Wales

Sniper Training Exclusive

Realising the full potential of snipers in Afghanistan is key to winning the battle for hearts and minds in Afghanistan. That's the message from instructors and students at the Army's Sniper Wing.

British Forces News has been given exclusive access to see the next wave of snipers and their commanders prepare to take on the Taliban.

Camouflaged. Hidden in the undergrowth. The enemy in their sights, This sniper team is on exercise at a disused munitions factory in Wales, training here gives them the field skills they need, but also prepares them for urban warfare….soon they’ll be in Helmand. These soldiers are training to be Section and Platoon Commanders, so they can make decisions about deploying snipers in Afghanistan. The men here have extensive operational experience of sniping - in Northern Ireland, Bosnia, Iraq and Afghanistan, but this is the next level.

Instructors say it is key to gaining the confidence of the civilian population, snipers spend days observing and stalking their enemy, waiting for the right moment to eliminate them and them only.

Despite the common misconceptions about snipers, in theatre they never deploy alone, always operating in pairs, and with at least three teams on the ground at a time. They’re hunting out high value targets, but have become valued targets themselves, now the Taliban is using an increased number of its own sharpshooters in places like Sangin.

In Brecon they take part in a series of classes and exercises, teaching them tactics and planning skills. But there’s criticism of Commanders on the ground that they could be using snipers much more effectively - if only they were more aware of their capabilities, including observation and intelligence gathering.

For the exercise they’re using blanks and the target is just a couple of hundred metres away. But with the right conditions and using their L115 A3 Rifles, any one of these soldiers could kill a man from 900 metres. And there’ve been successful hits from three times that distance in Afghanistan. The longest range recorded kill stands at more than a mile and a half, by a British sniper in Musa Qala last year.

They are among the Army’s top infantry soldiers and each of them has volunteered to become a sniper. They can stay out on the ground for up to 48 hours, with little or no sleep and carrying all the rations they need.