How a ghillie suit keeps a British Army sniper hidden in plain sight

The ghillie suit is an important part of a British Army sniper's personal equipment.
A sniper's role is to see, but not be seen. The suit is an item of clothing that aids the soldier's camouflage, helping him or her blend into their surroundings.
Forces News spoke to one sniper serving with the Royal Anglian Regiment.
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[@meme4one]

Like camouflage is like b00bs, natural is better whenever possible but a bit of artificial support goes a long way.

[@Bert4ceasar]

For the human eye it will suffice until IR equipment comes in.

[@BHLCaptainDja]

There's counter IR nowadays. Simple things like thermal blankets will cover the majority of a sniper from above and using cams that will absorbs the Nm spectrum is a trick now used making face and hands look black on white hot IR cams. (like glass windows) The harder thing to fool is AI cams that look for artificial shapes on a landscape. These can reliably detect the ring of a 40mm viewing scope from 5 miles away

[@ano_nym]

@@BHLCaptainDja have to put a ghillie suit on the scope I guess.

[@BHLCaptainDja]

@@ano_nym Possibly, but any unnatural shape, movement, sound ext ext will be hard to hide

[@vanroeling2930]

Do you freeze your Willie while wearing a ghillie in the chilly??

[@SenorTucano]

They’re called Yowie suits in Australia after the mythical Yowie of the bush

[@stephensmith4480]

They are named in The UK after the Gaelic word Gille in Scotland. They were a type of suit that Gamekeepers wore and over the years they have evolved in the Military.

[@VanderlyndenJengold]

We will refer to all Australian's as Yowies now. You're welcome!

[@SenorTucano]

@@stephensmith4480 I’m aware of that but it’s a Yowie suit to me!

[@stephensmith4480]

@@SenorTucano You can call it an Andy Pandy suit for if you like. I was just stating where it's origins came from for anyone who may not be aware.

[@elizabetharmada5335]

Are they not afraid of snakes and insects or animals whenever they are mixed up with the bushes? Do they have skin allergies?

[@mortarboss]

Barracuda suits work both on visual and thermal. You must have both these days.

[@NelsonZAPTM]

I wore a ghillie suit when I was a ghillie. Funny that and all.

[@offgridlife1362]

How long before thermal can detect from heat transfer

[@meme4one]

Already does. They have matting and sheets to help mitigate it but a good sniper in a counter sniper with a good thermal imager is a nightmare for even the best sniper.

[@VanderlyndenJengold]

@@meme4one Don't fight peers then.

[@meme4one]

@@VanderlyndenJengold we generally don't. We do that by proxy.

[@BHLCaptainDja]

Just use cams and material that absorbs the Nm of light that thermals detect. Makes the user look like they're made of glass (black on a white hot)

[@meme4one]

@@BHLCaptainDja sort of. But with a very good imager and skilled operator, you see a difference to the rest of the terrain. But that's better than a glowing body of course.

[@aking-plums6985]

Daft question, why do British snipers only wear the top half of the ghillie suit and not the full ghillie suit like US snipers?

[@SenorTucano]

Because they don’t have movie cameras following them everywhere

[@aking-plums6985]

@@SenorTucano That's as good an answer as any other. I thought it might have been an MOD thing where they are strapped for cash so they only could afford half a suit.

[@jarraandyftm]

@@aking-plums6985get a grip.

[@meme4one]

I'd expect if drones are active you'd cover legs too. But generally it's only the top half that's facing towards the enemy. Ghillie suits are terrible for snagging, so if possible, less is better.

[@VanderlyndenJengold]

MOD can only afford the bottom half.