TechEnhanced lethality: How thermal imaging and precision rifles redefine sniper warfare

Enhanced lethality: How thermal imaging and precision rifles redefine sniper warfare

For over a century, snipers and sharpshooters have been one of the biggest threats to infantry soldiers. Nowadays, by utilizing the most modern technological innovations such as thermal imaging scopes with built-in ballistic computers, they have become even more lethal. We explain how thermal imaging works and the advantage it provides.

View from the thermal scope of a Ukrainian sniper while hunting Russians.

Images source: © X (dawniej Twitter) | SPECIAL OPERATIONS FORCES OF UKRAINE

Przemysław Juraszek

21 March 2024 20:19

Online, many videos depict sharpshooters and snipers from special units and others eliminating Russians with chilling precision and speed. Below, a video displays footage from the sniper scopes of servicemen in the 73rd Ukrainian Marine Corps special unit during the elimination of six Russian soldiers in 40 seconds.

In the video, it's clear the shooters are using ammunition that weighs about 230/250 grams, characteristic of the sniper ammunition caliber .338 Lapua Magnum. A weapon loaded with such ammunition can effectively hit targets at a distance of even 1.5 kilometers, and the muzzle energy of the fired projectiles exceeding 6000 J ensures that not even the world's best ballistic plates will provide protection.

These capabilities, combined with a high-quality rifle such as the Desert Tech SRS-A2 or the Polish MWS-38, a skilled shooter, and a thermal imaging sight, constitute a highly lethal combination. Under favorable circumstances, even a few snipers or sharpshooters with artillery support can be capable of repelling a Russian assault group.

Thermal Imaging — its user sees everything

Just two decades ago, thermal imaging sights were reserved for vehicles like the Leopard 2 tanks or infantry fighting vehicles such as the M2A2 Bradley or CV90. However, now thermal imaging sights have reached sizes similar to traditional optical ones and are even available on the civilian market.

The operation of thermal imaging is based on the heat emission relative to the environment, and the greater the temperature difference between the heat source and the environment, the better. For this reason, a person or another warm object is a bright spot against a particularly cold environment, and in principle, the only form of protection is to minimize heat emission to the environment or to place an obstacle with the environmental temperature between the heat source and the thermal imager.

This is extremely difficult, and some form of protection is only provided by specialized and costly materials such as INVISI-TEC IR or Relv Eclipse. Moreover, thermal imaging sites are often equipped with ballistic computers and laser rangefinders to measure distance.

For example, the Pulsar Thermion 2 XP50 PRO, priced at about £5,000 based on a sensor with a resolution of 640x480 pixels and good thermal sensitivity (<25mK), allows for detecting a human-sized target from a distance of up to 1.8 kilometers.

All this means that the shooter can focus on finding and eliminating targets, while the computer performs complicated calculations including wind direction, air humidity, and even the speed of the Earth's rotation.