The Brits new supergun sniper rifle

Daily Mail:

It is the latest weapon on the front line against the Taliban - the British Army's most powerful-ever sniper rifle, capable of killing with pinpoint accuracy from more than a mile away.

Yesterday the Army showed off its new Long Range Rifle, which has just entered service with combat units in Afghanistan to replace smaller and less powerful weapons.

The £11million upgrade programme is part of a "renaissance" of the sniper tradition - which during the Cold War was largely relegated to the sidelines - as modern commanders rediscover the huge value of pinpoint fire from sharpshooters.

The new weapon, the L115A3, fires a heavier bullet to much longer ranges and has a state-of-the-art telescopic sight with twice the magnifying power of the old version.

More than 500 are on order from the British manufacturers, Accuracy International.

Since British forces moved into Helmand Province two years ago to take on the Taliban, demand for snipers has soared and 120 a year are now passing through the specialist training school at Warminster in Wiltshire.

...

"It's a little heavier to carry, but the extra power is worth it. The improved telescopic sight can cut through the heat haze, which was preventing us from spotting targets at longer ranges."

Sniping is proving a hugely-important tactic in Afghanistan, where the difficulty of fighting among maze-like compounds and thick vegetation necessitates attacking the enemy at long range.

...

A senior officer at the Weapons Support School in Warminster said: "With the new rifle we now expect to be able to engage a target at 1,500 metres. With the old version it was about 1,000 metres.

"That makes a massive difference. You can keep the enemy at arm's length with snipers. Or you can have several of them firing simultaneously.

"It is devastating for an enemy's morale if a number of their fighters are suddenly shot at the same instant, and they can't even see where the firing is coming from. They tend to withdraw fast."

...

The rifle should add range which will force the enemy to be more careful in approaching infantry units. A photo of the rifle is here. It has been in development for some time as has a new version of the US sniper rifle. One of the advantages of the long range rifle is that it will allow selective targeting of enemy forces trying to hide among human shields.

The Times has more on the new sniper rifle.