Translucent Steel Tank, Indonesian Sniper Rifle Stuns the World

Sniper. The term can be traced back to the 1770s, among British colonial warriors in India. Anyone who is adept at hunting snipe birds that supposedly difficult to get shot, then he is entitled to get the nickname 'sniper'.

As the time passes, the sniper undergoes a shift in meaning. Namely, infantry soldiers who are specially trained to have the ability to kill enemies hidden from a distance using a rifle.

Indonesia just lost the world-renowned legendary sniper, Tatang Koswara, who passed away on March 3, 2015. However, Bumi Pertiwi produced another pride, a sniper rifle (SPR) produced by PT Pindad: SPR 2.

This SPR is not just any weapon. The bullet can penetrate the steel tank. And even, there is an explosive behind the munitions that can destroy a combat vehicle in an instant. More greatly, SPR 2 also has a range of up to 2 kilometers (km). Its appearance is shocking sniper world.

"Weapons are global, if we focus on weapons, we have SS-1, SS-1 and some variants We also have SPR-2 that we just launched and immediately bought by Kopassus," said PT Pindad Director Silmy Karim to Me.

Former Expert Staff of the Defense Industry Policy Committee (KKIP) added that the weapons that are the flagship product of Pindad, the quality has been tested. Ready to use on the battlefield. "And it is indeed acceptable and even superior to imported products," he said.

In detail, SPR 2 caliber 12.7 mm x 99 mm, 1.755 mm rifle length, 19.5 kg overall weight, 1.055 mm barrel length, bullet capacity between 5-10 grains. Rifling or threaded spiral grooves on the inside of this gun barrel are 8 grooves, RH 381 mm (15 ") twist. Average speed of bullet ejection 900 meters per second and 2 km range.

According to Silmy, the privilege of this SPR 2 compared to the rifle of the country is to lie in the range, accuracy, and silencer or silencer sound of shooting from the shot.

Installed silencers can lower the sound of gunshots around 20-30 decibels. This weapon also features night vision devices and telescopes with magnification 5-25 times.

"This weapon is a silencer from its recoil (hentakan), which is enough to make it difficult for other manufacturers to design products used by snipers.In addition, this sniper weapon is relatively very special.In a sense not bulk where the level of accuracy should be maximum, "he said.

This Pindad Director acknowledges the economic benefits of making SPR 2 is actually not too big. But he emphasized, the success of making the rifle proved that Indonesia is able to create innovative and cutting edge alutsista.

"To make this sniper, the effort is a lot, but economically, the benefits are not too much, but we do this in the context of independence, in the context we are able to make weapons that can be used by snipers," Silmy said.

To me, the technician Pindad Diding Sumardi shows the shape of a SPR 2 rifle, accessories, and various bullets. There are three types of bullets that can be used, namely MU3 M used for shooting practice, MU 3 SAM that can penetrate the vehicle, and MU 3 BLAM that not only penetrate the vehicle but can also blow up the target.

For its remarkable ability, Sniper SPR 2 gets international recognition. Evidently, this rifle entered the recommendation on the main weapon system tool site (alutsista) Weaponsystems.net, side by side with other advanced weapons from all over the world, such as the Serbian Zastava M93 Black Arrow submachine rifle.

In fact, the Singapore army has once praised SPR 2. "Good!", Said a Singapore Army contingent shooter, while continuing to look and see details of anti-material rifle feature of the SPR-2 version, which is on display at PT Pindad's stand on the sidelines the 21st ASEAN Armies Rifle Meet (AARM) shooting championship, in Depok, West Java, some time ago.

Not only that, with the existence of this SPR 2, Indonesia is coupled with three other countries that can make similar runduk gun, namely United States (US) and two countries in Europe.

The military world of Indonesia rose from the previous level. Even so, PT Pindah has not sold it to other countries. So far, only the Army Special Forces Command (Koppasus) has operated it. Regarding the price per unit, SPR 2 is priced around Rp 200 million per shoot.