4000m Sniper Record Set with Drone and AI

August 15, 2025October 20, 2025

Fighters from the consolidated sniper unit “Pryvyd” (Ghost) updated the world record for effective sniper rifle range on August 14. The 4000m sniper record marks another milestone in marksmanship, 200 meters beyond the previous achievement. The previous record also belonged to a Ukrainian: SBU sniper Viacheslav Kovalskyi, who eliminated an enemy from 3,800 metres in 2023.

Journalist and military correspondent Yurii Butusov first reported this. He attached video footage of the sniper team’s work and drone footage capturing the hit to his post about this episode:

The record hit without direct line of sight was made under correction from a UAV complex using a 14.5 mm Alligator rifle equipped with a Ukrainian-made thermal sight.
This occurred in the Pokrovsk-Myrnograd direction in the area of responsibility of Operational-Tactical Group Donetsk under Major General Nykoliuk’s leadership, with Colonel Sukharevskyi’s support and under the control of Dnipro Operational-Strategic Group Commander Major General Drapatyi.

Sniper Record with Ukrainian Innovation

The record shot was made on August 14 on the Pokrovsk-Myrnograd defense line. The sniper pair — consisting of a shooter and a spotter — used a Ukrainian-made 14.5 mm Snipex Alligator rifle.
Success came from using a neural network that received real-time data from a reconnaissance UAV complex.

At such a distance, you must account for many parameters beyond just wind: temperature, humidity, air pressure, and more. Low temperatures lead to thinner air, which reduces resistance and bullet drop. Low humidity produces denser air, which conversely increases bullet drop. Therefore, it’s quite possible this shot holds not one but two records simultaneously:

1. the longest confirmed lethal sniper hit;
2. the first long-range combat hit corrected by a drone and a neural network;

Traditional long-range shooting relies on the spotter’s calculations and the shooter’s skill. However, at a distance of 4,000 metres, even tiny errors compound dramatically. A neural network can process atmospheric data, wind patterns at multiple altitudes, and ballistic calculations faster and more accurately than any human. This technology doesn’t replace the sniper’s expertise — it amplifies it.

The Alligator: Ukraine’s Answer to Extreme Range

The “Alligator” rifle used to set the new sniper record is Ukrainian-made. Developers from the Kharkiv enterprise “XADO-Holding” created it. The rifle belongs to the so-called “anti-materiel” class, capable of penetrating lightly armored vehicles and building walls. The 14.5 mm caliber barrel has 8 rifling grooves with a 16″ twist and a length of 1,200 mm, providing an initial bullet velocity of 980-1,000 m/s.

For effective long-range shots, the manufacturer produces its own 14.5 mm bullets, which they claim surpass the Russian 14.5 B-32. XADO doesn’t provide exact specifications for their bullet in open sources. But after such a shot, we think the guys from XADO have earned our trust.

While Western support remains insufficient, Ukraine increasingly develops its own solutions to battlefield challenges. The 4000m sniper record achieved with the Alligator rifle and a neural network guidance system proves that Ukrainian innovation can rival — and sometimes surpass — the best in the world. The XADO engineers who designed the Alligator, the developers behind the targeting AI, and the fighters who executed the shot all represent Ukraine’s determination to defend itself with homegrown technology.