PANAGYURISHTE, ($1= 1.67 Bulgarian Levas) – The work of a sniper has always been valued at a special level in the conduct of hostilities. The special shooting training and the flawless use of weapons made the sniper units elite.
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Each sniper must have a set of unique qualities that allow them to perform perfectly fire missions: accuracy, camouflage, hitting a target from the first shot. History has preserved many of the achievements of snipers. Many of them were remembered for their special tactics, some with special or unique goals. We will tell you about five snipers who were recognized as masters of their craft.
5. Carlos Hathcock, Nickname: The White Feather, USA
During the Vietnam War (1964-1975), he was a legend in the United States military. In 1959 he joined the Marines. And despite doubts about his abilities on the part of his fellow soldiers, he managed to prove himself in the first shooting. In the future, he won all shooting competitions.
In 1966 he was sent to Vietnam. There he manifested himself at the highest level, officially eliminating 93 targets (according to unconfirmed data, he killed 300 enemy soldiers and officers). As a result, a reward of several thousand dollars was announced for his head.
For all his professionalism, he disregarded the rules of concealment and always wore a feather in his hat, which stood out and could betray.
His famous sniper duel with a Vietnamese sniper went down in history, in which he was the first to pull the trigger and hit his opponent right on target from a distance of about 300 meters.
Among his achievements is the elimination of the target at a distance of 2250 m.
Hathcock served in the Marines until 1979. After the service, he suffered from multiple sclerosis and died at the age of 56.
4. Simo Hayha, Nickname: The White Death, Finland
A Finnish archer who has become a symbol for the whole country. During the military conflict between the USSR and Finland from 1939 to 1940, according to official data, he killed 219 Soviet soldiers, according to various sources, the number of Red Army soldiers killed by him reached 542.
The peculiarity of his handwriting as a sniper was the non-use of optical sight. He believed that when sunlight struck him, the enemy would be able to see the glare, thus locating it. In addition, in severe cold, the glass froze.
His short stature (152 cm) also gave him an advantage in camouflage. He also kept the snow in his mouth to keep from catching his breath. It compacts the snow cover so that the snow does not fly sideways when shooting.
In March 1940, he was wounded, with his jaw broken. However, he was recovered by taking a bone from her thigh.
He died at the age of 96.
3. Lyudmila Pavlichenko, Nickname: Lady Death, Ukraine
A female sniper who became a legend during World War II. She has 309 eliminated opponents in her account. American journalists gave her the screaming nickname “Lady Death”.
As a student, she loved to shoot, which later allowed her to complete sniper shooting courses.
Being in Odessa in 1941, she became a participant in military operations and 17 months destroyed 179 enemy soldiers. A year later, she was seriously wounded and did not return to the battlefield.
She was sent to America and Canada with a delegation of Soviet youth, where she impressed everyone with her directness and resilience.
Ludmila died at the age of 58 on October 27, 1974, from a stroke.
2. Vasily Zaitsev, Nickname: Vasya, Russian Empire
A Soviet sniper who instills fear in enemies. In 1942, during the Battle of Stalingrad, the number of opponents he eliminated was 225, including 11 snipers.
Even during the first battles, he showed his qualities as a flawless shooter, firing from a three-line rifle at a distance of 800 meters, he eliminated three opponents.
He became famous for his sniper duel with the German top-class shooter Major Koenig. Vasily Zaitsev managed to establish his location through the reflection of the optical sight, which made it possible to win this battle.
Throughout the war, Zaitsev headed the sniper school. At the same time, he wrote two books on training skilled archers and introduced new techniques for hunting snipers.
At the age of 76, in December 1991, he died.
1. Chris Kyle, Nickname: The Devil of Ramadi, USA
An American soldier [Navy Seal], who became the most famous modern shooter in the United States. When he was 8 years old, his father gave him a rifle as a gift, which served as an impetus for his further career.
While serving in the US Navy, he was sent to Iraq several times to take part in military operations. There he appeared in Ramadi, he was called the “Devil of Ramadi,” and the reward for his death was $180,000.
At a distance of about 2,000 meters, Kyle eliminated an armed fighter who was preventing the advance of American tanks. In 2009, he resigned. In 2013, he was killed by an Iraqi war veteran suffering from PTSD.
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