and direction, humidity, and altitude in a data pad. If you find the same conditions again, this data will be used to make an accurate shot.
Velocity and distance of the bullet
Sniper rifles are among the most powerful personal firearms. At the correct angle, a sniper rifle can shoot over 1,600 meters vertically and 3,200 meters horizontally, but actual bullet velocity and deceleration can be important.
Depending on the rifle, a bullet can be fired at a speed of 884 m/s, that is, 3,180 km/h, or about two and a half times the speed of sound (340 m/s). At this speed, the bullet can cross seven football fields in one second. However, the bullet slows down considerably due to air friction. Its range depends on how far it can go before gravity pulls it to the ground.
The best combination between the marksman and the rifle can manage to hit targets at more than 1000 meters. At long distances, the effects of factors such as air density, wind, bullet drop, and variance between each bullet increase. The aiming systems are usually located between 600 and 800 meters.
Speaking of power, a sniper would be able to easily go through one body but very hard two, most likely the bullet would get stuck in the second skull.
Camouflage
Good camouflage, combined with a discipline of stealthy movement, is what makes a sniper hard to spot.
The glare from the scope optics is the only part that cannot be camouflaged, but the glare can be reduced by using a piece of cloth or metal coupling over the scope. Snipers avoid anything that gives away their position, that glows or sounds, including glasses and white faces.
Snipers facing well-equipped forces must camouflage themselves against infrared as well as visible light. To do this, they use materials with a thin layer of evaporated aluminum that reflects infrared radiation. Before this, thermal blankets covered with foliage or local material were used.
Camouflage Suit
When there are extreme requirements for infiltration and camouflage, they wear a camouflage suit, also called a ghillie suit.
Camouflage suits can be constructed in a number of ways. In some, ponchos are used to which pieces of cloth, plant remains, branches or dry grass are tied; sometimes a pilot's suit, combat uniform, or some other one-piece outfit will do. Dental floss or similar is used to sew the parts and glue is applied to the joints to make them more resistant.
The ghillie suit is usually prepared by assembling it, then beating it and dragging it behind a car, and then rolling it in cow manure or burying it in mud to let it ferment. This creates a humus suit, and by using other pieces the suit resembles the natural terrain of the area of operation.
A problem with the camouflage suit is the internal temperature. Even in temperate latitudes, the temperature in the suit can reach 50°C.
Sniper Tactics
Shot placement
At ranges greater than 300m, snipers typically attempt body shots, aiming for the chest. They cause death through tissue damage, trauma, and blood loss. At shorter ranges, snipers may attempt to fire headshots to secure their target.
In hostage situations, police snipers shoot at the cerebellum, a part of the brain that controls voluntary movement.
Positioning
In civil cases or to eliminate enemy snipers, a sniper or a couple will be placed in a high covered place. They use binoculars or a telescope to identify targets.
Snipers use deception, in the form of camouflage, unusual approach angles, and often slow movement to prevent accurate counterattacks. Some snipers have hit observers at less than 90 m, while the target was looking for them, without being seen.
Objectives
A sniper identifies targets by their appearance and demeanor. These characteristics may include wearing high-ranking uniforms, talking to radio operators, sitting as a passenger in a car, having military servants, or talking and moving around frequently. If possible, a sniper fires in descending order of range, or if there is no range, fires to cut off communications.
When conducting suppressive fire to cover a retreat, a sniper goes into hiding to get a wide view. When a couple of enemy squads attempt a crossing, the sniper shoots one person, preferably the leader. A shot is often fired to the hip, followed by another to the jaw to prevent him from giving orders.
When the squad attempts a rescue, the sniper shoots rapidly, aiming at the torso of enemy soldiers, to take as many kills as possible. A prudent sniper leaves the position at this point, in anticipation of a flanking attack that normally follows. A sniper can then ambush one of the flanks, and if possible, go off the flank, although this tactic is considered desperate or unintelligent.
Since the majority of casualties in modern warfare are from weapons used by groups, reconnaissance is one of the most effective uses of the sniper. They use their physical preparation, their infiltration skills and observation equipment at long distances and tactics to approach and observe the enemy. In this role, the rules of combat allow the sniper to get the highest value targets.
With heavy calibers, snipers can damage fighters on the ground, destroy missile guidance devices, various optical devices, or auxiliary equipment for radars. For these objectives, the snipers use anti-materiel rifles, going so far as to shoot down reconnaissance helicopters.
Psychological warfare
Although there are many urban legends about it, none of which can be confirmed, in order to demoralize enemy troops, snipers can follow patterns. Thus, it was said that in World War I, German snipers in the trenches located enemy officers because they were the only ones authorized to wear mustaches, or that during the Cuban revolution, the Rebel Army always killed the first man in a group of soldiers. Batista's soldiers. In this way, no one would walk first, as it would be suicide. This effectively diminished the army's willingness to search for rebel bases in the mountains.
Sniper Tactics
The success of the sniper has led to the development of many anti-sniper tactics in modern military strategies. These are intended to reduce the damage caused by a sniper to an army, which often deals damage to combat capabilities and morale.
The risk of damage to the chain of command can be reduced by hiding the characteristics and behaviors that signal officer rank. In Afghanistan in August 2018, and despite the blurring of his target due to the heat from the ground, a British SAS sniper, using a vehicle-mounted 12.7mm Browning machine gun, shot dead a man. Daesh commander at a distance of 1.5 km after observing that he had been standing in front of his men for more than 20 minutes while they sat on the ground.
If a sniper is attacking, they must be located to counterattack. Another sniper is usually assigned to hunt down the enemy sniper, although there are many techniques for defending forces to check the location of the sniper. Some of these tactics are calculating the trajectory of the bullet, triangulation, and using traps to deceive the sniper.
In addition to directly engaging another sniper, there are a variety of other tactics that can be resorted to, such as the use of artillery, smoke screens, and the pincer movement.
Snipers out of war
Sniper techniques have been applied in some famous cases in the United States, including the Austin sniper, Charles Whitman, Brenda Ann Spencer, assassination of John F. Kennedy who is believed to have been Lee Harvey Oswald, John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo the Washington Sharpshooters in late 2002.
However, these occurrences do not generally involve the distance or skill of military snipers. In the news the term "sniper" to refer to someone who fires a rifle at another person from a great distance.
Sniper, Designated Marksman, and Sharpshooter
Currently some doctrines distinguish between a sniper (sniper), a designated marksman (designated marksman) and a distinguished shooter (sharpshooter ). While snipers are intensively trained in camouflage and field techniques, these skills are limited to designated marksman and are not required for sharpshooters. >). Snipers perform reconnaissance and often have a psychological impact on the enemy, taking out targets at very long ranges (usually more than a kilometer away). The role of the designated marksman is mainly to increase the range of the squad with special semi-automatic rifles and the elimination of the enemy (at ranges of up to 800 meters). For their part, distinguished shooters are usually some infantry soldiers with greater shooting skills and whose assault rifles are usually fitted with a scope with magnifications (for example, an acog) in order to eliminate targets with greater precision within ordinary range. from the rest of his infantry companions (from 400 to 500 m).
Snipers almost always use bolt-action rifles, while designated marksman use semi-automatic rifles that are accurate but have a shorter effective range. The distinguished marksman (sharpshooter) uses his regulation assault rifle. In some military doctrines, a sniper team consists of two people, a sniper using a bolt-action rifle, and a support, usually an observer, who uses a rangefinder to make calculations of distances and weather conditions to make an accurate shot. Both the designated marksman and the sharpshooter always accompany their unit or platoon.
A designated marksman (designated marksman) must also undergo training to master the art of stalking, concealment and infiltration and surveillance tasks, having a less strategic role than the sniper.
Snipers in history
Before the advent of firearms, soldiers like archers were trained as sharpshooters.
The first snipers could have been trained in Japan, in the 16th century, as a type of ninja. They were apparently trained to cover the withdrawal of troops. The sniper would remain hidden until an officer was within firing distance. There are various reports of such attempts, most of them unsuccessful due to the large caliber and poor accuracy of the weapons. Despite this, one of Japan's most famous warlords, Takeda Shingen, was fatally wounded by a sniper's bullet according to reports at the time.
Timothy Murphy was a soldier in Daniel Morgan's Virginia party in 1777. On October 7, he killed General Simon Fraser of the British Army. Murphy had said that he had shot her at a distance of 450m, which was surprising at the time.
In the Napoleonic Wars, the British copied colonial weapons and tactics in a limited number of rifle companies. They were dressed in green to avoid being seen and had orders to shoot enemy officers. During the Battle of Trafalgar, a sniper from the Redoutable hit Admiral Nelson, killing him.
In the Spanish War of Independence, the British Thomas Plunkett hit the French General Colbert with his Baker rifle at a distance between 200 and 600 meters.
Finnish Simo Häyhä is considered by many to be the most effective sniper in the history of warfare. Using an M28 rifle (Finnish's version of the Mosin-Nagant), Häyhä killed 542 Soviet Union soldiers between 30 November 1939 and March 6, 1940, before being wounded. The Soviets called Finnish snipers cuckoos because Finnish snipers were often located in trees.
Vasily Zaitsev was a Soviet sniper who made his name during the Battle of Stalingrad by taking out 245 soldiers. He became a popular hero and has been represented in the cinema in the film Enemy at the Gates, based on the work of William Craig, and is also popular for being represented in the video game Call of Duty.
Tanya Chernova, his lover, who was also a sniper and Vasily's student.
Ivan Sidorenko was another Soviet sniper of World War II.
Lyudmila Pavlichenko was a Soviet sniper during World War II.
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