The British special forces have acquired 150 Gepard GM6 Lynx anti-materiel rifles capable of shooting down aircraft and damaging armored vehicles with one shot.
According to Daily Mail, Special Air Service (SAS), Special Boat Service (SBS), and Special Reconnaissance Regiment in Iraq and Syria are already using the Hungarian rifle.
Portable ‘Howitzer’
Describing Gepard, one special forces soldier likened the rifle to a “howitzer” for its massive “punch,” despite weighing only 23 pounds (10.4 kg) at 4ft (1.2 m) long. “The rounds it fires can stop a truck bomb in its tracks. A team equipped with one of these could take out half a dozen very expensive fighters or helicopters very quickly,” he told the British daily.
The rifle’s .50-calibre bullet travels at 780m/second (2,559 feet/second) piercing a vehicle’s armor plating before exploding inside, the outlet added.
The semi-automatic rifle’s magazine carries five rounds of .50-calibre or 12.7×108mm Raufoss Mk2 bullets that can be fired in three seconds. It costs 9,000 pounds ($12,300) and has a range of 1.25 miles (2km).
Eight Times the Power
According to manufacturer Sero International Ltd, the rifle, which can be paradropped and vehicle-mounted, generates 5-8 times more muzzle velocity (780m/ second) than conventional small arms and is capable of shooting down a helicopter at a range of 600-800 feet (1,968-2,625 meters).
Apart from aircraft and armored vehicles, the gun is used for destroying key targets such as “light shelters and buildings, radio-electronic construction, and missile launchers.”
