plawolf
Lieutenant General
That Taliban kill was by a Canadian solider who used 50 cal round from a McMillan, it was on a ridge and it took 4 shots, the final shot was aimed so far off the target that the sniper himself couldnt believe it when he struck, it was recorded at a astounding 2.5km
A sniper from a special forces commando unit are trained easily to hit at 1,000m, less than that is normal, I mean 700-800 metres is no sweat for a well trained sniper with a good gun
But the sniper is just part of the story, the spotter must be of a similar calibre and weather conditions like wind speed, altitude, visability and pressure also play a big role
In return some Taliban fighters have used Dragunov sniper rifles to hit coalition soldiers from 1,000m away, on one occasion one 7.62mm round came through a RAF Chinnok windscreen and hit the pilot in the head who then flew his helicopter all the way back home bleeding from his head, he survived due to his bulletproof helmet which was partially penetrated
Sniper schools have really upped thier tempo after the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and here has been some remarkable shots
The behaviour of the target is also a major factor when you are aiming at someone over a km away as depending on condictions, weapon and round used, it can take the round between 3-5 seconds to reach the target, so unless your target is stationary, you will have to both calculate the bullet flight time and anticipate where he is going to be when the bullet arrives.
So no, I have have to dispute the idea that anyone can hit a man sized target 'easily' at over a km away. It can be done, and done with decent reliability, but only if the conductions are right and the target is cooperative.
Your example of hitting a helo pilot in the head with a sniper rifle is more a case of blind luck rather than skill. It was either a case of someone taking a pot shot and getting a one in a million hit, or a case of the helo being unlucky enough to be flying very low and almost directly at the sniper making the shot relatively straight forward. In either scenario, luck would have played the biggest part, which is why there was no repeat shot like it.
I think Afganistan and Iraq have been a mixed bag for snipers tbh. In the early years, with the insurgents and Taliban fighting the Americans head on, it would have been great for snipers as they would have had plenty of time and opportunity to hone their skills. But as the wars wound down into mainly suicide attacks and pot shots, I think they would have been bad for snipers as they are deployed on missions for the majority of their time with pretty much nothing to do, so on average, they may well have fired fewer rounds than before they were deployed.
I mean, if the wars in Afganistan and Iraq were so good for sniper skills of those participating, how come it was the Chinese who won the sniper world championships last year?