An elite special forces sniper, according to the Canadian military, killed an ISIS fighter in Mosul from 3,540 metres away. That's 200 metres more than six CN Towers stacked end to end. (From the archive)
The distances are mind-boggling: in 2002, Master Cpl. Arron Perry from the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry took aim at an Afghan insurgent from a distance of 2,300 metres and hit his target, setting the world record for the longest confirmed kill shot in military history. Not long after, Cpl. Rob Furlong, in the same operation, bested his brother-in-arms with a confirmed kill at 2,430 metres.
This latest record, Furlong adds, has taken sniping “to a different level.” Canadian snipers are considered some of the best in the world in part because they are not simply taught to hit their targets. Like much of the Canadian military, many are trained with skills above their existing rank, in the sniper’s case as Unit Master Snipers, meaning they have the skills to design and run complex operations if the need ever arises.
“This is a very important point,” says Chris Kilford, a retired Canadian artillery officer and now a fellow at the Queen’s University Centre for International and Defence Policy. “I have been very impressed with the young people in our special forces that I have interacted with overseas. Corporals and master corporals: bright and articulate. I also think that in general our people are often capable of working at a higher level than the rank on their shoulder.
“There is a difference between slant angle range and true range,” he says. “Slant angle range—if the shooter is at an elevated position relative to the target—may appear longer that the true range, sometimes twice the true distance. I don’t want to be a naysayer but those are just the facts.” “It’s not an impossible distance,” he says. “The difference is between a shooting range and a battlefield. They are two completely different environments. The pressure these guys are under is huge. So to the naysayers I would just say, this can be done.”
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