With how much foreign military aid is flowing into Ukraine, it might be easy to forget that Ukraine itself is a highly industrious nation with a strong defense industry. In 2021 a company Volodar Obryu presented a sniper rifle they described as “revolutionary”. Its most interesting feature was the changeable calibre.
Ivan Lukashevich’s sniper rifle Volodar Oryu (Horizon’s Lord), was publicly introduced in 2021. Image credit: АрміяInform via Wikimedia (CC BY 4.0)
Sniper rifles, obviously, are designed to engage targets very precisely at long distances. However, not all sniper rifles are created equal. Some are extremely large, designed for ultimate long-range ability. Meanwhile, others are lighter, more mobile and quick to use close to the battlefield.
There is no standard sniper rifle calibre, because it really depends on what you are trying to achieve. And that’s why the Volodar Obryu rifle, named Horizon’s Lord in English, is so interesting – it doesn’t have a set calibre.
Designer of the Horizon’s Lord Ivan Lukashevich started with the 12.7 mm calibre, but then the changeable calibre concept was developed. Serhiy Kolomiets, director of Volodar Obryu, said that there are just a handful of guns like this in the world.
Of course, it is not surprising – most rifles have a set calibre, which requires extensive modifications to change. The Horizon’s Lord was designed specifically for sabotage and counter-sabotage missions, in particular, in the conditions of deserts and mountainous terrain. It can engage snipers on the other side of the battlefield, attack enemy machine gun positions, anti-tank systems and other targets.
Serhiy Kolomiets said that the switch to a different calibre is actually a fairly simple procedure. You just need to change the barrel and the breech mechanism. For large 14.5 mm calibres, you may also need to install a hydraulic recoil compensator in the spring-loaded stock, which is not required when using less powerful calibres. It sounds like an involved process, but taking the gun apart is part of the basic maintenance anyway.
The Horizon’s Lord was first publicly presented in 2021. That was a different time, of course. Less than a year later Ukraine came under attack by the invading Russian forces. Sniper activity is a huge part of the success of the Ukrainian defense effort. And the Horizon’s Lord is being used to defend its home country.
In fact, just over a month ago the manufacturer of the Horizon’s Lord revealed that it received a video confirmation of an accurate 3800-metre shot, performed somewhere in the warzone in Ukraine. The bullet flew to the target for about 10 seconds and the Ukrainian sniper did destroy the enemy target.
The video is not very clear though:
The Horizon’s Lord is one of those weapons that might be highly demanded in the export markets once the war in Ukraine is over.
Written by Povilas M.
Source: ArmyInform