Canadian sniper shoots fighter from 3.5 kms away

A Special Operations sniper shot a ISIS fighter in Iraq from 3.5 kilometres away, the Canadian military confirmed Thursday.

The incident, according to a report in the Globe and Mail, happened within the last month. The Canadian Special Operations Command confirmed that one of its soldiers from the elite Joint Task Force 2 hit a human target from 3,540 metres away.

“For operational security reasons and to preserve the safety of our personnel and our coalition partners, we will not discuss precise details on when and how this incident took place,” the statement said. “The (Special Operations Task Force) provides its expertise to Iraqi security force to detect, identify and defeat ISIS activities from well behind the Iraqi security force front line in Mosul,” it added.

If true, the shot — or multiple shots — would join the macabre ranks of the longest sniper kills in history.

The newspaper said the shooter used a McMillan Tac-50 rifle. The U.S.-made rifle, chambered in .50 calibre, was responsible for multiple record-breaking shots during Operation Anaconda in Afghanistan in 2002. The weapon has a maximum effective range of around 3,650 metres and weighs roughly 26 pounds.

It is billed as being able to shoot a 1.27 centimetre bullet group at 91 metres. Meaning at 3,539 metres, its grouping size would be somewhere around 20 inches. For the soldier to hit his target 3,540 metres he would need to account for every atmospheric factor available. Wind speed, temperature, barometric pressure, the bullet’s yaw and the rotation of the earth would all need to be considered before pulling the trigger.