Key Points: Sniper legend Carlos Hathcock set the bar high with his precision during the Vietnam War, including a record-breaking 2,500-yard shot. Yet, modern snipers have surpassed those feats thanks to advanced weaponry and favorable conditions in conflicts like Afghanistan, Iraq, and Ukraine.
-The longest sniper kill belongs to Ukrainian sniper Vyacheslav Kovalskiy, who eliminated a Russian officer at an astonishing 3,800 meters (2.3 miles) during the 2023 Russian invasion. Achieving such shots requires accounting for complex variables like wind, elevation, gravity, and even the Earth’s curvature.
-These extraordinary feats demonstrate the evolving role and unmatched precision of snipers in modern warfare.
Ukrainian Sniper Sets Unbelievable 2.3-Mile Kill Record
Snipers are a rare breed; they can wait for hours, sometimes days, to get the perfect shot. And then disappear like a wisp of the wind on a warm summer night. Besides intensive training, snipers need a lot of patience. No one personified that as much as Carlos Hathcock, the US sniper every other sniper gets compared to.
Hathcock assassinated a North Vietnamese general during the war in Vietnam. After being inserted alone by helicopter, he stalked for 1,500 yards over four days and three nights before taking out the general with a single shot from a distance of 700 yards. During his stalk, he was nearly stepped on by an NVA soldier and bitten by a snake.
He is credited with the phrase, “The deadliest thing on the battlefield is one well-aimed shot.”
Hathcock set a record at the time by killing an NVA soldier at 2,500 yards (1.42 miles) using an M2 .50 caliber machine gun. However, as engineering and weapons manufacturing have improved, the ranges have increased dramatically so snipers can kill targets.
The Wars In Afghanistan, Iraq And Ukraine Were the Proving Ground
Because of the very nature of the environments in Iraq or Afghanistan, a well-trained sniper can see targets that would have been impossible for snipers to accomplish in the jungles of Southeast Asia.
U.S. Marine Cpl. Kaden Prickett, machine gunner and team leader with Golf Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force-Crisis Response-Central Command, fires a .50 caliber Special Applications Scoped Rifle at a target 1,200 meters away, in the Central Command area of operations, Jan. 6, 2015. Marines and sailors of Golf Company spent time on the range getting acquainted with various weapons systems and cross-training one another in their respective areas of expertise. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Carson A. Gramley/Released)
Hathcock’s long shot in Vietnam is only the ninth longest today.
The top five longest kill shots in sniper history are listed as follows.
#5 Craig Harrison 2,475 m War In Afghanistan
#4 Ukrainian National Guard 2,710 m Russian Invasion Of Ukraine
#3 Australian Defense Force 2,815 m War In Afghanistan
#2 Canadian Armed Forces 3,540 m War In Iraq
#1 Viacheslav Kovalskyi 3,800 m Russian Invasion Of Ukraine
One of the most incredible feats of combat sniping is taking down a target from more than a mile away. All five were able to do that. But even more remarkable is that the top two did it from more than two miles away.
A Dutch Special Forces Sniper adjusts his scope at the High Angle Sniper Course in Hochfilzen training area, Austria, September 31st, 2020. The high angle sniper course lasts two weeks and is designed to teach and train sniper teams the necessary skills to operate in mountainous terrain. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Patrik Orcutt)
For a sniper to accomplish these shooting feats, they have to account for a host of external factors to hit the target. These include – wind speed, wind direction, elevation, angle, air density, gravity, and more. From the moment the shooter pulls the trigger until the round reaches its target.
Depending on the distance, they might even have to account for the curvature and rotation of the Earth.
The Canadian sniper made an incredible shot from 2.2 miles away. But then in 2023, a Ukrainian sniper named Vyacheslav Kovalskiy fired an amazing shot against a Russian officer that traveled 12,468 feet, about 2.3 miles, that took nine seconds to hit the target.
Kovalskiy, 58, was a businessman before the war, but his shooting skills have been useful to his country. He and his spotter observed Russian troops cutting wood in the forest. But he didn’t want to waste a shot of that distance for a lower enlisted man cutting wood.
A competitor in the United States Army Special Operations Command International Sniper Competition uses a digital range finder on his weapon while engaging long-distance targets at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, March 19, 2019. Twenty-one teams competed in the USASOC International Sniper Competition where instructors from the United States Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School designed a series of events that challenged the two-person teams’ ability to work together, firing range, speed and accuracy in varied types of environments. (U.S. Army photo by K. Kassens)
Shortly after, more soldiers appeared, and the one giving orders was an officer. He and his spotter used patience and waited for hours until the officer reappeared. Kovalskiy took his shot and watched the man fall. His shot broke the existing record by 850 feet.
About the Author: Steve Balestrieri
Steve Balestrieri is a 19FortyFive National Security Columnist. He served as a US Army Special Forces NCO and Warrant Officer. In addition to writing for 1945, he covers the NFL for PatsFans.com and is a member of the Pro Football Writers of America (PFWA). His work was regularly featured in other military publications.
