Thread: Newfound respect for the SKS

Originally Posted by Daggers_187

Nope. Snipers are usually a company asset. You have to be spesh for the OC to give you a sniper.

I think it is very much a situation-driven matter, and it also depends on how you define ‘sniper’.

The Brit Army still has its scout/sniper section at battalion level and then the long-range snipers in the SF community, but had to add what might best be termed marksmen or sharpshooters armed with 7.62 mm rifles at the platoon and even section level in Afghanistan to counter enemy engaging at 400+ m range with LMGs, Dragunovs and even AKs, the latter not accurate at those ranges, but capable of wounding or killing by accident.

I think in most cases what is happening is that infantry units take their best marksmen in a company or platoon or in a base, and give them a rifle with a scope to counter so-called ‘sniping’ and real sniping by irregular forces, discourage the placing of booby traps on access roads to a base, etc, in the latter case mainly at night. Actual snipers in the sense of very long-range engagements are used at a higher level to support an operation, to dominate ground or to deal with enemy snipers.