AXMC sniper rifles manufactured by Accuracy International Ltd. (UK) have been brought to Lithuania in early November. By the end of the year the rifles well approved by other NATO allies’ militaries will be distributed among battalions and training facilities of the Lithuanian Land Forces.

The weapons acquired for Euro 1.3 million are unique among sniper rifles because of the suitability to use munitions of two different calibres, 338 Lapua Magnum or 308 Win, by only changing the barrel and the barrel, a several minutes-long that can be completed in field conditions.

Until now the Lithuanian Land Force did not have sniper rifles and used FN SCAR-H PR semi-automatic precision rifles instead. AXMC sniper rifles have more than a double effective range as compared to the FN SCAR-H PR 1,968.5 feet/600 metres.

«Accuracy International of the United Kingdom cherishes old traditions of weapon making and is respected worldwide. The weapons it manufactures are of high quality and reliability in any conditions, including arctic or desert. AXMC rifle has a powerful Kahles sight and night vision. The new weapon will allow Lithuanian Land Force personnel destroy targets at nearly 0,93-mile/1.5-kilometre distance both during the day and at night», Master Sergeant Ernestas Kuckailis, expert of sniper and precision rifles with Juozas Lukša Warfare Training Centre, Lithuanian Land Force, says.

Once equipped with the sniper rifles, Juozas Lukša Warfare Training Centre of the Lithuanian Land Force will begin training qualification of sniper. According to Sergeant Major E. Kuckailis, the training of snipers has many similarities with that of scouts: they have to move in small groups in a territory without being traced, to insert into enemy’s back area, to report on targets and adjust indirect fire, to detect vital targets and neutralise critical personnel of enemy forces with precision fire.

There are examples in history of snipers taking control of a company or a battalion by fire alone due to professional assessment of the situation. Moral impact of the presence of a sniper on the battlefield is not less important: the enemy is always on the watch for a sniper shot and cannot feel safe not even in the territory in controls.