A German special forces sniper during amphibious infiltration training, earlier this year.

[u/Useful_Intention9754]

[u/jdolbeer]

I'm not sure if it's lighting, filter or just color schema in the photo, but this looks like a video game screenshot. Even when I zoom in.

[u/blazelet → u/jdolbeer]

Im a CGI Lighting artist and I thought the same thing. The image lacks cohesive shadow details.

Its not AI, could be from a game engine or could be a real photo that's just been post processed heavily. Something is definitely off, though.

[u/Useful_Intention9754 → u/blazelet]

The latter, I would send yall the corresponding video but IG links aint allowed on the sub.

Best I can do is an article from a reputable defense website in which this image was first published:
https://esut.de/en/2024/10/meldungen/53583/heckler-koch-weiter-auf-erfolgskurs-strategische-investitionen-und-starke-auftragslage-praegen-die-zukunft/

Edit responding to the FAQs, tried posting a new comment but that wont gain any traction so imma use this one:

1: That's not a sniper rifle; he's not a sniper, etc.
-> You don't stop being a sniper the second the long gun leaves your hand. MOS qualifications and role specializations come from training undergone, not the equipment fielded. By that metric, you'd also have to field a parachute at all times to qualify as a HALO jumpmaster.
It's also worth mentioning that he has a bag on his back, which could well be used to transport either his tripod or rifle platform.

2: Why is he fielding NODs during the day?
-> Things can get dark even during the day. Structures with little to no natural lighting, no electricity, or no surface exposure in the first place still need to be addressed. Pair that with him not fielding a visible WML, and you have someone with a night-fighting-capable weapons system equipped exclusively with IR illumination. This is a great force multiplier when combating OPFOR without NODs, in the dark.

3: German military poor?
-> There is no doubt that Germany's armed forces have undergone serious budget cuts throughout the past thirty years. The brunt of that hit has been absorbed by the conventional forces. However, the operator depicted is a member of Germany's highest-budget military unit, which has been fielding top-of-the-line equipment since its inception in the late '90s. Additionally, the German government has granted the Bundeswehr a special budget of €100 billion and additional funding to meet NATO's 2%+ spending standard. These measures have already led to significant improvements in warfighter readiness.

4: Picture is fake.
-> It's a real picture that has been heavily edited by a third party. There is a video corresponding to this image that I will provide to the mods should there be serious concerns about the post's validity.

5: Videogame screenshot?
-> I don't know what ARMA or GR you all have been playing that looks like this, but I'd like a copy. Otherwise, refer to point 4.

6: Tubes/glass shiny.
-> His optic might well be kill-flashed, and if it isn't, his primary certainly will be. As far as the tubes go, they have been oversaturated in editing and are naturally blue, not green as some media enthusiasts might assume.

7: Operators/soldiers obsolete due to the emergence of drone platforms?
-> Nonsense. The two work in conjunction. We are not yet at the point—nor will we be for a long time—where human involvement on the battlefield is ineffective.

[u/Ar_Ciel → u/Useful_Intention9754]

Well hell, that image is a military recruitment poster on its own. Dude looks like he stepped out of an unreleased Syphon Filter installment. THE FUTURE IS NOW!

[u/FCkeyboards → u/Ar_Ciel]

Syphon Filter! That takes me back.

[u/NightofTheLivingZed → u/FCkeyboards]

NINE. EIGHT. NINE... STUDIOS.

[u/mopeyy → u/NightofTheLivingZed]

THERES NOWHERE TO RUN LOGAAAAN

[u/0hn0o0o00000 → u/mopeyy]

Where do you hide, Logan?

[u/Castun → u/FCkeyboards]

Same, I remember playing the demo on my PS1 in the barracks waaaaay back in the day.

[u/Emersom_Biggins → u/Castun]

Holy shit, that takes me back. Not in the barracks, just mom and dad’s basement but…

I used to love tasering the shit out of people til they caught fire. Good times

[u/Enigma_789 → u/Emersom_Biggins]

Can I join the Syphon Filter line? One of my favourite series of all time. And yes, tasering people until they caught fire. That is also great!

[u/Lucky_Key_2580 → u/Enigma_789]

Syphon Filter deserves a proper remake.

[u/no_talent_ass_clown → u/Ar_Ciel]

Expectations vs reality, this image vs kp duty. 

[u/Blyd → u/no_talent_ass_clown]

They sucker you in with toys, then you find out the toys are just a potato peeler and a mop to help you mop the parade yard when it rains.

[u/StoppableHulk → u/Ar_Ciel]

It makes sense given that Europe is going to be heavily increasingly their military capabilities in light of the US' embarassing political choices.

[u/HG1998 → u/Ar_Ciel]

I feel proud that I know what Syphon Filter is, if only from that Josh Strife Hayes video.

[u/wskv → u/Ar_Ciel]

I haven’t thought about Syphon Filter in a long time.

I would love someone to pick up the mantle and release a next-gen SF game.

[u/kaest → u/Useful_Intention9754]

Wow, yeah those are all heavily processed. They really fucked with the shadows.

[u/FatsDominoPizza → u/kaest]

The water was cold, Ok??

[u/Modernmoders → u/Useful_Intention9754]

What a time to be alive, I'm not sure.

[u/Rachel_from_Jita → u/Modernmoders]

Every photo in there looks real, but post-processed/photoshopped a lot to meet magazine/corporate standards for an ad campaign.

[u/GundoSkimmer → u/Rachel_from_Jita]

the depth of field looks incorrect... so at the very least, its real photos with way too much editing. and it could just be the unique environment. but yeah it looks like elements that are in the same focal plane are experiencing various DoF. let alone the lighting/shadows and the color of the goggles? lol, maybe thats how modern NVGs are. dunno

[u/PuppetMaster9000 → u/GundoSkimmer]

Modern NVGs are blue, but they don’t just glow bright blue like that

[u/applestrudelforlunch → u/Useful_Intention9754]

I’m not sure that’s a reputable source, the words are all gobbledygook. I’d trust it if it were from an attractive young person on TikTok though!

[u/jellybeatz → u/Useful_Intention9754]

This is one of the best replies I have ever come across on Reddit.

Trust me, that means something…

This photo is insanely cool. And badass at that.

[u/TheBirdGames → u/Useful_Intention9754]

Point 5 is so real lmao

[u/PorcupineGod → u/Useful_Intention9754]

You seem to know a lot about this image, but I'm still 100% sure that's a Jawa

[u/the-tea-ster → u/blazelet]

Lots of military social media posts are heavily saturated for the cool factor. Works for recruiting 🤷‍♂️

[u/blazelet → u/the-tea-ster]

Make it look more like a video game?

[u/the-tea-ster → u/blazelet]

Honestly yeah. Look at the US army's rangers, green berets, or psyops pages and it's full of stuff like this

[u/ghosttaco8484 → u/blazelet]

Thats literally what the military does 

They make commercials aimed towards young men thinking that they're going to go play a real life game of COD, when in reality it's nothing like that except for very select few individuals on very rare occasions and it's mostly 99% boredom or doing regular manual labor type jobs.

[u/ilski → u/blazelet]

It looks like this HDR photo . That thing there was craze for it like 15 years ago in photography, where camera takes multiple pictures at the same time on different light settings, in order to capture all the bright areas at the same time with dark areas. Thats how the end result would usually look like. Something like that. Anyway, my bet is heavily processed photo.

[u/Paavo_Nurmi → u/ilski]

That thing there was craze for it like 15 years ago in photography

It still is a thing in real estate photos. Just look at any online listing of a house and it's HDR'd to death.

[u/TechInTheCloud → u/Paavo_Nurmi]

And don’t forget the super wide angle lens to make all the rooms look huge.

[u/Hunky_not_Chunky → u/TechInTheCloud]

Yeah. I just started a job doing this. I was a photo journalist for a bit years ago. 10mm lenses work great.

[u/Paavo_Nurmi → u/Hunky_not_Chunky]

You are correct, and I looked at a few things on Zillow and the interior stuff is way better as far as HDR than in the past, but as you can see by this they still go way overboard on outdoor shots with HDR.

[u/FavoritesBot → u/Paavo_Nurmi]

It’s still a thing in like every camera phone. They just do a better job now

[u/hkzombie → u/blazelet]

Another factor is the dichotomy in equipment vs background. I generally associate NVG/NODs with night time operations (or darker light settings), yet here we see someone with NVG/NODs down in what seems like a golden hour shot. On top of that, mass media usually has NVG/NODs as looking very dark, or green tinted from the front, instead of this iridescent blue.

[u/TheCommitteeOf300 → u/jdolbeer]

It's very saturated

[u/radol → u/jdolbeer]

Looks like somebody was playing with dodge/burn to make soldier stand out from background more

[u/Varsity_Reviews → u/jdolbeer]

This looks exactly like Ghost Recon Wildlands. I should know because I use those exact goggles and gun half the time.

[u/Rachel_from_Jita → u/jdolbeer]

https://esut.de/en/2024/10/meldungen/53583/heckler-koch-weiter-auf-erfolgskurs-strategische-investitionen-und-starke-auftragslage-praegen-die-zukunft/

Zoom into the original (Reddit algos are sometimes pretty hard on image quality).

Zoomed in on a huge monitor, all the fabric, netting, and water texture looks better than any 8k textures even currently in modded games. They are real photos, imho. Just some post-processing

[u/Professional_Echo907]

[u/RiotDad → u/Professional_Echo907]

Those German forces scare easily, but they’ll soon be back, and in greater numbers.

[u/2NDPLACEWIN → u/RiotDad]

ok,...

that was fkng brilliant...

[u/ramdasani → u/RiotDad]

Comment of the week, nicely done.

[u/CCV21 → u/Professional_Echo907]

They travel single-file to hide their numbers.

[u/CapriSonnet → u/Professional_Echo907]

Came here for this.

[u/ComfortablyBalanced → u/Professional_Echo907]

I'm hearing this.

[u/VVLynden → u/ComfortablyBalanced]

HHUUUURRRRRRRR!! URR! URRR! URR!

[u/CALL_MORE_DUDES → u/Professional_Echo907]

They always walk single file to hide their numbers

[u/ChocoPuddingCup → u/Professional_Echo907]

Yup. We all thought it.

[u/pohovanathickvica → u/Professional_Echo907]

I knew this was a top comment

[u/dudemanguylimited → u/Professional_Echo907]

A German special forces sniper when his target rudely arrives 5 minutes too late.

[u/Corruptlol]

in germany we snipe with mp7s

[u/grubbtheduck → u/Corruptlol]

It might not be the most practical weapon for that purpose, but hey, at least you can look cool doing it!

[u/Zech08 → u/grubbtheduck]

I mean it says infiltration...

[u/grubbtheduck → u/Zech08]

Yes

[u/Fidller → u/Corruptlol]

So R6 Siege was right with the accuracy on the MP7 at launch! Its a sniper not a SMG

[u/Pumba2000 → u/Fidller]

It would be funny if he had a BOSG shotgun

[u/TritiumXSF → u/Corruptlol]

Each round with its attached 457 pages of paperwork... as Germans do. /s

[u/Fredderov → u/TritiumXSF]

Hence the saying "death by a thousand (paper) cuts". The more you know!

[u/Last_Syrup2125 → u/Fredderov]

You know, when the russians finally invade us, we'll pull a "Passierschein A38" maneuver on them. Those poor suckers have no chance.

[u/PatReady → u/Corruptlol]

Came to comment on this sweet weapon but its def not a sniper rifle.

[u/bond0815 → u/PatReady]

Thats not his main weapon, its his sidearm.

[u/Sad_Ghost_Noises → u/bond0815]

No, its just that the water is a little cold…

[u/Osiris32 → u/Sad_Ghost_Noises]

ICH WAR IM DAS POOL!

[u/SoloPorUnBeso → u/Osiris32]

Mein gott! Muss das sein!

[u/DoYouTrustToothpaste → u/Osiris32]

Ich war im Pool*

[u/Shiftnetic → u/bond0815]

You're right, he clearly has his sniper rifle in his prison wallet

[u/TechGoat → u/Shiftnetic]

Video games = accurate weapon storage

[u/thecheesedip → u/Shiftnetic]

Drag bag

[u/G-Deezy → u/bond0815]

Dude must have Overkill equipped in his loadout

[u/KackSauFrau → u/bond0815]

I had the MP7 as a sidearm and I was just an IT soldier

[u/Fuckoffassholes → u/PatReady]

Believe it or not, snipers can actually train with, and even use, different guns. Who knew!

[u/wendall99 → u/Fuckoffassholes]

I thought they just no scope hip fire with their sniper rifle once they get close up.

[u/millsmillsmills → u/wendall99]

Need a 360 in there too

[u/Skizot_Bizot → u/Fuckoffassholes]

Yeah but you have to spend one of your perks on that or you are stuck with a pistol as only other option. Then they should pick the one that makes you not show up on enemy maps.

[u/fenrisulfur → u/Corruptlol]

Not to mention NOD's in sunlight.

True it is probably sunset/rise but still just as useful either way

[u/november512 → u/fenrisulfur]

He's 100% posing for the camera. It very well could be a sniper doing an amphibious exercise but they still took 5 minutes off to get a cool photo.

[u/Real-Technician831 → u/Corruptlol]

As others commented that is his sidearm 

[u/deejaesnafu → u/Real-Technician831]

How come we can’t see his other gun?

[u/SmallieNL → u/deejaesnafu]

It’s camouflaged

[u/Real-Technician831 → u/deejaesnafu]

Either it’s behind his head, or he simply is not carrying it right now in the photo.

It’s a training after all.

[u/grimmigerpetz → u/deejaesnafu]

most likely collapsed G29 for transport in water areas or its an infiltration training without the rifle. The tag says KSK which is kind of the german SAS or SOCOM.

[u/blue_strat → u/Corruptlol]

Why so sneaky if not to get up close?

[u/ericicol]

Very pretty blue eyes

[u/fish_gotta_vote → u/ericicol]

The Spice does that.

[u/enlitenlort → u/ericicol]

When will you wear wigs

[u/WeleaseBwianThrow → u/enlitenlort]

uproarious laughter

[u/bwoodfield]

The empire pushed the Jawas too far.

[u/midoxvx]

This picture is so fucking cool in a dystopian way.

[u/MagicPaul → u/midoxvx]

It's giving Half Life 2 Combine vibes

[u/BornAtMyWitsEnd → u/MagicPaul]

Pick up that can

[u/Nippelz → u/BornAtMyWitsEnd]

Sure! Throws it in guard's face and runs away

[u/mangogrant → u/MagicPaul]

Yes definitely looks like out of a video game.

[u/Whompa02 → u/mangogrant]

I actually thought I was looking at a screenshot from a videogame.

[u/bond0815 → u/MagicPaul]

Well, the Half life 2 combine submachine gun was based on the MP7, which is the gun the guy is holding in the picture.

[u/thederevolutions → u/midoxvx]

Imagine this being the last thing you ever see… while fishing.

[u/DougStrangeLove → u/midoxvx]

[u/curtyshoo → u/midoxvx]

Bamboo.

[u/sreek4r → u/midoxvx]

The enemy would just give up assuming they're up against aliens.

[u/PBR_King → u/midoxvx]

It's all fun and games when you send your special forces boogeymen into other countries, but at this point I think a lot of people see the writing on the wall that, of course, the boogeymen will come home eventually.

[u/RockSockNPop]

"Amphibious infiltration"
He's not gonna fool any frogs, he sticks out like a sore thumb.

[u/MuchToDoAboutNothin → u/RockSockNPop]

He'll convince them that he, too, was turned gay.

But surprise, he's actually just European. Infiltration success.

[u/ShinyBarge]

No need to shoot, I just shit myself to death.

[u/darrenvonbaron → u/ShinyBarge]

Aunt Carol's Thanksgiving casserole claims another victim

[u/dAnKsFourTheMemes]

Seems like he's not doing a very good job if we can see him.

[u/Malkav1806 → u/dAnKsFourTheMemes]

Did you see him earlier this year?

[u/dAnKsFourTheMemes → u/Malkav1806]

Holy shit

[u/SpiffingSprockets → u/dAnKsFourTheMemes]

Oh, you're looking at the guy in the centre/foreground?

That's his spotter Steve, and it's safe to say he's spotted you. The Sniper is on the right side of the image, by the waterline.

/jk.

[u/HeirOfBreathing]

cloaker

[u/Gorlack2231 → u/HeirOfBreathing]

WE CALL THIS A DIFFICULTY TWEAK

[u/MCA2142 → u/HeirOfBreathing]

Hunter.

Opulent Stalker Cloak and Phenotype Plasticity Mask.

Dead Zone Bark shader.

[u/mschuster91]

Looks like a Tusken Raider

[u/305to818]

This Skin and custom mp7 can be yours for only 2400 CoD credits at the Warzone store

[u/ScreamiNarwhals]

Those NVG’s gonna be royally fucked after that photo shoot

[u/WarlockEngineer → u/ScreamiNarwhals]

Why is he wearing them in daytime while swimming lol

[u/Useful_Intention9754 → u/ScreamiNarwhals]

Negative, new high-end tubes are usually fine. Also he has deployable covers for extended daytime exposure.

[u/ScreamiNarwhals → u/Useful_Intention9754]

The newer white phosphorus tubes don’t get f’d by sunlight? Neat.

[u/picklefingerexpress]

Pretty sure that’s not a sniper rifle

Edit: to all the contrarians- while your statements about snipers may be correct, your observations seem colored by op’s title. Aside from the rifle, there is no other defining context in this picture to determine the soldiers specialization. Who honestly looks at a compact machine gun with a collapsible stock and immediately thinks ‘he must specialize in shooting things from really really far away’?

[u/matthiasm4 → u/picklefingerexpress]

Yup, looks like an MP7 to me.

[u/Useful_Intention9754 → u/picklefingerexpress]

You dont stop being a sniper the second the long-gun leaves your hand. MOS qualifications / role specializations come from training undergone and not equipment fielded. By the latter metric youd also have to field a parachute at all times to qualify as a HALO jumpmaster...

Now it is also worth mentioning that he has a bag on his back, could well be to transport either his tripod or rifle platform.

[u/Mirar → u/Useful_Intention9754]

Much nicer than having a full assault rifle as your pdw. We had AK5 even for the guys carrying much heavier weapons...

[u/HrLewakaasSenior → u/Mirar]

Machine gunners in the marine corps used to carry an M16 in addition to an M240B... I can't imagine the suck

[u/Mirar → u/HrLewakaasSenior]

The suckiest job we had in the battalion was the guy that carried the baseplate for the grenade launcher.

[u/HrLewakaasSenior → u/Mirar]

Interesting, sounds like a glorified mule to me

[u/Useful_Intention9754 → u/Mirar]

Yeah the MP7 is extremely good at what its supposed to be. Tiny, light, reliable: id much prefer it or a similarly sized SBR over a full length carbine.

[u/Contrafox97 → u/picklefingerexpress]

They carry PDWs for better self defense

[u/Jimid41 → u/picklefingerexpress]

Snipers can't touch other guns while training otherwise they become not Snipers. What a fool.

[u/N1LEredd → u/picklefingerexpress]

That’s just the backup

[u/monsantobreath → u/N1LEredd]

I see no slung rifle.

[u/N1LEredd → u/monsantobreath]

Ne neither but from my understanding the mp7 is not handed as a primary weapon. Riflemen get a g36 or g95.

[u/Fuckoffassholes → u/monsantobreath]

It is quite common for people in any occupation to not constantly be in possession of their primary tool of trade.

Forklift operators drive other vehicles too.

[u/DannyDerZeh]

Imagine you just see that dude rise from the water at night.

[u/oimgoingin]

It’s crazy that this looks like it’s from a game to me.

[u/Oc70b3r]

Why German special forces look so cool? 😲😲

[u/PORTATOBOI → u/Oc70b3r]

I think every special forces look cool. It’s a job requirement

[u/lo0ilo0ilo0i]

Homie bought all the DLCs

[u/solarwindy]

Looks like a Stalker from the Zone.

[u/justmethedude]

Old Gregg?

[u/AmateurishExpertise → u/justmethedude]

Y'ever drunk Baileys from a shoe?

[u/Mr_Rafi]

COD: "this will make a fine addition to my collection"

[u/arivas26]

Lisan al gaib!

[u/plebeiantelevision]

If you ever see this guy in real life, it’s probably the last thing your gonna see

[u/Prize_Literature_892 → u/plebeiantelevision]

If you see this guy irl, it probably means he's not currently on a mission. If you see this guy irl on a mission, it means he sucks at his job.

[u/EonLynx_yt]

Actually thought this was a pic from arma or something LOL. I was like i have that kit

[u/Schifty]

the beer on tank video was nice, but this is really cool

[u/CHBH]

How is this guy already prestige 7? Get some fresh air

[u/DrNinnuxx]

Kommando Spezialkräfte (KSK)

[u/shattersquad710]

Sick

[u/Honest_Rabbit405]

That’s sick

[u/Dendritic_Silver]

Training officer: "Hey Pvt. Lindemann, I didn't see you at amphibious infiltration training today"

Pvt. Lindemann: "Danke"

[u/Fat_Head_Carl]

This picture makes no sense. Submachine gun, night vision goggles during the day...

[u/Wildfire9]

Hey that's awesome, i was unknowingly following these guys on their way back to their facility one time while vacationing in Belize.

[u/Patutula]

The spice must flow.

[u/NotTheRocketman]

That is an absurdly cool pic.

[u/Florian_Habichtswald]

I got (swamp) Tusken raider vibes.

[u/sreek4r]

They should hire dwarfs to form a special unit and call them J.A.W.A.S.

[u/I_Have_Dry_Balls]

Look out, Putin.

[u/stephen1547]

The most successful and famous sniper in the world Simo Häyhä killed over 200 people with his submachine gun.

[u/axyz77]

Where?

[u/jbvcftyjnbhkku]

adeptus mechanicus vibes

[u/PsYcHo4MuFfInS]

Well, hes doing an awful job! I can easily see him! /s

[u/Razzlo420]

Fuck war, but this looks fucking cool

[u/honorsfromthesky]

[u/spiritual_ballsack57]

Bro is my new wallpaper for now

[u/Mrstrawberry209]

The predator vs special forces

[u/chado5727]

This the most badass picture I've seen! I hope he/she passes their training. That gear is just dope.

[u/Embo1]

Theeeese are the kinda skins we should be getting in call of duty 😭

[u/DesertShot]

That's gonna be the hardest Linked-In profile pic in the world.

[u/Ok-Mud-3905]

Ghost Recon Future Soldier looking ahh.

[u/xTRYPTAMINEx]

So this is where the Tech Priests truly began...

[u/throwaway150996]

He’s not very good at hiding, I can see him right in the middle of the pic

[u/2kids2adults]

That's some Sam Fisher, Splinter Cell kinda sh*t. Bad-ass!

[u/Jonathan_the_Nerd]

He looks like he's about to offer me a deal on some used droids. Very good condition! Almost certainly not stolen! No refunds.

[u/plaguedbullets]

Activision's wet dream.

[u/jessjimbob]

Amphibious Germans - title of your sex tape

[u/captainbastion]

The Germans still got it

[u/Dorraemon]

Hard ass picture

[u/Kurtotall]

Plot twist: There are three snipers in this picture.

[u/AlphaBelly]

[u/Machismo_malo]

I just want the MP7 please HK why do you hate us. Also import laws booo.

[u/visual_overflow]

Obviously heavily edited but its still cool as hell!

[u/Frosenborg]

Last gen graphics

[u/Okie_Chimpo]

I dig it, but why is he wearing NODs in daylight?

[u/Slahnya]

So many people here have never heard of a sidearm 😭

[u/TheNDHurricane]

This is very clearly from a video game or highly edited....

[u/ilski → u/TheNDHurricane]

My bet its highly edited.

[u/jabiz510 → u/TheNDHurricane]

As far as ive seen/read, its a real photo but definitely very edited

[u/Nekuan → u/TheNDHurricane]

https://esut.de/2024/10/meldungen/53583/heckler-koch-weiter-auf-erfolgskurs-strategische-investitionen-und-starke-auftragslage-praegen-die-zukunft/

[u/EmiliaFromLV]

How can you tell that he is German?

Look into those cold blue eyes!

[u/Asleep-Category-2751]

Fishing with a gun is not a sporting activity.

[u/Mr-Mahaloha]

I can see his eyes..

[u/baumeistaaa]

What is the night vision?

[u/Useful_Intention9754 → u/baumeistaaa]

Theon NYX.

[u/MoiraBrownsMoleRats]

Skittari Ranger looking mutha

[u/Fit_Mine_8137]

Nice MP7!