Selecting the location for a position is one of the most important tasks a sniper team accomplishes during the mission planning phase of an operation. After selecting the location, the team also determines how it will move into the area to locate and occupy the final position.
SELECTION
Upon receiving a mission, the sniper team locates the target area and then determines the best location for a tentative position by using one or more of the following sources of information: topographic maps, aerial photographs, visual reconnaissance before the mission, and information gained from units operating in the area.
a. The sniper team ensures the position provides an optimum balance between the following considerations:
Maximum fields of fire and observation of the target area.
Concealment from enemy observation.
Covered routes into and out of the position.
Located no closer than 300 meters from the target area.
A natural or man-made obstacle between the position and the target area.
b. A sniper team must remember that a position that appears to be in an ideal location may also appear that way to the enemy. Therefore, the team avoids choosing locations that are:
On a point or crest of prominent terrain features.
Close to isolated objects.
At bends or ends of roads, trails, or streams.
In populated areas, unless it is required.
c. The sniper team must use its imagination and ingenuity in choosing a good location for the given mission. The team chooses a location that not only allows the team to be effective but also must appear to the enemy to be the least likely place for a team position. The following are examples of such positions:
Under logs in a drift area.
Tunnels bored from one side of a knoll to the other.
Swamps.
Deep shadows.
Inside rubble piles.
OCCUPATION
During the mission planning phase, the sniper also selects an final rendezvous point {FRV). From this point, the sniper team then recces the hide position to determine the exact location of its final position. The location of the FRV should provide cover and concealment from enemy fire and observation, And be located as close to the selected area as possible, and have good routes into and out of the selected area.
a. From the FRV, the team moves forward to a location that allows the team to view the hide position area . One member remains in this location to cover the other member who recces the area to locate a final position. Once a suitable location has been found, the covering team member moves to the position. While conducting the reconnaissance or moving to the position, the team Moves slowly and deliberately,
using the sniper low crawl.
Avoids unnecessary movement of trees, bushes, and grass.
Avoids making any noises.
Stays in the shadows, if there are any.
Stops, looks, and listens every few feet.
b. When the sniper team arrives at the firing position, it Conducts a detailed search of the target area. Starts construction of the firing position, if required. Organizes equipment so that it is easily accessible. Establishes a system of observing eating resting, and latrine calls.
CONSTRUCTION
A sniper mission always requires the team to occupy some type of position. These positions can range from a hasty position, which a team may use for a few hours, to a more permanent position, which the team could occupy. for a few days. The team should always plan to build its position during limited visibility.
a. Sniper Position Considerations. Whether a sniper team is in a position for a few minutes or a few days, the basic considerations in. choosing a type of position remain the same.
(1) Location:
(a) Type of terrain and soil. Digging and boring of tunnels can be very difficult in hard soil or in fine, loose sand. The team takes advantage of what the terrain offers (gullies, holes, hollow tree stumps, and so forth).
(b) Enemy location and capabilities. Enemy patrols in the area may be close enough to the position to hear any noises that may accidentally be made during any construction. The team also considers the enemy’s night vision and detection capabilities.
(2) Time:
(a) Amount of time to be occupied. If the sniper team’s mission requires it to be in position for a long time, the team constructs a position that provides more survivability. This allows the team to operate more effectively for a longer time.
(b) Time required for construction. The time required to build a position must be considered, especially during the mission planning phase.
(3) Personnel and equipment:
(a) Equipment needed for construction. The team plans for the use of any extra equipment needed for construction (bow saws, picks, axes, and so forth).
(b) Personnel needed for construction. Coordination is made if the position requires more personnel to build it or a security element to secure the area during construction.
Construction Techniques. Belly and semi permanent hide
positions can be constructed of stone, brick, wood, or turf. Regardless of material, every effort is made to bulletproof the front of the hide position. The team can use the following techniques:
Pack protective jackets around the loophole areas.
Emplace an angled armor plate with a loophole cut into it behind the hide loophole.
Sandbag the loopholes from the inside.
(1) trench. Hide construction begins with the trench since it protects the sniper team. All excavated dirt is removed (placed in sandbags, taken away on a poncho, and so forth) and hidden (plowed fields, under a log, or away from the hide site).
(2) Overhead cover. In a semi permanent hide position, logs should be used as the base of the roof. The sniper team places a dust cover over the base (such as a poncho, layers of empty sandbags, or canvas), a layer of dirt, and a layer of gravel, if available. The team spreads another layer of dirt, and then adds camouflage. Due to the various materials, the roof is difficult to conceal if not countersunk.
(3) Entrance. To prevent detection, the sniper team should construct an entrance door sturdy enough to bear a man’s weight.
(4) Loopholes. The construction of loopholes requires care and practice to ensure they afford adequate fields of fire. Loopholes must be camouflaged by foliage or other material that blends with or is natural to the surroundings.
(5) Approaches. It is vital that the natural appearance of the ground remains unaltered and camouflage blends with the surroundings. Construction time is wasted if the enemy observes a team entering the hide; therefore, approached must be concealed. Teams try to enter the hide during darkness, keeping movement to a minimum and adhering to trail discipline. In built-up areas, a secure and quiet approach is needed. Teams must avoid drawing attention to the mission and carefully plan movement. A possible ploy is to use a house search with sniper gear hidden among other gear. Sewers may be used for movement also.
Aerial photographs
Air photographs can provide you with a wealth of information. Snipers have to be as proficient with an aerial picture as with a map. At first it may seem rather daunting, but it is a useful skill to learn and enables you to make maximum use of the latest intelligence. Air photographs give you up-to-date information and allow you to study the ground in great detail, making them a handy aid to patrol planning. Unlike a map, a photograph may reveal the location of enemy positions. Air photographs have a number of disadvantages which you must bear in mind. They are not gridded, and contour lines are difficult to make out. They carry no scale and in mountainous country the scale can actually vary from point to point. But if you combine them with a map, your ability to plan ahead is doubled.
Air photographs may be; taken at a vertical or oblique angle. Vertical views are generally more valuable because more, can be, gleaned from them; like maps, they are an accurate plan of the ground with no hidden areas. Since the scale is constant over the whole print, it is simple to understand. Oblique photographs, on the other hand, are complementary, presenting a familiar, panoramic: view, but the scale varies from the foreground to the background and you cannot see into the dead ground behind hills, hedges, buildings and other vertical obstacles.
Setting the photo to the map
There are two methods of roughly orientating a photo to the map:
1 Orientate by using time (obtained from the titling strip) and shadows on the picture to find approximate north.
2 Find prominent objects on both map and photograph. When you have found them, mark the grid reference on the picture.
Finding the scale
There are two ways to scale the photograph:
1 Representative fraction method This uses the information on the titling strip. The scale of the photo is FL divided by 12H: FL is the focal length of the lens, and H is the height of the aircraft in feet. For example, if the focal length of the camera is 8 inches and the aircraft was flying at 12,000 ft, the scale of the map is equal to 8 divided by 12x12,000. The result is 1/18,000.
2 Air photo/map comparison method This is simpler: select two prominent points on the map 1000 metres apart. Locate the same points on the photograph. Using a piece of paper, mark off the distance between these two points on the photo. Put that distance onto the border of your photo, divide into 10 subdivisions and you have an instant 1000-metre scale, subdivided into 100-metre units. If you cannot find two obvious terrain features 1000 metres apart, use any convenient points. For example, if they are 1800 metres apart, divide, the distance into 18 sections of 100 metres
Air photographs carry a titling strip added to the picture during processing to help you understand what you are looking at. The format is now standardised throughout NATO and consists of the following items:
1 Print number
This is shown on the left.
2 Camera position
When a camera is installed to produce true vertical pictures it is known as a 'single vertical camera'. The following letters identify the camera position:
V When used singly, this refers to a single vertical camera. If more than one is installed in the aircraft, they are numbered from nose to tail, e.g. V1, V2 etc. If the cameras are installed side-by-side but do not form a split pair giving overlapping pictures, they are numbered from port to starboard.
F The single letter F indicates a fan of two or more cameras. The letter is followed by two figures: the first indicates the number of cameras, the second the position of the camera within the fam. Cameras are numbered according to the area of ground photographed, e.g. in a fan of four cameras, the camera photographing the ground on the extreme left would be numbered F41. If an aircraft carries more than one fan, they are numbered from nose to tail and this is indicated by, a number appearing in front of the letter F.
S Indicates a starboard-facing oblique camera. P Indicates a port-facing oblique camera.
N Indicates a nose-mounted oblique camera. If there is more than one, they are numbered from port to starboard, e.g. N1, N2 etc.
T Indicates a tail-mounted oblique camera.
3 Squadron number
This appears in figures only, e.g. 52 means No. 52 Squadron.
4 Service
This serves to distinguish between squadrons of the same number but belonging to different Air Forces.
5 Sortie number
Sortie numbering for a squadron starts at 1 and ends at 9,999, when it goes back to 1 again. If more than one film is exposed during a sortie, the sortie number is followed by a part number to indicate the magazine, e.g. Pt 1, Pt 2 etc.
6 Date
This is shown in the form of 28 SEP 91. If taken either side of midnight it will be shown as 28/29 SEP 91.
7 Time
The time is given in Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), known to the armed forces as Zulu time, so it is shown with the suffix Z.
8 Focal length
The focal length is useful in establishing the scale of the photograph.
9 Security classification
Air photography has the same grading as official correspondence and is slowly downgraded as the subject matter decreases in importance
10 Additional information
This may include geographical detail, e.g. place names. The aircraft‘s altitude is sometimes included but this is the mean height of the machine during the sortie, not necessarily the height at which the picture was taken.
CALLING
FOR THE WRATH
OF GOD
There are several sources of fire support to help you complete your mission, or to simply blast the enemy while you get out of it. With a radio and the correct training, you may be able to call in the following:
• 1. Mortar fire
• 2. Tank support
• 3. Artillery
• 4. Fighter ground attack or helicopter gunship
• 5. Naval gunnery support
Terrain and weather conditions in the field do not favour good comms; it is often very dfficult to achieve line of sight. If you cannot contact your fire support, try to contact any station on your radio net and get them to relay the message. This way you can greatly increase your range.
CALLING IN A FIRE MISSION
• A FIRE MISSION IS DIVIDED INTO THREE PHASES:
• the initial orders,
• the adjustment of fire phase,
• and fire for effect.
The initial order gives all the essential information to the gun line for them to lay the guns onto the target indicated by you. First you must call the artillery OP officer who is supporting you – you will know his callsign on your radio net – and alert him to the fact that you require artillery support by saying "Fire Mission, over". He will answer you by repeating "Fire Mission, over".
THIS IS THE SIGNAL FOR YOU TO TELL HIM:
• 1 Where the target is
• 2 The direction of the target from your position
• 3 What the target is
• 4 What you want done about it
• 5 When you want fire support and how long for
WHERE
You indicate where the target is by giving a six-figure grid reference,or you can refer to a previously registered target and adjust from it, for instance "Reference ZW 4831, left 200". {This refers his guns to a target which they already have on their computer and which has been allocated the target number ZW 4831 and tells them to fire 200meters to the left of it.}
DIRECTION OF TARGET
For the guns to be able to make sense of your adjustments, they must know the direction of the target from your position. You calculate this by taking a bearing with your compass on the target. This will give you a magnetic bearing; unless you convert it to a grid bearing, you should specify that you are sending a magnetic bearing.
So you will say, for instance, "Direction 1620 magnetic".
DISCRIPTION OF TARGET
Next you must say what the target is. You must be as precise as possible so that the guns can choose the correct ammunition, allocate priorities and decide on the amount of ammunition necessary to neutralise that particular target. Therefore you must give some sort of description such as "Infantry platoon advancing across open ground," or "mortar platoon now firing from left hand edge of Br wood," or "tanks refuelling in clearing".
FIRE OPTIONS
The next piece of information that is required by the guns is
what you want done about the target.
Smoke is used to frustrate enemy intentions. If you are being threatened by enemy direct or indirect fire, it may help to obscure his line of sight and will slow him down even if he has the most sophisticated thermal imaging devices, which can "see through" smoke.
The most usual order, however, is
"neutralise". This means that sufficient fire must be brought to bear to render the target ineffective in the current battle. Even tanks can be neutralised by artillery fire if their optics and radio antennae are damaged.
PICK YOUR TIME
Lastly the guns will need to know when you want them to fire and for how long. You have various options: you can simply order "Now," or "For x minutes," or "For x minutes at y hours". Alternatively you can order the guns too "Report whenready".
So your final fireorder might sound something like this:
{sniper} "Hello G11, this is I33d, fire mission over."
{OP officer} G11, fire mission over.
{sniper} "I33d, Grid 834629, direction one, seven, eight ,zero, magnetic:, enemy platoon debussing from APCs, neutralize for three minutes, report when ready, over.
{OP Officer} ''G11, Grid 834629, direction one, seven ,eight ,zero, magnetic, enemy platoon debussing from APCs, neutralise for three, minutes, report when ready wait out."
At this stage the OP officer will attempt to identify the target. If he does so, your job is over. But if he can't, as will often be the case, he will ask you to send corrections: this is the adjustment of fire phase.
FIRE FOR EFFECT
Once the guns are on target, they will produce the type and amount of fire that you requested in your initial order. In other words. they will fire for effect. You can continue to correct the fire if you consider that it has been ineffective, but if you are satisfied, you should order "End of mission". Alternatively you can order "Repeat" or request a further number of minutes' fire. Finally, if you think that a target may re-appear at the same spot again, ask the guns to record the target. This means that the same target can be engaged very quickly without adjustment of fire at some future time,
LOGICAL PROCESS
Calling in firemissions can seem a daunting business. Don't allow the procedures to confuse you; it is straightforward and logical and gets much easier with practice If you are doubtful about the correct sequence of orders, tell your gunner what you want him to do in basic English and he will produce the answer. But you must be able to give him a six-figure grid reference of the target and a magnetic bearing to it from your position.
A MOMENT’S NOTICE
Artillery target indication procedure is the same for all mortars and guns, whatever their type or calibre. Once you have mastered the procedures you can be confident that you can call up artillery support at a moment's notice – an encouraging thought when you are in a front-line hide armed only with an L96 and faced with a Soviet Motor Rifle Battalion!
WEAPON SYSTEMS
L42A1
When the British army began to re-equip with self loading rifles in the 1950s the lee enfield family of weapons continued to provide good service to the British army. a number of SMLE no/4 mk1 rifles were reworked to the new semi rimmed n.a.t.o standard 7.62mm in place of the old .303 . these were used for match and target shooting and for sniping .the L42A1 heavy barreled rifle is probably one of the most accurate lee-enfields ever made, and it was the standard British army sniper rifle in till the end of the 1980s.
L96A1
The L96A1 is made by a firm called Accuracy International. In sniper try-outs, the L96 beat the Parker & Hale M85. The rifle was built under the supervision of a top UK rifle shooter (Malcolm Cooper, a small bore (.22) 3-positional target shot who won an Olympic Gold Medal for Great Britain in 1984 and again in 1988.) It has an unusual set-up, the stock is of two piece design and the two peaces bolt onto a sub-chassis. The action is both glued and screwed to this sub-chassis. The barrel is Self Supporting i.e.(flouting) and there are few variants of the rifle, a heavy bull barrel (newest), an anti-terrorist model (long barrel, no iron sight, a muzzle break), the regular L96A1 (iron sight, hence front post, no muzzle break ).
There is also a silenced model with full length silencer. The calibers are (308, 300 Win mag and also 330 Lapua Mag). It is a very accurate rifle, typical groups are sub 1/2 MOA at 100 yds and just over that at 200 yds. Well designed and built with a very nice stock .The syntech stock has very nice lines, it has adjustable length of pull (done with spacers), a thumb hole design. All in all a very nice and accurate rifle.
7.62mm draganov sniper rifle
The Dragunov self-loading sniper's rifle excels in engaging fleeting, moving, open and masked single targets.
Accurate fire is delivered by single shots.
For convenient handling in armored vehicles, landing craft, helicopters and other military vehicles the sniper's rifle is equipped with a folding butt stock.
The rifle may be completed with night sight
NSPUM (SVDSN2) or NSPU-3 (SVDSN3)
Provided in the set are:
- Magazines
- Optical sight PSO-IM2 with SPTA
- Knife-bayonet
- Rifle sling
- Accessories for cleaning and oiling
- Oiler
AG-90(SWEDEN)
AG-90(B) is a semiautomatic, air cooled weapon. Developed by the low recoil barrel system, that means there is very low recoil for that sort of caliber. The caliber 12.7 or in US standard .50 is a very powerful caliber and can in ranges up to 1.5 km penetrate armour for up to 2 inch thick. It has been in the Swedish Army for about 5 years and has been a very delightful experience. It brings new dimensions to the infantry light support.
STORY
Of the many great moments during the short but extensive history of sniping, the greatest would have to be the great sniper-versus-sniper battle of Stalingrad, 1942. Stalingrad was the Germans farthest advance point, and it was one of Hitler's main goals to capture the great Southern Russian city named after its leader. By 1942, the German offensive was grinding to a halt, but they had conquered some nine-tenths of the city, that is, what was left of it. Through the years of war, the city had been reduced to rubble and abandoned buildings. A perfect setting for any sniper battle.
It was in these settings that Russian snipers, prized by their commanders, took a heavy toll on the number and morale of the Germans. It was here where Stalingrad's most infamous duel took place, between the pride of Russia, and the pride of Germany. The Russian sniper was named Zaitsev, and by this time in the war he had accumulated over one hundred kills. No German could stop him, but they all knew about him. Enough that eventually someone in the German high ranks set forth the order for Germany's best sniper, Major Koning, to leave his sniper school, where he was an instructor, and kill Zaitsev. The stage was set.
Through rumors and POW interrogations, Zaitsev soon learned that Koning had arrived in Stalingrad. When a Russian sniper team was shot at by a skilled German sniper, Zaitsev knew for sure that Koning was his premier target. For days the two searched for each other. At one point, a Russian general came out with Zaitsev to witness the event, and was wounded by Koning. So the next day Zaitsev and his spotter waited until afternoon, when the sun was behind them, and began their last search for Koning. After a while, the two noticed a shine from under a metal plate and some rubble. The spotter lifted a glove on a stick, and sure enough Koning shot at it. Zaitsev saw that indeed Koning was under that metal plate, and he shot. He killed Koning with one shot.
Zaitsev went on to be Russia's most celebrated sniper.
No comments:
Post a Comment