Ex-GRU employee told how the longest-range rifle in the world SVLK-14S "Twilight" works
The world's longest-range sniper rifle SVLK-14S "Twilight" was used by the Russian military during a special operation in Ukraine. Her record for a range of 4210 meters has not yet been beaten by anyone. At the same time, American cartridges are used for the rifle. "Newspaper.Ru" understood the peculiarities of the work of "Twilight".
The name of the SVLK-14S sniper rifle ("Lobaev large-caliber Sniper rifle") "Twilight", which was tested and began to enter service with the special forces of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation in 2012, also contains the name of its inventor - Vladislav Lobaev, founder and head of the LOBAEV company.
Lobaev practiced as a designer in the workshops of famous American gunsmiths Thomas "Speedy" Gonzalez and Clay Spencer in the 1990s. In 2003, he returned to Russia and founded the Tsar-Cannon company - it later became known as LOBAEV - which specialized in the production of ultra-precise long-range rifles for the sport of high shooting achievements (for the so-called "benchrest" or machine shooting) and law enforcement agencies.
Among the company's rifles are the DVL 10-M URBANA with a range of 1300 meters, the DXL-2 "Scalpel" with a range of 1200 meters, the DXL-3 "Retaliation" with a range of 1800 meters and the SVLK-14C "Twilight" with a range of over 2500 meters declared by the manufacturer.
In the mid-2000s, Lobaev went to the UAE, where his company received a contract from the TAWAZUN concern for the development of large-caliber sniper rifles and increased target range.
Of the seven variants of sniper rifles, the most famous was the SVLK-14S. Its name "Twilight" also has its own peculiarity - with the use of the night sight "Daedalus-NV" in November 2019, shooter Sergei Shmakov set a world record for shooting on a moonless night when all five bullets hit the target at a distance of two kilometers.
In 2017, with the help of the SVLK-14S, another absolute record was set - the shooter hit the target at a distance of 4210 m.
"Sniper rifles of this level are a piece product," he told the newspaper.En" sniper instructor named Leonid, who previously served in one of the units of the GRU. - Their production is carried out for a specific person, with the adjustment of the bed, materials of manufacture, installation of optics and much more, where millimeters matter. In an ordinary army unit, even in the special forces, you won't see the Twilight at all, this rifle is designed for individual professionals, designed for one, maximum two accurate shots."
Leonid stressed that the range of destruction implies the use of such a rifle in the direct line of sight of the enemy.
"Accordingly, the terrain, vegetation, and some structures should not interfere. The ideal application of "Twilight" is a desert or steppe terrain, a water surface or urban conditions, if the sniper takes a position on top of a building with a wide view. Therefore, such sniper rifles are considered very rare, and the sniper pair is covered by other shooters equipped with weapons of smaller caliber and range," Leonid added.
There is also such a nuance in the Lobaev rifle as the use of a specialized 10.3 x 77 mm caliber sniper ammunition, known as the 408 Cheyenne Tactical, which allows shooting at extremely long distances. A similar cartridge was used in the development of rifles by Lobaev's company back in the UAE, it was also taken as the basis for the Russian "Twilight" and the Ministry of Defense agreed to accept the SVLK-14S with such a caliber.
"Firstly, because we do not have such ammunition, characterized by high accuracy and firing range, yet. Secondly, a large number of these rather expensive cartridges were purchased, and the consumption is relatively small - unlike the same SVD (Dragunov sniper rifle), which is still in service with the Russian army," the newspaper reported.Ru" retired FSB colonel, ex-employee of the Alpha division Ivan Banchenko.
The Twilight sniper rifle has become the most long-range precisely when using this cartridge. The American Chey Tac M200 rifle, which also uses the 408 Cheyenne Tactical ammunition, shows less efficiency, both in accuracy and in range - 2000 meters.
"Many types of small arms are created specifically for a specific ammunition. That is, at first it is the cartridge that is being developed, and then a weapon is being created for it. This was the case with the "Boa", "Gyurza" pistols, "Val" submachine guns, Mikhail Kalashnikov created new AK submachine guns for the 5.45 mm cartridge, which have grown into numerous modifications.
The need for them is small. But you can easily make some kind of fake for a small batch of such cartridges," he told the newspaper.En" military expert Boris Jerelievsky.
Victor Sokirko