Monday, June 3, 2024

Snipers in Argentina

Part 1

SNIPERS

Although Snipers are not necessarily members of the Special Operations Forces, members of ForOpEsp can be trained as snipers. Units such as the British SAS, the American Delta Force, the French GIGN, and countless others, increasingly depend on the specific function of the sniper for success in their operations. They are the ones who have the basic function of neutralizing human obstacles so that attack units can invade defended places, or eliminate threats to hostages or strategic installations.

The word sniper comes from the snipe bird that was very difficult to hunt and that designation came to be given to skilled hunters. The word sniper was registered in 1824 in the sense of elite marksman or “sharpshooter”. The verb sniper originated in 1770 among British soldiers in the British Indies in the sense of "shooting from a hidden place", alluding to the hunting of the snipe, a bird that is difficult to hunt. Those who were skilled at hunting the bird were called "snipers." In the American Civil War the term was "skirmisher." They didn't use the term sniper in the US at the time. It was the Germans who began to call their shooters snipers. In Brazil, the translation of snipe is Narceja ó Maçarico. The literal translation is not convenient to use and that is why it is used as the word hunter in the EB. Here it will be called sniper.

The sniper (sniper, elite marksman, chosen marksman, hunter) has always occupied an unparalleled position, whether within the Military Forces or in the popular imagination. The mere mention of his name, sniper, carries with it an air of menace. His capabilities were always much greater than his limitations, generally related to material such as weapon range, blind spot and weather.

The main mission of the sniper is to support combat operations by carrying out precise, long-distance shots against selected, opportunity or planned targets, without being perceived, with the least amount of ammunition possible. Generally the target is a soldier, criminal or terrorist and low ammunition means a single shot. The target distance varies from 100m for police to more than 1km for military snipers. Beyond hitting targets, the sniper slows movements, generating confusion and decreasing morale. As a secondary result, the sniper brings terror and demoralization to the opponent, by silently eliminating its members. These missions can be carried out with more expensive conventional weapons such as artillery and armor.

Target identification is crucial with the sniper having to distinguish officers, messengers, radio operators, heavy weapons operator and crew. Enemy snipers are the most important, as well as other threats such as dogs and their handlers, always used to hunt snipers. Ordinary soldiers are at the bottom of the priority list. Officers are identified by behavior or symbols of hierarchy, talk to radio operators, seat passengers in vehicles, have assistants, or talk and move frequently.

In the US Army, the functions of the sniper supporting commanders are:

- real-time combat information collection
- reconnaisance
- fire support
- precision shooting
- threat removal
- force protection
- fast coordination
- increases the area of influence
- reduction of collateral risk

His main weapon is the long-range rifle, but he is also trained to call in artillery and handle machine guns or plant explosives in ambushes. American special operations troop snipers also receive training to act as forward air controllers, calling in tactical aviation to provide air support.

The Russian World War II manual cites the functions of the sniper as:

- Destroy enemy weapons that may interfere with the platoon's advance (sniper)
- Destroy the enemy command component to interfere in the chain of command (officers and sergeants)
- Find and destroy enemy that is conducting fire and interfering with the advance of troops (machine gun, mortar)

The secondary mission of the sniper, during the period of inactivity, is the collection of information, intelligence, observation and reconnaissance of the battlefield, reporting to the higher echelon on the enemy's situation, terrain and meteorology. It consists of penetrating the RIPI (Region of Interest for Intelligence), carrying out reconnaissance of points and small areas and monitoring a sector, access or exit route. Must be within radio range. With the majority of kills in modern warfare being by collective weapons, reconnaissance and surveillance missions became one of the most effective uses of snipers and only combat high-value targets of opportunity. The camera is now part of the arsenal. Digital models made the job easier with ease of developing and number of photos. With proper equipment a photo can be sent by radio.

The sniper should be good at observation and orientation with the ability to read maps and aerial photographs. Snipers must know how to collect information in quantity and quality. Already in the First World War, snipers became the ears of the headquarters.

The definition of a sniper is a soldier capable of hiding, reaching high-value targets, collecting information and retreating without being detected.

The sniper is considered a cheap precision weapon that requires little support and maintenance. An example of economy of force is being able to stop an enemy advance with a much smaller force.

Snipers usually spend one or two shots per target and can still give a mercy shot on some targets. The "one shot, one kill" motto is more for marketing.

Studies show that in the First World War seven thousand shots were expended due to enemy casualties, in the Second World War 25 thousand and in Vietnam 50 thousand shots. Even then, a sniper expended an average of 1.3 shots. The cost in ammunition is low, but it is difficult to calculate the costs of moral and psychological damage to the enemy. Operating in an area where there are elite marksmen means having to think carefully before making any movement which reduces the speed of movement.

Finnish sniper teams hunted entire Russian companies for days in World War II and used rifles without optical sights. A German machine gun operator decided to volunteer after realizing that he was a priority target for Russian snipers. He was the only way to survive.

There are three types of sniper: military, police and special purposes. The military sniper can now be separated into the sniper itself and the DM (Designated Marksman) for precise fire support for infantry troops.

Some armies choose the best marksmen who are distributed at the platoon or combat group level with weapons equipped with optical sights. In the US Army they are called Designated Marksman (DM). A DM does not have all the skills of snipers and they just hit more distant targets by functioning as fire support.

The Russians always gave a lot of importance to DMs. A DM is distributed to each platoon as a function similar to that of the US Army. They accompany the troop or patrol and the majority are not trained as a professional sniper.

Police snipers have certain peculiarities. The scenario is generally one of hostage rescue and shooting is only a last resort, with a direct threat to the lives of the hostages. In the case it is more to kill than to incapacitate. If the target does not die, it leads to the death of the hostages. The police sniper must be able to hit parts of the body to cause instant death without spasmodic contraction to pull the trigger, such as the "T of death", the area between the eyes and base of the nose where a shot causes instant death, without motor reflexes. , or reach the target hidden behind hostages. The police sniper must be very precise at close range, where combat rarely exceeds 300m and most occurs at less than 100m. Generally there are few shots per action, there is no limitation on the size of the caliber or ammunition, they do not need to worry about environmental damage to the weapon (they are stored and are removed only for use), and they do not worry about their own safety during and After the action, it has no problems infiltrating or exfiltrating. In one episode, an American SWAT sniper shot the revolver into the target's hand to prevent a suicide attempt. In subsequent tests the result was not consistent and there is a risk of injury from splinters. The weapon may fire and may fail to disable. In some places this shot would be illegal.

Special purpose snipers use large-caliber weapons to hit targets at ultra-long range or detonate explosives, or use silenced rifles for covert operations.

Several countries have their own military doctrine in terms of use of the sniper in units, placement and tactics. In Russian doctrine and followers, the sniper acts in infantry platoons, called elite shooters “sharpshooters” or “designated riflemen” in other doctrines. They came to have this name because the troops' shooting capacity was lost with the introduction of the assault rifle and submachine guns, optimized for rapid fighting at close range.

British and American snipers, beyond other countries, adopt the sniper pair doctrine, with a shooter and an observer with different functions.

The importance of snipers can be proven with the new changes in the US Army and experiences in recent conflicts and combating terror. Currently there are three teams in the command companies and one team in each infantry company. The US Army's Stryker BCT Brigade will have 48 sniper squads, acting in teams of 2-3 snipers, in 3,600 troops in total, but they will be used more as DM and not as true snipers. In Iraq, BCT snipers are used to protect infantry patrols sweeping through cities, and to kill guerrilla leaders and disrupt their attacks. For comparison, the air assault and parachute brigades have 18 casualties for snipers. The Rangers will increase the number of snipers per battalion from 14 to 40.

A USMC scout-sniper duo in Iraq. They are armed with the SR25 rifle that has now been officially chosen to equip all American armed forces. The US Army and the United Kingdom use the sniper assigned to the unit and not as a part, giving more freedom to movements. Other countries such as France, Israel and Russia use their snipers as part of the USMC Scout Sniper unit. They are now part of the Surveillance Target and Acquisition platoon. They are also used in small times attached to the infantry battalion, providing protection. US conventional troops use the sniper in pairs, with mutual support, with line-of-sight radios on short-duration missions. SOF use teams of two to four snipers, may have external support, long-range radios and long-duration missions.

Canadian snipers in operation in the mountains of Afghanistan. In each of the nine active infantry battalions there is a group of snipers made up of two shooters and their assistant. The upper team is armed with a 7.62mm caliber rifle, a 12.7mm TAC-50 long-range rifle and the auxiliary is armed with an M-16 rifle (local version) with a grenade launcher. The MacMillan TAC-50 Tactical Anti-Materiel Sniper Rifle Systen was purchased by Canada to arm their snipers and later by several European countries. The Canadians achieved the long-range shooting record with the TAC-50 in Afghanistan in 2002 with their special forces. The event was during Operation Anaconda in the advance in the Shah-i-Kot valley where they were supporting the American 101st Division when the American troops became the target of Taliban snipers, machine guns and mortars. Canadian snipers fought at distances mostly between 780-1,500m. The most distant kill was at 2,430 meters, breaking the record of Carlos Hatchcock in Vietnam who hit a target at 2,215m with an M2 machine gun with an optical sight. The flight time of the projectile was about 4.5 seconds. The low air density in the mountains (about 2,400m altitude) increased the effective range of the weapon. The TAC-50 was equipped with a Leopold optical sight with 16x zoom and AMAX Match .50 ammunition.

Sniper x Designated Marksman

The translation of Marksman and sharpshooter is elite shooter. In Brazil he is called selected shooter. In the USMC he is called Designated Marksman (DM) and in the US Army Squad Designated Marksman (SDM). In Russia he is called a sniper. In Israel he is called a squad sniper. Sharpshooter is another term used in the US. In the US, the shooting skill sequence is marksman-sharpshooter-expert and is given for military and civilian shooting competitors.

The DM function is to shoot quickly and accurately at enemy targets at 800m with a precision semi-automatic rifle with optical sight. It is trained for precision and fast shooting, but also high cadence shooting.

Some doctrines distinguish the DM from the sniper and there are many differences. The sniper has intensive training in survival, camouflage, concealment, stealth, infiltration and reconnaissance that are not necessary for the DM. The difference in training and role affects doctrine and equipment.

The snipers are used for reconnaissance and psychological damage on the enemy while the DM is for long range fire support for the attached platoon.

The sniper has a more strategic function than the DM, with a reconnaissance and surveillance function and is attached to a higher level such as a battalion, generally operating independently of the unit. The exception is US Army Rangers and USMC who use snipers at the company level. The DMs are organic from the infantry platoon or combat group as well as the riflemen, machine gun operators and grenadiers. The DMs of the police now have the role of eyes and ears of the situation.

The DM rarely operates individually as a regular member of an attached unit and is used as necessary to increase the range of the unit's weapons. The sniper rarely shoots alone and is always used on specific targets in sniper and observed times. The sniper uses fixed stance and camouflage while the DM changes position with the squad, and does not use camouflage other than the infantry.

The sniper uses a weapon with greater precision and range while the DM uses adapted semi-automatic weapons and not necessarily a dedicated sniper, which may just be a common rifle. The sniper's weapon is usually bolt-action while the DM's is a custom semi-automatic rifle. The sniper's combat distance reaches 1,500m or more with a heavy rifle while the DM's range is 800m at most. The sniper usually trains in several types of weapons while the DM only to operate one weapon. The DM shoots at shorter distances, in quick succession and against moving targets, not using stealth or surprise.

The DM's weapons are called Designated Marksman Rifles (DMR) in the USMC. A DMR must have greater range than a standard infantry rifle, but does not need to have as much range as a sniper rifle. It is generally a modified rifle with a telescope, bipod and adjustable sight. Most are 7.62 x 51 caliber rifles from the 60s such as the M-14, FN FAL and G3. Examples are the M21 of the M14, DMR of the USMC M14 and the G3SG/1 of the G3. The Israeli Gallil has a more dedicated version called the Galatz Sniper Rifle as well as the SR-25 based on the Stoner AR-10. The Russian SVD was designed from the beginning for the DMs.

The ammunition is usually the caliber 7.62 x 51mm Western and 7.62 x 54mm R in Russia which are also used by medium machine guns (M-240, MAG and PKM for example) and rarely use special ammunition.

Smaller calibers are worse at long range, but there are also versions of the 5.56 x 45 mm caliber such as the Squad Designated Marksman Rifle (SDM-R) of the M16 of the US Army, Squad Advanced Marksman Rifle (SAM-R) of the M16 used by the USMC , Mark 12 Mod

A Russian sniper accompanying an infantry platoon on a patrol in the mountains of Chechnya. In Russia, snipers act as DMs and are not real snipers.

An SDM from the US Army's BCT brigade in Iraq armed with an M-14 rifle. SDMs are used for fire support covering infantry movements, especially in urban areas. In the US DM is used as force multipliers. The first snipers before the 19th century were more DM than snipers.

Sharpshooters in Argentina

Just last year, the first Special Shooter Course of the Argentine Army was held, under the direction of the Group of Special Operations Forces with the participation of the personnel of the 601st Commando Company, from Campo de Mayo, Buenos Aires. Unfortunately there is no strong tradition in the EA (Argentine Army) or IMARA (Argentine Marine Corps) of training and equipping the subunits of this special troop independently.

Special RIM 22 shooters with Remington 700 and FAP with scope

FAL Sniper designed at FM Fray Luis Beltrán (a single prototype)

Member of the 602nd Commando Company (Ca Cdo(s) 602) with jungle camouflage and Remington 700 M-24 Special Marksman rifle

Recent maneuvers in the VI Brigade, an EA sniper and the view from his sights are observed.

Argentine Marines with FAMAS and Barret 12.7 (neither of which are standard for the force)

Another photo of the CZ 750 S1M1 in service in the Argentine National Gendarmerie