The $25k SVL-5 Devastator-L has already been ordered by an unnamed, foreign customer, and Lobaev states that they have been developing a new generation of 12.7mm hypersonic ammunition, at about 5,650 feet per second (Mach 5), that will permit engaging targets as far away as 4.35 miles! This may be possible theoretically, using a discarding-sabot round with a tiny, tungsten dart inside, much like modern tank ammunition, although Lobaev is not discussing how they hope to achieve such hypersonic velocity.
Their final offering is the astounding, SVLK-14S single-shot Twilight-L in .375 CheyTac or .408 CheyTac, with a 35.4-inch barrel and fixed, carbon-fiber stock. Vladislav Lobaev claims that it’s the most accurate sniper rifle in the world, at .2 MOA.
Vladislav Lobaev, with SVLK-14S Twilight-L rifle in .408 CheyTac. Photo credit: YouTube.
Yuri Sinichkin, the lead engineer for Lobaev Arms, said, “This weapon (the SVLK-14S) was made piece-by-piece, just like a Ferrari or Porsche, for people who appreciate high-precision guns, as well as for professional snipers.”
The ultra-long-range, ultra-expensive ($35k) Twilight-L attempted a new world record on October 9, 2017, using a weapon specially chambered for a souped-up, wildcat version of the .408 CheyTac round, with a March Optics (American, gasp!) 5-40X scope. They smugly thought that they had set a new world record by successfully hitting a one-meter-square target at a truly impressive 4,604 yards, or 2.62 miles.
Unfortunately for the gloating Russians, an American team had already secretly broken the world’s record 10 days earlier, on September 30, 2017, at an astounding 5,000 yards, or 2.84 miles! The Americans used a customized, Armalite AR-30 rifle chambered for another wildcat derivative of the combat-proven, with the .408 CheyTac cartridge.
In 2019, sniper Sergey Shmakov set a world record for sniper shots at night with a Lobaev Twilight-L rifle. From a distance of 2,112 yards, he hit a 24×24-inch target five times, employing the Russian Daedalus-NV night sight.
In practical combat situations, however, an engagement range of 2,300 yards is normally as great as can be expected, because the .408 CheyTac projectile begins to yaw or tumble as it transitions to subsonic speed at that range. So far, Lobaev sniper rifles have been used by the Russian Federation, Argentina, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and the United Arab Emirates.
It’s certain that most of these rifle variants were combat-tested in Syria, or more recently in Ukraine, since the 2022 Russian invasion. In fact, a new counter-sniper unit (at the 165th Training Center) in Crimea was equipped with the full range of Lobaev rifles in January 2023.
Ukrainian sniper in concealed position, October 2023. Photo credit: Ghost of Bakhmut.
Vladislav Lobaev stated on Crimea-24 TV that, “The formation of such a unit in the form of a ‘fire brigade’ is now in full swing. This will allow the combatant units…to receive such counter-sniper services…The unit will perform tasks in the hottest sectors of the front, where enemy sniper activity is very high…We will be able to provide this unit with a full range of appropriate weapons. We are already doing this, we have delivered several dozen rifles for this, and are ready to supply more.”
On the Zaporizhzhia Front, noted, Ukrainian sniper instructor Oleg Nebuvaylo was killed in action in January 2023 by a Russian sniper armed with a suppressed, Lobaev SKL ZOV Counter-Sniper semiautomatic rifle in .308 Winchester, with two rounds fired at 553 meters.
SKL ZOV Counter-Sniper semiautomatic rifle in .308 Winchester. Photo by Lobaev Arms.
Deceased, Ukrainian sniper Oleg Nebuvaylo’s ID card Photo credit: Vladimir Rogov.
Another view of SKL ZOV Counter-Sniper rifle. Photo by Lobaev Arms.
Lobaev’s custom-built sniper rifles are quite rare and expensive, but their range and ultra-precise accuracy are unrivaled! All 12 models have apparently been used in combat in Ukraine over the past few years, with considerable success. The SVLK-14S Twilight-L offers the longest range of any Russian sniper rifle, while the SKL ZOV offers fast, accurate, counter-sniper firepower, and the integrally suppressed, Saboteur-L, Antimatter-L, and Dominator-L models, with the shortest barrels in several different calibers, offer Russian snipers the quietest, “whispering death” solution in long-range, combat operations.
—
** Editor’s Note: Thinking about subscribing to SOFREP? You can support Veteran Journalism & do it now for only $1 for your first year. Pull the trigger on this amazing offer HERE. – GDM
Whispering Death: Lobaev Sniper Rifles at War
If Lobaev’s catalog reads like a roll call of overbuilt, mile-plus problem solvers, it is because these boutique .308-to-.408 CheyTac bolt guns and suppressed urban counter-sniper rigs were engineered to punch holes in physics, wallets, and anyone unlucky enough to be downrange when the “whispering death” models start working.
Advertisement
