The United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) is in search of a new sniper rifle that would provide accuracy at record-shattering distances in a bid to keep up with the U.S. military's largest competitors.

In a notice posted to Sam.gov, a U.S. government website connecting private contractors to the federal government, the command posted its desire for a new "extreme long range-sniper rifle," which it hopes will be able to replace "older anti-materiel and anti-personnel rifles such as the M107 and MK15 with a newer system."

USSOCOM said in the notice that it is seeking a rifle with a "precision fire capability" of 2,500 meters, or 2,730 yards, a distance that could break existing confirmed kill records. According to a report from Military.com, the current longest confirmed sniper kill was set in 2002 by a Canadian Army sniper, Cpl. Rob Furlong, who used his country's military version of the TAC-50 to record a kill from 2,430 meters, or 2,657 yards.

When reached for comment by Fox News Digital, a USSCOM spokesperson confirmed the search for the new rifle while downplaying any issues with existing platforms.

"The M107 and MK15 rifles are still incredibly capable platforms that fulfill multiple requirements for Special Operations Forces," the spokesperson said.

Instead, the search for a new rifle is aimed at giving U.S. special operations forces a leg up on "near peer" rivals such as China and Russia.

"The [Extreme Long Range – Sniper Rifle] requirement is based off capabilities and advancements developed by industry partners as well as the long-range shooting sports community," the spokesperson said. "The ELR-SR will leverage these advances and will provide improvements in long range precision applications that will increase effective range and probability of hit in support of the great power competition for Special Operations Forces in near peer conflicts."

In the posting, USSOCOM said it is looking for a rifle that will be "a modular, magazine-fed, multi-caliber capable system which will include barrel configurations with required bolts and barrels of each caliber, required magazines of each caliber, stock, receiver, sound suppressor, ballistic computer, operator manual, cleaning kit, tool kit, bipod." Additionally, the caliber the for the rifle "shall be sub-sonic and supersonic capable" and have a length no greater that 56 inches and a weight of no more than 22 pounds.

"The Extreme Long Range – Sniper Rifle will increase the effectiveness of Special Operations Forces by utilizing the most recent advances and capabilities in small arms design, performance, and commercial manufacturing technologies to increase reliability, survivability and availability by replacing decade old weapon systems," the spokesperson said.

https://www.foxnews.com/us/us-...compete-russia-china

I saw a similar article and it brought to mind a couple of things.

On the one hand, and although I don’t really know why such a weapon is really necessary for what military snipers usually do, I find it gratifying that the community is still alive and well to the point of wanting to improve snipers’ capabilities.

On the other hand, the Marine Corps has decided they no longer need scout snipers, and that scouts who can (as I understand it) draw sort-of precision rifles from common stocks are all that’s necessary these days. Time and again during post-conflict drawdowns military forces have decided they didn’t need snipers, only to go, “Oops; I guess we were wrong,” and have to scramble to resurrect a program the next time the balloon goes up.

I find the Corps’ action this time to be especially ironic for two reasons. One is that although snipers are never going to win a war, their value has been appreciated by most belligerents in various conflicts going back for several recent decades. And even though snipers are usually considered to be more useful in “low intensity” warfare, both sides are using them in Ukraine in what is not very low intensity.
The other is that the Marines have traditionally had the reputation of better recognizing the value of precision aimed rifle fire, and doing a better job of supporting formal sniper programs. If anyone was going to deemphasize sniping, I didn’t expect it to be the USMC.

In any event, I’m fascinated by the development of precision rifles these days and everything that goes along with long range shooting, both in sport and military combat. There have been some very significant technological advances even in the past 20+ years, and I don’t see it slowing anytime soon.

quote:

Originally posted by sigfreund:
On the other hand, the Marine Corps has decided they no longer need scout snipers...

...in basic infantry battalions (only).

The Marine Corps hasn't abandoned sniping. They will continue to have snipers in their divisions' Recon battalions, as well as the USMC's special operations Raider battalions and Force Recon companies.

The infantry battalion's scout-snipers are being replaced/upgraded with scout-marksmen (effectively), with less of an emphasis on sniping and more of an emphasis on next generation scouting/intelligence-gathering technology, but who still have access to precision rifles if needed. And if a Marine commander decides they need a true sniper for a mission, they can access them from divisional Recon, or task a special operations unit.

Well, I must have misunderstood the article I saw that the last scout/sniper class attendees had just graduated.

So, there is a "sniper" MOS/designation that is separate and distinct from the (now discontinued?) scout sniper—?

I had seen several articles about the end of the scout/sniper designation and none I recall explained that there were still "snipers" per se. That of course would not be unusual for media reporting.

Added: I just did a quick search and you are of course correct. See my comment about news reporting.
And thanks yet again for setting us (me, anyway) straight.

Look to the long range competitors.

"USSOCOM said in the notice that it is seeking a rifle with a "precision fire capability" of 2,500 meters, or 2,730 yards"

quote:

Originally posted by Hamden106:
Look to the long range competitors.

Yep. But not just the "regular" ELR, but the guys that go for 1 and 2 miles.

I've shot a kinda "ELR-lite", which is effectively a longer-range steel match with some 1-mile targets thrown in. Competitors might use bores from 6.5mm to .338 on such matches. The 6.5s really struggle with the long shots. 7mm magnums do reasonably well, with reasonable recoil. The .30 magnums perform well, with stout recoil -- but it's manageable for good shooters. The .338s fly well, but with lots of recoil -- most shooters perform better with a .30 cal. If I got serious about this game I'd likely chamber a 300 PRC.

Regardless of caliber, even the most talented shooters have trouble making consistent hits on IPSC-sized targets in field conditions at a mile or more. At a mile there are a crapload more misses even on 3-foot plates than there are hits at ELR matches. Again, this is in the field -- not at a dedicated range, with known distances, flat terrain, and maybe some wind flags.

50 BGM really isn't the chambering for what the USSOCOM wants. Too much recoil, too much blast to the shooter, not enough accuracy. The bore will likely be somewhere between .375 and .416. It will be interesting what comes of USSOCOM's search. The 22 pound rifle limit means that some platforms used in true ELR matches must lose some weight to be considered.