Great article on snipers and sniping, and the R&D going into the art, via the always engaging Bruce Schneier.
Heavy .50 … guns can pepper an area randomly with bullets from as far off as 7400m
“Randomly” doesn’t sound all that helpful to a sniper, until you look at the kinds of rounds he might soon be firing…
fin-stabilized projectiles, spin-stabilized projectiles, internal and/or external aero-actuation control methods, projectile guidance technologies, tamper proofing, small stable power supplies, and advanced sighting and optical resolution technologies.
…which adds up to…
the snipers of tomorrow [lurking] four or five miles from their targets, illuminating them with targeting lasers and then squeezing off a casually-aimed smartslug to home in inevitably on the pointer dot.