Sniper Warfare - Notable Military Snipers - 21st Century

21st Century

  • British Army CoH Craig Harrison of the Household Cavalry successfully engaged two Taliban machine gunners south of Musa Qala in Helmand Province in Afghanistan in November 2009 at a range of 2,475 m (2,707 yd), using a L115A3 Long Range Rifle rifle chambered in .338 Lapua Magnum. These are the longest recorded and confirmed sniper kills in history.
  • Canadian Corporal Rob Furlong, formerly of the PPCLI (Operation Anaconda, Afghanistan) - achieved a recorded and confirmed sniper kill at 2,430 m (2,657 yd) in 2002 using a .50 caliber (12.7 mm) McMillan TAC-50 rifle.
  • Canadian Master Corporal Arron Perry, formerly of the PPCLI (Operation Anaconda, Afghanistan) - briefly held the record for the longest-ever recorded and confirmed sniper kill at 2,310 m (2,526 yd) in 2002 after eclipsing US Marine Gunnery Sergeant Carlos Hathcock's previous record established in 1967. Perry used a .50 caliber (12.7 mm) McMillan TAC-50 rifle.
  • Canadian Master Corporal Graham Ragsdale using a .308 registered 20 confirmed kills over ten days during Operation Anaconda.
  • U.S. Navy Chief Chris Kyle of SEAL Team Three had 255 kills, 160 of which are officially confirmed by the Pentagon, during four deployments to Iraq between 2003 and 2009. Kyle, now deceased, was the deadliest marksman in US military history. During the Second Battle of Fallujah alone, when US Marines fought running battles in the streets with several thousand insurgents, he killed 40 people. For his deadly track record as a marksman during his deployment to Ramadi, the insurgents named him 'Al-Shaitan Ramad' - the Devil of Rahmadi - and put a $20,000 bounty on his head. His most legendary shot came outside Sadr City in 2008 when he shot an insurgent with a rocket launcher near an Army convoy with his .338 Lapua Magnum rifle at 1,920 m (2,100 yd).
  • British Army Corporal Christopher Reynolds of the 3d. battalion the Royal Regiment of Scotland, the Black Watch, shot and killed a Taliban commander at a range of 1,853 m (2,026 yd) using a .338 Lapua Magnum (8.6 mm) L115A3 rifle.
  • U.S. Marine Corps Staff Sergeant Steve Reichert - Killed an Iraqi insurgent and possibly injuring two more hiding behind a brick wall with a shot from 1 mile in Lutayfiyah, Iraq on April 9, 2004. Reichert was using a Barrett M82A3 .50BMG rifle loaded with Raufoss Mk 211 multipurpose rounds. During the same engagement Reichert eliminated an Iraqi machine gunner pinning down a squad of Marines from a distance of 1,614 m (1,765 yd).
  • U.S. Marine Corps Gunnery Sergeant Bryan Falldorf - Killed 2 insurgent snipers from a CH-53 helicopter at a range of 1,086 and 1,240 meters with a Barrett M82A1 .50 bmg rifle, Afghanistan, November 10, 2005.
  • U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Jim Gilliland - Previously held the record for the longest recorded confirmed kill with a 7.62×51mm NATO rifle at 1,250 m (1,367 yd) with a M24, while engaging an Iraqi insurgent sniper in Ramadi, Iraq on September 27, 2005.
  • U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Timothy L. Kellner - regarded as one of the top snipers still active in the U.S. Army with 78 confirmed kills during Operation Iraqi Freedom and 3 in Haiti.
  • Sri Lankan Army Sniper, Corporal I.R. Premasiri alias ‘Nero’, of the 5th Battalion in the Gajaba Regiment has 180 confirmed L.T.T.E. terrorist kills.
  • Iraqi insurgent Juba, a sniper who features in several propaganda videos. Juba has allegedly shot 37 American soldiers, although whether Juba is a real individual is unknown. He may be a constructed composite of a number of insurgent snipers.
  • Corporal Ben Roberts-Smith VC MG of the Australian Special Air Service Regiment was awarded the Medal of Gallantry for his actions in 2006 during Operation Perth in the Chora Valley of Oruzgan Province, Afghanistan. In that action, patrol sniper Roberts-Smith prevented an outnumbered patrol from being overrun by Anti-Coalition Militia with sniper fire. Subsequently in early 2011, he became the second Australian to be awarded the Victoria Cross on Operation Slipper in Afghanistan. As part of the Shah Wali Kot Offensive in June 2010; having provided sniper over-watch for ground forces from a helicopter with a M14 EBR rifle, he was air assaulted into a firefight and subsequently eliminated machine gun positions.
  • U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Justin Morales - As part of the U.S. Army CIST (Counter Insurgent Sniper Team) in Iraq, he recorded 27 confirmed kills with a M24 7.62×51mm NATO rifle. From 2005 to 2006, Morales and his team in Balad, Iraq was tasked with seeking out insurgents placing IEDs along Main Supply Routes and Alternate Supply Routes.
  • U.S. Army SPC Christopher Dale Abbott- As part of a U.S. Army Counter IED team (CIEDT) in Iraq in 2007-2008, he recorded 22 confirmed kills with a M24 7.62×51mm NATO rifle for a period of only 7 months before being injured and sent out of theater. Abbott a Military Police Officer attached to assist the 25th Infantry Division out of Hawaii for this mission. Abbott and the team he was with were tasked with seeking out insurgents placing IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices) along frequently used supply routes.

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