“Reconnaissance and special-purpose subunits are going to acquire some accuracy. They will fully rearm with the SVDM sniper rifle, which outperforms the classic Dragunov. The new weapon not only has outstanding accuracy but can also be used with a number of accessories — various sights, a silencer, and additional equipment can be attached to it.”
The standard-issue infantry Kalashnikov family of weapons are not particularly accurate and have a modest effective range of 300 meters. Their purpose is to conduct suppressive automatic fire to keep the enemy pinned down. The rifle squad and platoon needed a specialty weapon to engage the enemy from 300 to 800 meters. The answer was the SVD Dragunov semiautomatic longer-range rifle. While titled a sniper rifle, it is really a rugged expert marksman’s rifle that routinely engages targets to 800 meters. Designed in 1963 and combat tested initially in South Vietnam, the SVD is older than most currently serving in the Russian military. According to a recent article in the pro-government newspaper Izvestia, the Dragunov has now been upgraded and airborne and reconnaissance troops are first in line for the upgrade. This is not the top-of-the-line professional Russian sniper rifle but seems ideal for rough-and-tumble field soldiering.
Source:
Roman Kretsul and Aleksei Ramm, “Точнее, и не смажешь: войсковую разведку перевооружат на новые винтовки (More Precision, No Lubrication. Tactical Reconnaissance Upgrades to New Rifles. Specialized Sniper Subunits to Get the SVDM),” Izvestia (pro-government newspaper), 7 November 2021.
Reconnaissance and special-purpose subunits are going to acquire some accuracy. They will fully rearm with the SVDM sniper rifle, which outperforms the classic Dragunov. The new weapon not only has outstanding accuracy but can also be used with a number of accessories — various sights, a silencer, and additional equipment can be attached to it. According to experts, this greatly increases reconnaissance troops’ opportunities to eliminate targets at long range.”
The Defense Ministry has decided to upgrade tactical reconnaissance and special-purpose units with the SVDM sniper rifle… The move should enhance these troops’ battlefield capabilities. The first consignments have already arrived in the Southern Military District. The Dragunov sniper rifle (SVD) has served the forces well for half a century and in its class has become a brand, like Kalashnikov for assault rifles. Even a less than expert soldier is sure to hit targets with it at ranges of up to 800 meters. The Dragunov combines greater firepower and range than an assault rifle with exceptional reliability and relative simplicity of use. Back in Soviet times the role of sniper armed with an SVD was inserted into the standard complement of a motorized infantry squad. This gave Soviet infantry a substantial increase in firepower compared to foreign armies.
Russian engineers have been working in recent decades on various options for modernizing this tried and true weapon. The latest modification is the SVDM. Made of advanced materials, it has improved ergonomics and greater accuracy.
The gun mounts Picatinny rails on which accessories to suit the mission at hand, such as optical or night sights or a silencer may be mounted in minutes. The SVDM has backup iron sights and a fixed point for a folding bipod. Many older models of the gun required some disassembly in order to mount the accessories, which is a lengthy process.
“In the army a sniper is actually a low-altitude precision weapon,” military expert Vladislav Shurygin stated. “The Dragunov sniper rifle means you can deliver accurate fire over medium distances. In battle it is used to take out important targets. The sniper usually accompanies the commander and is tasked by him. A modernization for the Dragunov is further confirmation that this gun was created with future upgrades in mind, and it still has great potential today.”
Albert Bakov, general director of TsNIItochmash [Central Scientific Research Institute for Precision Machine Engineering] told Izvestiya in an interview in 2019 that the Dragunov was so perfectly designed from the outset that in the category of army rifles for shooting at ranges between 500 and 800 meters “it cannot be made any better” — only individual elements can be improved. You can paddle with it, you can throw it around — and it works fine over ranges of 500 to 800 meters.” The company is now working on larger-caliber rifles.
The Kalashnikov concern is currently upgrading the Chuvakin sniper rifle (SVCh), which should hit individual targets at ranges of up to a kilometer with the first shot. It is designed to take two types of cartridge — the powerful Russian 7.62×54 mm flanged and the NATO 7.62×51 mm rifle cartridge. When it will acquire its final shape and enter serial production is unknown.
Until the Chuvakin is inducted into service, the Dragunov will remain the best sniper rifle option for the regular troops. There are longer-range and more powerful rifles in existence but they are far more expensive and technically complex, and are intended not for use in battle but for particular types of missions. These weapons are supplied in limited numbers to special-purpose subunits in the army and the security and law enforcement agencies.
The military has already begun to rearm its marksmen: Airborne Troops reconnaissance subunits have received the brand-new AK-12 assault rifle. Outwardly it resembles the classic Kalashnikov, but this is a fundamental redesign. It has acquired the ability to fire in fixed bursts of two rounds per trigger pull, it has a longer-lasting barrel, additional detachable accessories, and easier switching between shooting modes. New thermal imagers, silencers, and collimator sights are in production for it, enabling accurate fire at silhouette targets from ranges of up to 500 meters.The new weapons and kit now arriving at the Airborne Troops are radically extending their capabilities. Izvestiya already reported that the blue berets’ reconnaissance subunits have received the new Arbalet-2 parachute, with which they can jump from altitudes of up to 4,000 meters, or higher if they have oxygen tanks. The parachute’s special canopy means that it can be steered while in flight, which means that troopers can travel dozens of kilometers while descending, to penetrate behind enemy lines undetected.