05/04/10
From Sky News (UK)
Super Sniper Kills Taliban 1.5 Miles Away
A British army sniper helped save his commander and set a new
sharpshooting record after killing two Taliban machine gunners in Afghanistan
from a mile-and-a-half away.
Cpl of Horse Harrison sealed his place in military history
Corporal of Horse Craig Harrison fired his consecutive shots from such a long
distance that they took almost three seconds to reach their targets.
This was despite the 8.59mm bullets leaving the barrel of his rifle at almost
three times the speed of sound.
The distance to his two targets was 8,120ft, or 1.54 miles - according to a GPS
system - and about 3,000ft beyond the weapon's effective range.
The 35-year-old beat the previous sniper kill record of 7,972ft, set by a
Canadian soldier who shot dead an al Qaeda gunman in March 2002.
Speaking about the incident, Cpl of Horse Harrison said: "The first round hit a
machine gunner in the stomach and killed him outright. He went straight down and
didn't move.
"The second insurgent grabbed the weapon and turned as my second shot hit him in
the side. He went down, too. They were both dead."
The serviceman then fired a third and final round to ensure the machine gun was
out of action.
He said: "Conditions were perfect, no wind, mild weather, clear visibility. I
rested the bipod of my weapon on a compound wall and aimed for the gunner firing
the machine gun."
He killed the two insurgents as he protected his troop commander, whose vehicle
became trapped in a field in Helmand Province and started coming under fire.
Cpl of Horse Harrison, from Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, was using the
British-built L115A3 Long Range Rifle, the army's most powerful sniper weapon.
It is only designed to be effective at up to 4,921ft - just less than a mile -
and capable of only 'harassing fire' beyond that range.
To compensate for the spin and drift of the bullets as they flew the length of
25 football pitches, Cpl of Horse Harrison reportedly had to aim 6ft high and
20ins to the left.
In a remarkable tour of duty, he cheated death a few weeks later when a Taliban
bullet pierced his helmet but was deflected away from his skull.
L115A3 Long Range Rifle
British snipers fulfil a vital and enduring role on the battlefield, in terms of
intelligence-gathering, target identification and eliminating high value
targets. This year they have been using a new weapon, 'the best .338 sniper
rifle in the world'.
Unveiled earlier this year the L115A3 rifle, part of the Sniper System
Improvement Programme (SSIP), is a larger calibre weapon which provides
state-of-the-art telescopic day and night all-weather sights, increasing a
sniper's effective range considerably.
The first batch of SSIP systems was deployed to Afghanistan with members of 16
Air Assault Brigade in May 2008 with subsequent deliveries being made to
training units across the UK.
Designed to achieve a first-round hit at 600 metres and harassing fire out to
1,100 metres, Accuracy International's L96 sniper rifle has also been upgraded
with a new x3-x12 x 50 sight and spotting scope.
The L115A3 long range rifle fires an 8.59mm bullet which is heavier than the
7.62mm round of the L96 and less likely to be deflected over extremely long
ranges.
Other elements of the Sniper System Improvement Programme include night sights,
spotting scopes, laser range finders and tripods.
L115A3 Rifle Parts
Calibre 8.59 mm
Weight 6.8 kg
Length 1,300 mm
Muzzle velocity 936 m/s
Feed 5-round box
Effective range 1,100 m plus