Instead of Austrian and British rifles, snipers were issued SVD and "Vintorezy"
Snipers "new model" was hoping to get samples of modern foreign rifles, to conduct full-fledged training. However, they were disappointed in the form of outdated Russian SVD, equipped with a folding butt, and "Vintorez", reports the newspaper "Izvestia".At the moment, instructors pay special attention to developing precision shooting with rifles produced in Russia and the development of skills of students on psychological stability in combat conditions. However, they fully recognize the fact that in the event of a real confrontation with snipers, who will have long-range rifles, the chances of winning are negligible. Izvestiya published the words of one of the instructors conducting training in the center of sniper units. On condition of anonymity, he mentioned that before the start of classes, they hoped to get the best foreign sniper rifles.
According to the future sniper, they thought that they would be able to choose any rifles with good optics, high target ranges, and any uniforms for training. In this case, Austrian rifles Mannliche and British AWM-F, as well as thermal underwear, which allows you to sit in ambush for hours, would be ordered. However, in fact, it turned out that the cadets were given only a regular weapon.
He mentioned that Russian rifle samples allow snipers to confidently fire in forests, cities, mountains, and with fire support from Special Forces soldiers. But in the case of a counter-sniper struggle, when “free arrows” track down each other, they are practically useless. Fighter with a rifle Dragunova has extremely low chances.
Representatives of the headquarters of the Southern Military District confirmed to Izvestia that samples of foreign-made rifles were not supplied to any military unit, as they are not in service with the Russian army. However, the reconnaissance units of the Airborne Forces of Russia have already begun to master the Mannlicher sniper rifles that came to them at the end of the year. The General Staff mentioned that front-line snipers may not even get long-range rifles from foreign manufacturers.
According to the military, rifles will be tested in special units until the end of this year. After that, the issue of their combat duty will be decided. At the moment, they are considered only as weapons for special-purpose units for work on a specific program, and with a normal field exit, snipers in any case will give out the main type of weapon.
Alexander Khramchikhin, head of the analytical department at the Institute of Military and Political Analysis, commented on the situation with rifles for field snipers. He suggested that the front part of the good rifles will never get. According to him, "it is naive to believe" that the ground forces, which are always equipped on a residual basis, will receive the latest weapons. Only after a good rifle completely satisfies the needs of the Airborne Forces and special forces, high-precision rifles will begin to flow in the usual parts.
In turn, Alexander Konovalov, President of the Institute for Strategic Assessment and Analysis, noted that Austrian and English-made rifles are several times more expensive than Russian ones. And the benefits, he said, are not so obvious. When carrying out an all-arms battle, the long-range rifles have not so many advantages. In addition, using a French or British rifle, you can take a position on a tree and hit the enemy in the head from a distance of three kilometers. With the SVD this is not possible to repeat, but in these conditions there are much more important tasks than the destruction of individual enemy fighters.
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