Although the distance to the target was far beyond the rifle’s official capability, Harrison decided to try, taking several ranging shots before engaging. He was thus able to shoot both machine-gunners and their weapon in quick succession, hitting three times with three shots and destroying the machine gun as well as killing the crew. These three incredible shots were made at a range of 2475 meters (2700 yards), the longest ever confirmed kill by a sniper to date.
Harrison’s tour in Afghanistan was eventful in other ways, too. When his vehicle was ambushed and riddled with automatic fire, one round penetrated his helmet but was deflected out of the top rather than into the sniper’s brain. He later broke both arms as a result of a roadside bomb but recovered and returned to duty.
A sniper team from the British Royal Marines search for targets in Lakari Bazaar, Afghanistan, July 2009. The sniper is armed with an L96 sniper rifle, which he has covered with material to avoid the rifle barrel and stock reflecting light and giving away their position.
L129A1 SHARPSHOOTER RIFLE
Although not designed specifically for snipers, the new L129A1 sharpshooter rifle issued to some British Army units in 2010, including members of the Parachute Regiment, fulfilled requirements for soldiers trained to sharpshooter level who needed a rifle with greater range and accuracy than the standard-issue automatic SA-80. The new rifle replaced the L96 sniper rifle, which had also been partly replaced by the new L115 long-range sniper rifle, and it provides accuracy up to 800m (875 yards).
The L129A1 has a monolithic rail platform that allows the barrel to be changed without any modifications to the rest of the weapon. It has a retractable stock and a Picatinny rail for attaching night-vision sights. It also has an adjustable bipod for stability in the prone position. It can be held by a folding fore-grip. In automatic mode it is capable of firing twenty rounds in about twenty seconds.
Country of Origin United Kingdom
Caliber 7.62mm (0.3in)
Overall length not known
Barrel length 305mm (12in), 406mm (16in) and 508mm (20in)
Weight 5kg (11lb)
A U.S. Marine sniper from the 3rd Marine Regiment seeks targets through a hole with an M82 Barrett .50 caliber rifle near Marjah, Afghanistan, 2010. The high-powered Barrett has an effective range of 1800 meters (1969 yards).
Despite the rounds coming in, the snipers managed to fight their way through to the compound using their standard infantry battle drills. Once inside the compound, the snipers worked their way up to the roof. From here, they could start to observe where the enemy were located but, as they did so, incoming rounds thudded into the exterior of the compound wall. To make matters more complicated, the insurgent gunmen were using local people as human shields. Unfortunately for the insurgents, they were not up against regular soldiers with automatic weapons but highly trained snipers armed with the precision L115A1 rifle. One of the Royal Welsh snipers scanned the buildings in which the insurgents had taken cover, searching for firing holes. He saw an insurgent aim and fire a burst from his automatic weapon and immediately engaged him with sniper fire. From now on, the battle could only go one way, and the insurgents were soon cleared.
CONCLUSION
The story of sniping covers every form of warfare where an accurate rifle has been used. It extends beyond that to the art of hunting, where it has its roots, for many of the best snipers have been hunters. They have had the talent of marksmen alongside the natural instinct for fieldcraft, which is an essential part of the sniper’s art. A form of warfare that has a redolence of Daniel Boone with a Kentucky rifle might have become irrelevant in the realms of modern warfare with precision laser-guided weapons delivered by fighter bombers, heavy-caliber machine guns and heat-seeking missiles.
The opposite is in fact the case. In both the small wars of the late twentieth century and the larger wars in the Middle East, including both Iraq and Afghanistan, the sniper has become an essential precision tool of the modern battlefield, providing not only support fire for other missions but also focused interdiction of insurgents, often in an urban setting.
Whereas even in the Korean and early part of the Vietnam wars commanders had to search for suitable marksmen to fulfill sniping roles, by the twenty-first century no regiment would think of entering a combat situation without either its own team of snipers deployed or Special Forces or elite regiment snipers on hand.
New weapons, new role
As has been seen, sniper training has increased exponentially and sniper equipment, including both rifles and sights, has grown alongside. A wide variety of sniper rifles are now available to suit the differing needs and tastes of various units, from the U.S. Barrett M82 .50 caliber and L115 .338 Lapua heavy rifles through the M14 and Winchester rifles to the U.S. Special Forces Mk12 (SPR) rifle.
In theaters such as Afghanistan, where ISAF forces have a priority in reconstruction and winning the hearts and minds of the local population, the sniper has provided a useful precision tool, acting as an effective deterrent against insurgents, with far less risk of collateral damage than an air mission.
Whereas the sniper was once regarded as a bit of an oddity, at the time of writing it is rare for a month to go by without one or more snipers being hailed in the press for their gallant work. There is now a realization that these soldiers are doing a very difficult job that requires a high degree of training and also an awareness that their opponents are regularly killing American, British and other national soldiers. Snipers not only provide target interdiction but also essential battlefield intelligence and target identification.
The modern sniper is not an assassin but a specialist fighting in the very difficult circumstances of modern, often urban, warfare. Their overwatch may have meant that countless soldiers have been able to return home safely after completing their mission.
A Canadian sniper team scan the landscape during an operation to arrest suspected Taliban in the Panjwayi district, southern Kandahar province, April 2006. These men are armed with the recently deployed M110 semi-automatic sniper system, which is gradually replacing the M24 rifle for all U.S. forces.
APPENDICES
A U.S. Army sniper team from the 4th Infantry Regiment provide sniper overwatch during a foot patrol near Mizan, Afghanistan, February 2009. The sniper is armed with a high-powered M82A1 Barrett .50 caliber semi-automatic rifle.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Books:
Brookesmith, Peter. Sniper. Spellmount Publishers Ltd, 2000.
Cabell, Craig and Richard Brown. Snipers. John Blake Publishing Ltd, 2005.
Gilbert, Adrian D. Sniper: The Skills, the Weapons and the Experiences. St. Martin’s Press, 1996.
Gilbert, Adrian D. Stalk and Kill: The Sniper Experience. Sidgwick and Jackson, 1997.
Haskew, Michael E. The Sniper at War: From the American Revolutionary War to the Present Day. St. Martin’s Press, 2004.
Mills, Sergeant Dan. Sniper One. Penguin, 2008.
Pegler, Martin M. Out of Nowhere: A History of the Military Sniper. Osprey Publishing, 2006.
Sasser, Charles W. and Craig Roberts. One Shot, One Kill. Pocket Books, 1994.
Shore, Captain C. With British Snipers to the Reich. Greenhill, 1997.
Spicer, Mark. Illustrated Manual of Sniper Skills. Zenith Press, 2006.
Websites:
From an account of Canadian snipers in Afghanistan: http://www.macleans.ca/canada/national/article.jsp?content=20060515_126689_126689
Table of Contents
FRONT COVER
TITLE
COPYRIGHT
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
PART 01
1. FROM SKIRMISHERS TO SHARPSHOOTERS
PART 02
2. SNIPERS IN THE TRENCHES
PART 03
3. THE MARKSMAN AND MANEUVER WARFARE
PART 04
4. COLD WAR CONFLICTS
PART 05
5. THE MODERN SPECIALIST
APPENDICES
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Sniper in Action Page 20
