The Washington Post: Why haven't marines been able to get a new sniper rifle in the last 14 years?
Despite the great attention paid by the command, the USMC has serious weapons problems. As it turned out, over the past few years, snipers of this type of armed forces cannot perform certain combat missions due to insufficient weapon characteristics. 13 June in the influential American edition of The Washington Post appeared an article by Thomas Gibbons-Neff entitled “Why the marines didn’t get a new sniper rifle over the past 14 years”. From the title of the publication it is clear that the author decided to take on a serious topic directly related to the effectiveness of the combat work of the units of the ILC.
Snipers of the 2 Battalion of the 5 Regiment of the US KMP at the position in Romadi (Iraq), October 2004. Photo by Jim MacMillan / AP
The American journalist began his article with a story about one of the battles that took place several years ago in Afghanistan. In the summer of 2011, in the province of Helmand, north of the town of Musa-Kala, a sniper team of eight men under the command of Sergeant Ben McCullar came under fire. It is noted that these marines have repeatedly had to participate in battles. In some clashes, they were the first to open fire, in others they took up defenses and responded to the enemy’s shooting.
This time the Taliban began shooting, and, according to Sergeant McCullar, they immediately pressed the Americans to the ground with machine-gun fire. Unfortunately, the enemy used large-caliber weapons with a greater range of fire, which is why the Marines could not destroy the machine-gunners with their sniper rifles. The enemy fired from a sufficiently long distance, due to which the snipers had to wait for reinforcements in the form of artillery shelling or an air attack.
T. Gibbons-Neff recalls that this story sniper marines is not an isolated case. Both before and after the ambush in Helmand province, the KMP fighters had to face the problem of insufficient range of their sniper rifles. Similar problems plagued the US Marine Corps throughout 14 years of combat operations in Afghanistan.
An analysis of the current situation was conducted and certain conclusions were drawn. One of the reasons for the relatively low effectiveness of snipers in a number of situations was recognized as a method of staffing units and rotation of personnel. Snipers Marine Corps in most cases do not have time to get a lot of experience and relatively quickly replace each other.
In addition, there was a problem with existing weapons. The arsenal does not fully meet the requirements, and attempts to acquire a new one are confronted with an ossified bureaucracy in various management structures of the ILC.
A journalist for The Washington Post recalls that the US Marines are widely known for their "love" for outdated weapons and equipment. For example, during the Gulf War, ground forces tankers tested the latest M1A1 Abrams armored vehicles in battle. At the same time, the marines arrived in the combat area on the outdated tanks "Patton" who had a chance to travel through the streets of Saigon in the sixties. In 2003, the Marine Corps returned to Iraq. During this time, his snipers were armed with M40A1 rifles, which appeared shortly after the end of the Vietnam War.
Since then, M40 rifles underwent several upgrades, but the effective range of such weapons remained the same - up to 1000 yards (914 m). Thus, the firepower of the marine snipers has hardly changed in a few years.
T. Gibbons-Neff notes that the former and current snipers of the KMP agree on the available rifles. They believe that this weapon no longer meets the requirements of the time. In terms of their characteristics, the M40 rifles of the Marine Corps are inferior to those of snipers from other United States forces. Moreover, even the Taliban and the Islamic state already possess weapons with higher characteristics, above all with a greater range of fire.
The author of the publication cites the words of a sniper-spy who wished to remain anonymous in view of the instructions of his superiors. This fighter believes that in the current situation the training of the CMP sniper loses all meaning. “What is the use of being shot from a thousand yards before we can answer?”
Sergeant Ben McCullar, who until recently worked as an instructor in a sniper school based on Quantico (Virginia), expressed a similar opinion. In addition, he added that the average distance to the enemy in various collisions was 800 yards (731,5 m). At such distances, most of the weapons of the Marines were virtually useless.
The battle mentioned by Sergeant McCullar in the 14 year, mentioned in the beginning of the article Why the Marines have failed to adopt a new sniper rifle in the past 2011 years. At the same time, several other events were noted. For example, T. Gibbons-Neff recalls that it was the McCullar platoon that was implicated in the scandal with inappropriate actions against the bodies of Taliban militants.
Nevertheless, from the point of view of the question raised, the fact that it was in 2011 that the American soldiers had to start using improvisational tactics of combat was of the greatest interest. In addition, during such "improvised" battles, the CMP snipers repeatedly had to deal with the inadequate characteristics of their weapons. In some cases, snipers could not help their unit by quickly and accurately eliminating a specific enemy fighter.
B. McCullar said that sometimes American snipers noticed and saw the Taliban machine gunners, but could not do anything with them. In addition, he noted that in such a situation could be useful rifles, different from the standard and designed for other ammunition. The effectiveness of the snipers could enhance the weapon chambered for .300 Winchester Magnum or .338.
The author of The Washington Post reminds that such rearmament is not just possible, but is already being done by the US Army. Back in 2011, the .300 Winchester Magnum munition was adopted as the main sniper cartridge for arming the ground forces. Thanks to this, army snipers can now shoot 300 yards (roughly 182 meters) further than marines with a M40 family of rifles using an .308 cartridge with a light bullet.
The system command of the US Marine Corps, which is responsible for orders and purchases of new weapons and equipment, is aware of the problems with sniper rifles and takes some measures. According to official data, several options for replacing existing M40 rifles are currently being considered. However, the existing weapon, as noted, so far meets the requirements.
The M40 rifle was developed by the Precision Weapons Section (PWS) of the KMP System Command and was designed to arm the Marine sniper. At the moment, the main task of the PWS organization is the maintenance and upgrading of M40 family rifles. Due to the absence of other precision weapons, the specialists of this organization provide “support” for only one type of weapon.
In this regard, T. Gibbons-Neff quotes the words of the former head of the school of snipers in Quantico, Chris Sheron. This officer believes that the CMP command does not want to abandon the obsolete M40 rifle for objective reasons related to the separation of PWS. M40 rifles are the only factor by which this organization exists. The rejection of such weapons, in turn, will make the appropriate branch redundant.
K. Sharon argues that no one wants to be the "killer" of the Precision Weapons Section. The rejection of M40 rifles will lead to a serious reduction of one of the most important structural units of the Marine Corps. As a result, none of the commanders want to make such a complex and ambiguous decision.
According to the former head of the snipers school, the solution to the existing problem could be the Precision Sniper Rifle or PSR program, implemented in conjunction with private weapon companies. K. Sharon believes that such a project would not be too expensive, so that the KMP could order two promising rifles for the price of one of the current M40. He also recalled that all the main armies of NATO had already switched to sniper weapons chambered for .338. Only US Marine Corps snipers are still forced to use outdated .308, which accordingly affects the effectiveness of the shooting.
Also in the junk Why the Marines have failed to adopt a new sniper rifle in the past 14 years, the words of the former instructor of one of the training units of the special operations forces of the USMC Sergeant J.D. Montefasco. This marines told about the joint exercises of US sniper rifles from the United States and Great Britain, which took place in the mountainous region of California. Sergeant Montefasco noted that the American shooters exceeded their British counterparts in terms of training. However, the Royal Marines showed better shooting results. The reasons for the loss of their colleagues J.D. Montefasco called the bad weather and the superiority of British rifles shooting a heavier bullet.
According to the sergeant instructor, the US Marines did not fulfill many of the tasks. British snipers, in turn, used other bullets with heavier bullets, which allowed them not to worry because of the difficult weather conditions at the shooting range. Snipers KMP US were supposed to get rifles chambered for .338 even during the war in Afghanistan, - summed up Sergeant Montefasco.
Despite all the wishes of the former and current sniper-marines, the command is not going to order a new weapon. Moreover, not long ago, the KMP command announced its intention to carry out another modernization of the M40 family rifles. The result of this project will be the replacement of rifles model M40A5 on products like M40A6. In this case, as noted by the journalist The Washington Post, the firing range will not change.
In connection with such plans of the command, C. Sharon suggests carefully reviewing the new programs and answering the question: who is driving the renewal of the weapons of the marines?
All snipers surveyed by T. Gibbons-Neff look to the future with concern. Due to the continued development of the M40 rifle without a serious change in firing range, the next possible armed conflict may lead to unjustified losses among personnel. The enemy may have an advantage in the firing range and thus seriously hamper the actions of the USMC.
At the end of the article the author of The Washington Post again quotes the current sniper, who wished to remain anonymous. This fighter says that the United States has the best snipers in the world, and the ILC serves the best officers in the country. Marine snipers are the most dangerous hunters in any terrain. But while maintaining the existing problems in the next armed conflict, the marines will have to learn, in their own skin, what it means to come to a gunfight with a knife.
As you can see, the snipers of the USMC hit a very difficult situation. A few years ago, their main opponents found advantageous tactics: the use of large-caliber machine guns. With the help of such weapons, Afghan or Iraqi armed forces could bombard US Marine troops from a safe distance without fear of return fire from high-precision weapons. The marines repeatedly talked about their needs, but those in charge are still not in a hurry to meet them, with the result that snipers still have to use weapons with insufficient range. Moreover, the command is going to once again upgrade the M40 rifle, clearly ignoring the existing requests.
The article Why the Marines have failed to adopt a new sniper rifle in the past 14 years curious infographics, which compares various samples of American and foreign-made sniper weapons. In connection with the context of the article, the comparison goes only for the maximum range of effective fire.
The sixth place in range was taken by the Russian SVD rifle, capable of hitting 875 yards (800 m). Just one step higher in this improvised ranking is the main US KMP sniper rifle - M40A5. Her firing range reaches only 1000 yards (914 m). The fourth place was left for the M2010 rifle, which for several years had the status of a sniper weapon of the US Army. Thanks to the .338 cartridge, its firing range reaches 1300 yards (1190 m).
The top three closes the sample US SOCOM Precision Sniper Rife, beating on 1600 yards (1460 m). This weapon is used by snipers of the US Special Operations Command. The honorable second place was taken by the standard sniper rifle of the British army L115A3 with a similar range - up to 1600 yards. In the first place, the authors of the rating put the Chinese large-caliber (12,7х108 mm) so-called. M99 anti-material rifle that can confidently hit targets at ranges over 1600-1700 yards.
It is necessary to recognize that the first place of such a rating raises certain questions, since the Chinese rifle is designed for a large-caliber rather than a rifle cartridge. In this way, it is seriously different from other samples presented in the list, which is why the correctness of its mention may be the subject of a separate dispute. However, even without the M99 product, the table below looks very sad for the US Marine Corps snipers. Their weapons are inferior to other sniper rifles, including those used by the American army. However, the Americans should be most worried about the fact that the existing M40A5, in terms of firing range, loses to various large-caliber machine guns, which for some time have begun to actively use various armed formations.
As follows from the title of the article in The Washington Post, the need to replace the M40 rifle and its modifications matured almost a decade and a half ago. However, in the intervening time and two wars, the command of the ILC did not take the necessary measures, continuing to hope for already outdated weapons and making it a priority to preserve the Precision Weapons Section. What will end this whole story - until the end is not clear. However, American marine snipers have good reasons for concern. In the event of an armed conflict, they really risk staying with a knife in the middle of a shootout.
Why did the Marines have failed to adopt a new sniper rifle in the past 14 years:
http://washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/why-the-marines-have-failed-to-adopt-a-new-sniper-rifle-in-the-past-14-years/2015/06/13/cb924d96-0eaf-11e5-a0dc-2b6f404ff5cf_story.html
Information