I just reached lv24 on moscow and unlocked the second sniper squad, which has exactly the same uprades as the first one did. The only difference is that the grind is like 10 times worse.
So im wondering, what is the point of playing that squad, apart from unlocking the upgardes for the gew98? Are there some hidden benefits I jet dont see? And what is the deal with the tier II soldiers?
Are they somehow better?
Soldiers of class “II” have better stats, and a different starter perk.
Nice question! The same as other Squads, to buy Experiences with Gold they are more expensive but have no more advantages.
For The Pionier or Engineer II is okay.
It has a bit more advantages, They can build MG Nest and better starter perk.
By the way, why do Allies Engineers have the same MG 42 Nest? They should have different MG! It should be Browning for USA and DP-27 or Bren for the soviets Engineers!
… 
the first time I used tier 2 soldiers I expected terminators like most players, I think this is how they are seen by players, also because it is hard not to be disappointed by the tier 2 squad being killed by the first player with the starter rifles without reacting most of the time, ah if the AI ​​was done better
well it makes sense from a “we need more stuff to unlock or we get bored” perspective.
however I personally kinda feel like its just making the soldier “system” kinda complicated for no gameplay reason.
guess its just a mechanic that we’ll have to be “ok” with.
I guess they wanna mess the RNG of the bronze orders.
They are there to get us to spend more time in the game, lengthen the grind (justify more levels), increase the invested interest of people who stay longer, and generally act as a means of retaining more highly motivated players who are probably more likely to spend a bit of money.
They are a classic filler for “got to have something new at every level” mentality of game design 
For me they made me to buy more slots so I can have 2 assault squads, 2 engineers, 2 gunners… trooper squad I don’t find useful for me at all so I don’t use them at all. All in all if you don’t want to grind all over again you are good with rank 1 suqads. However you won’t be able to upgrade some good weapons.
Soldiers 2 are marginally better, yes. Sometimes noticeably better. But they complicate management a lot, make soldiers 1 useless and generally have no justification except unimaginative artificial grind.
It is too late to fix in existing campaigns and I have little hope developers learn this lesson for Tunissia.
I never grind tier II of classes I consider useless or mostly useless - but tier II troopers is my favorite class. 9 soldiers all with 35 vitality perk and automatic rifles are hard to beat.
sniper II’s are okay, however my favorites are the sniper III’s since that reload speed makes them pretty deadly once they get their perks situated.