I think that's why you find them underwhelming. You seem to expect them to be a straight replacement for volks, and that's simply not how they function. Rather than being a mainline unit, they're a utility/scout unit.
Sprint, scouting, and camo are all examples of utility that they provide.
Besides the obvious applications for these things, this also translates to them doing very well against HMGs. They have the sight range to avoid or flank them, and sprint ensures that the HMG cant reface its arc of fire quickly enough, even if the player reacts quickly.
Beyond that, their vet is much better than volks, meaning that they still retain relevant long range damage even in the late game.
As for discussions about possible changes, what role would you give them, how is that not currently (or on the commander revamp mod) their role, and how would you make them fit that role?
For one, the snipe shot was discussed as a possible change...and shot down really quickly. Imagine how strong jaegers would be if they had a snipe ability. UKF would especially suffer from this change, with sections starting at 4 models. They would also hardcounter snipers, a traditional OKW weakness. The idea sounds really cool, but when you actually have to think about how this kind of change would play it, the fantasy falls apart really quickly.
In defense of the changes that did make it to the preview mod, I think they're practical and give the unit the sort of QOL that they really needed.
Firstly, thank you for such a detailed and well thought out answer. If they had snipe, It could be locked behind vet and make it only slightly longer range than their current max range, yet shorter than sniper range so that it couldn't be abused, act as a soft-counter, and would only punish snipers that are out of position, or, give it a long cooldown (~30-45 sec).
Also, they are a doctrinal unit, so its not like their snipe ability would be ubiquitous.
In regards to vet, I can never seem to get them past vet 3, the game is over too soon with the jaegers never getting enough kills to vet past that, in my tests they need to kill 65+ models to get to vet 5, although I am aware at vet 5 they have very small target size as a reward, this doesn't seem achievable in most games.
Finally, if the snipe ability would actually break the game, what about giving them commando style stealth so that they can flank more effectively?
Thanks again!