Britain’s Special Forces have been issued with a rifle so powerful it can take out a helicopter.

Soldiers claim the Gepard GM6 Lynx is like a howitzer cannon in battle.

The £9,000 semi-automatic weapon has a range of more than one and a quarter miles.

The Hungarian made gun has a barrel that retracts into weapon’s body to help absorb the punishing recoil.

One Special Forces member told the Mail:

“The GM6 is fantastic.

“It’s like going into battle carrying an artillery piece.

“The troops call it the Howitzer.

“It an absolutely massive punch.

“The rounds it fires can stop a truck bomb in its tracks.

“A team equipped with one of these could take out half a dozen very expensive fighters or helicopters very quickly.”

The GM6 has a magazine of five .50-calibre bullets that can be fired in under three seconds.

It’s reported the SAS, SBS and the Special Reconnaissance Regiment have bought 150 of the rifles.

The GM6 has already been used in Syria and Iraq.