Small Arms and Combat Marksmanship

[Fishbone Jones]

Flame throwers.  ;D Long range, high tech flamethrowers

 

[vonGarvin]

Flame throwers.  ;D Long range, high tech flamethrowers

Don't laugh: they exist


9A52 is one example (aka "Smerch", or BM-30)

The RPO-80 is similar to the RPG-7, apparently, but with shorter range.  "Thermobaric" is the way to go ;D

 

[George Wallace]

Thermobaric is very scary stuff.

 

[Illegio]

The RPO-80 is similar to the RPG-7, apparently, but with shorter range.

RPO-A

I'm not sure I'm sold on the sect sharpshooter idea. I'm not convinced we can reliably get that many personnel up to a standard where they are firing out to 600m reliably.  Also the greater importance of delivering precise fire versus area/suppressive fire is something I'm not sure about. How often are INS popping shots at patrols while surrounded by civilians? I don't believe its very common in Afghanistan, maybe in Iraq or against the Palistinnians? I have a hard time imagining a sharpshooter who is under contact being able to reliably deliver that one shot one kill in a non combatant rich environment while being shot at.

I disagree. The skill required to shoot accurately and reliably out to 600m is only a product of time, training, and ammunition. It's only a question of what the military is willing to commit to train and maintain people to this standard. To look at the Basic Sniper course, I'd estimate that perhaps a quarter or a third of the course is dedicated to range time - the rest is observations, judging distance, and stalking. To pull the relevant elements from that course - shooting and JD - and tailor it to a sharpshooter program would require two, three weeks? Ideally, a minimum of one solid day of shooting a month to maintain those skills, but, well, even the snipers don't get out that much.

As far as the sharpshooters' relevancy goes, I believe it is as much about improving the flexibility of the section at a fundamental level as it is about tailoring the section to the current conflict. We won't always be in Afghanistan, after all.

 

[Infanteer]

http://www.combatcamera.forces.gc.ca/netpub/server.np?find&catalog=photos&template=detail_eng.np&field=itemid&op=matches&value=8575&site=combatcamera

Here's another example of marksmanship (or lack thereof) that made this year's Army Calendar....

 

[a_majoor]

Here I am teaching my last ever course (BMQ, where by God, they WILL learn the principles of marksmanship), only to have "pray and spray" immortalized in a calendar...