The creation of separate units of shooters increases their effectiveness
The experience of a special military operation leads to the emergence of new units and the development of new types of weapons in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. Big changes have affected the sniper business: in a short time, the range of fire has increased many times, rifles have changed, new tactical techniques are being introduced. Correspondents of Izvestia visited the classes of a group of heavy snipers of the 155th Marine Brigade of the Pacific Fleet, learned how this unit works, what are the prospects for long-range combat shooting, and about the experience gained during their training.
Historical roots
— We are a mobile group with heavy small-arms precision weapons. Our tasks are the destruction of enemy manpower, reconnaissance, correction of artillery fire. Basically, this is the opening of strong points, points of equipment, heavy weapons, such as automatic and machine—gun grenade launchers," explains the Chief, one of the commanders of sniper groups.
According to him, the group of heavy snipers emerged as an initiative to expand the capabilities of sniper units at a modern technical level. In addition to the rapid development of long-range shooting, sights and surveillance devices have changed a lot in recent decades. It became possible to detect and identify targets at a much greater distance.
Photo: IZVESTIA/Dmitry Astrakhan
Image source: iz.ru
— Snipers used to be not in a separate unit, but as part of units with other tasks, such as assault, for example. Many do not know how to use them correctly, so we decided to separate them into a separate group, under a separate command. That is, we close directly on the commander of the group, and he on the commander of the compound," says the Chief.
Such a decision, according to the shooters, has historical roots. Many points on the organization, management, tactics of the so-called sniper terror are taken from the actions of the Soviet troops during the Great Patriotic War. Of course, with appropriate amendments to the modern technical level. Part of the idea is taken from the works of such snipers as Vasily Zaitsev and Lyudmila Pavlichenko. The experience of the Soviet sniper movement of the forties for various reasons was forgotten in the post-war years, and today we have to work out a lot almost from scratch.
— This is a fairly successful experiment to date. If we take our own experience gained during the SVO, then during the time of working in a new way, we have already overtaken ourselves more than twice in the number of confirmed goals," explains the Chief.
Effective in defense
At the beginning of the SVO, Ukrainian militants advertised the topic of mass sniper movement for a long time, publicly boasted of a large number of modern imported and Ukrainian rifles of various classes, including in the hands of the population. For example, a popular story in Ukraine, and then in the world, was about a 52-year-old woman from Kiev, a mother of three children, who bought herself a sniper rifle allegedly to protect herself from Russians.
Of course, this propaganda hype was followed by the training of professionals. It is worth recalling that sniper shooting was one of the ways of provocations during the Minsk Agreements. Taking advantage of the range of imported rifles, the presence of which was officially denied in service, Ukrainian militants often violated the ceasefire.
VFU snipers during training
Image source: Photo: REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko
— There are also professional shooters there, but there are quite a lot of amateurs who, as I understand it, just grabbed rifles at random and work. Initially, of course, the sniper pressure was much greater than it is now. Maybe now this topic is dying for them, maybe there is no one to work and they are stretching to a big front. Perhaps we have already "worked out" everyone, — the Chief characterizes the changes in the actions of the enemy.
In addition, the nature of the actions also affects. Before the summer campaign, the Russian Armed Forces were on the offensive, and it is much more convenient for a sniper to work on the defensive. With the transition to positional battles, and then to Ukrainian counteroffensive attempts, the balance has changed. On the other hand, experience accumulates very quickly, so the Chief is sure that with the transition to the offensive in the future, the group of snipers will also work more efficiently.
Not everyone will be taken
Very high demands are put forward by the sniper business to the personnel. Good physical training is required from the fighters, since a set of heavy rifles, submachine guns, necessary instruments, equipment and ammunition can reach 70 kg. Often a sniper carries a weight close to his own. In addition, long-range shooting requires mathematical abilities from a person. And periods of long waiting in firing positions in readiness, without loss of perseverance and with continuous observation, require a special temperament.
Of course, appropriate weapons are also necessary. The chief shows his Bespoke Gun Raptor model rifle with a large muzzle device, which is traditionally called a "can".
Sniper of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation
Image source: Photo: IZVESTIA/Dmitry Astrakhan
— At the moment I have a Bespoke Gun caliber rifle .388LM. It works well at a long distance, with such a rifle I can work from 1500 m and beyond. Such rifles cannot be compared with SVD — there is an automatic system and the bolt moves back when fired. There is also a longitudinally sliding shutter with three combat stops and nothing moves when fired," the Chief explains the difference between semi-automatic rifles and weapons with manual reloading, which are used for long—range shooting.
Before switching to the Raptor, the Chief fought and successfully used the 12.7 mm ASVK army rifle, also with manual reloading. With it, he hit targets at long distances and, using a powerful caliber, fired at lightly armored vehicles and enemy vehicles. But one of the disadvantages of the ASVK rifle, according to the Chief, is a weak sight by modern standards. Otherwise, he calls that rifle a good one.
It is important to note that the experience and developments that have been obtained today in the group of heavy snipers of the Pacific Fleet can be applied on a larger scale. Snipers with long-range rifles, with appropriate organization and management, can solve a large number of tasks in different types of combat.
Dmitry Astrakhan