Different countries have different military doctrines regarding snipers in military units, settings, and tactics. Generally, a sniper's primary function in warfare is to provide detailed reconnaissance from a concealed position and, if necessary, to reduce the enemy's fighting ability by striking at high value targets (especially officers, communication and other personnel) and in the process pinning down and demoralizing the enemy.
Military snipers from the US, UK, and other nations that adopt their military doctrine are typically deployed in two man sniper teams consisting of a shooter and spotter. A common practice is for a shooter and spotter to take turns in order to avoid eye fatigue. In most recent combat operations occurring in large dense populated towns such as Fallujah, Iraq, two teams would be deployed together to increase their security and effectiveness in an urban environment. German doctrine of largely independent snipers and emphasis on concealment developed during the Second World War have been most influential on modern sniper tactics, currently used throughout Western militaries.
Typical sniper missions include reconnaissance and surveillance, target marking for air-strikes, counter-sniper, killing enemy commanders, selecting targets of opportunity, and even destruction of military equipment, which tend to require use of rifles in the larger calibers such as the .50 BMG, like the Barrett M82, McMillan Tac-50, and Denel NTW-20. Snipers have increasingly been demonstrated as being useful by US and UK forces in the recent Iraq campaign in a fire support role to cover the movement of infantry, especially in urban areas.
Materiel (from the French matériel for equipment or hardware, related to the word material) is a term used in English to refer to the equipment and supplies in military and commercialsupply chain management.
The term caliber (or calibre) designates the inside diameter of a tube, the diameter (outside) of a solid wire or rod, or a measurement of the length of a gun relative to its diameter.
In firearms, the caliber is the approximate diameter of bullet used. In a rifled barrel, the distance is measured between opposing lands or grooves; groove measurements are common in cartridge designations originating in the United States, while land measurements are more common elsewhere. This is very important when handloading, as the bullet should closely match the groove diameter of the barrel to ensure a good seal.
When the barrel diameter is given in inches, the abbreviation cal is used in place of inches. For example, a small bore rifle with a diameter of 0.22 inch is a .22 cal; however, the decimal point is generally dropped when spoken, making it twenty two caliber.
Calibers of weapons can be referred to in millimeters, as in a caliber of eighty eight millimeters (88 mm) or a hundred and five-millimeter caliber gun (abbreviated as 105 mm gun).
While modern cartridges and cartridge firearms are generally referred to by the cartridge name, they are still lumped together based on bore diameter. For example, a firearm might be described as a .30 caliber rifle, which could be any of a wide range of cartridges using a roughly .30 inch projectile; or a .22 rimfire, referring to any rimfire cartridge using a .22 caliber projectile.
The practical effect of long barrels for modern guns is that the projectile spends more time in the barrel before it exits, and hence more time is available for expanding gasses from the propellant charge to smoothly accelerate the projectile, bringing about a higher velocity without placing undue strain on the gun. In internal ballistics terms, if we consider the base of a projectile to be a piston propelled by the expanding gas, then by increasing barrel length we increase the area swept by the piston, and hence increase the amount of energy that can be extracted from the gas's burning. A longer barrel allows more propellant to be used, and ideally all the propellant should be combusted just before the projectile exits, to achieve maximum muzzle velocity.The sniper ranges records tend to be just close to around 2.5 km.
Shot placement varies considerably with the type of sniper being discussed. Military snipers, who generally do not engage targets at less than 300 m, usually attempt body shots, aiming at the chest. These shots depend on tissue damage, organ trauma, and blood loss to make the kill.
Often in situations with multiple targets, snipers use relocation. After firing a few shots from a certain position, snipers move unseen to another location before the enemy can determine where he or she is and mount a counter-attack. Snipers will frequently use this tactic to their advantage, creating an atmosphere of chaos and confusion.
As sniper rifles are often extremely powerful and consequently loud, it is common for snipers to use a technique known as sound masking. This tactic, in the hands of a highly skilled marksman, can be used as a substitute for a noise suppressor. Very loud sounds in the environment, such as artillery shells air bursting or claps of thunder, can often mask the sound of the shot. This technique is frequently used in clandestine operations and infiltration tactics.
Field craft is a term used especially in British military circles to describe the basic military skills required to operate stealthily at day or night regardless of weather or terrain. The motto of field craft is to see without being seen; this is upheld through the skills learned in field craft lessons.
These skills include camouflage, understanding the difference between concealment from view and cover from fire, use of the shape of the ground and its features to move undetected, the skills of moving across ground and crossing obstacles, the ability to select good fire positions, lying up positions, camping positions and the like, the ability to observe effectively, penetrating camouflage, and the ability to detect where enemy fire is coming from using a number of techniques. Snipers often use ghillie suits.
A dead drop or dead letter box, is a location used to secretly pass items between two people, without requiring them to meet. This stands in contrast to the live drop, so called because 2 live persons meet to exchange items or information.Snipers at the battle of Stalingrad Rifle comparison
Sniper at Stalingrad - Garza Sokolov tells his story
Vassili Zaitsev tells about famous sniper duel
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