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New Delhi: Indian Army soldiers along the Line of Control (LoC) finally have access to deadly new sniper rifles after their arrival at the Northern Command, which looks after the crucial LoC and some part of the Line of Actual Control with China.

The new rifles include an anti-material rifle that can go through concrete and metal objects.

The sniper rifles being given to the soldiers, as a replacement for the ageing Russian Dragunov, are the .50 Calibre M95 by Barrett and the .338 Lapua Magnum Scorpio TGT by Beretta.

Sources said the soldiers will be trained on these rifles before the equipment is deployed for use at the LoC where sniping incidents have increased.

A limited number of rifles were bought through the emergency purchase power of the Northern Commander.

With the arrival of the new sniper rifles, ThePrint takes a look at the role they will play in the Northern Command.

Why the new rifles

Sources say formations at the LoC felt the need to go in for superior sniper rifles as the dynamic in the region has changed.

The Pakistan Army has resorted to sniping in a big way to hit at soldiers guarding the LoC. Many times, soldiers have been hit even in their own posts, besides being targeted when they are out patrolling.

Even though the Indian Army has retaliated in equal terms, the need was felt for more modern and deadlier sniper rifles.

Also read: The new danger in Kashmir: Cold, calculating snipers who are wary of close contact

What’s special about the new rifles?

The US-made Barrett M95 is an anti-material rifle which has a range of 1,800 metres. The gun, which is in use with many special forces around the world, is a bolt action sniper rifle chambered in a .50 Browing Machine Gun cartridge (12.7×99mm).

With an unloaded gun weighing about 10 kg, the M95 first came out way back in 1995, and is part of the Barrett M82 family, the first notable American-made .50 Caliber anti-material rifle introduced in 1982.

The gun feeds from a five-round detachable box magazine and is a more compact and lighter version than earlier products.

The other gun that will be available to the troops along the LoC is the Victrix Armaments’ .338 Lapua Magnum Scorpio TGT, owned by Italian firm Beretta.

The Scorpio TGT uses the .338 Lapua Magnum (8.6×70mm or 8.58×70mm), a rimless, bottlenecked, centre-fire rifle cartridge.

It was developed in the 1980s as a high-powered, long-range cartridge for military snipers. It was used in the Afghanistan War and the Iraq War.

Although the .338 Lapua Magnum was initially developed to penetrate body armour at 1,000 metres, it has been used effectively to 1,500 metres and beyond, and holds the distinction of being part of some of the record-breaking sniper shots in war.

At least 30 countries use the .338 Lapua Magnum sniper rifles and over a dozen manufacturers produce rifles, in multiple configurations, in this calibre.

Also read: Militant snipers add grisly new chapter to Kashmir insurgency with three kills

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