The British Army is set to equip its close combat soldiers with the SMASH smart weapon sight fire control system developed by Israeli company Smart Shooter.
The SMASH system has been specifically developed to equip dismounted soldiers with a tactical advantage in countering unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), enabling them to achieve a higher probability of hitting their targets when engaging micro and mini UAVs.
An initial order of 225 SMASH sights will be delivered under a $5.8 million MOD contract to Very High Readiness units across the British Army by the end of this year.
Through the contract with Viking Arms Ltd., additional sights will be supplied to dismounted close combat operators across the Army, Navy, and RAF in the coming years, in accordance with their operational and readiness requirements.
“SMASH offers significant enhancement to the close combat operator across all three Services, delivering a tactical edge to the dismounted soldier in the counter small UAS battle,” said Wing Commander Mark Bowden.
Utilizing image processing technology, the SMASH system automatically detects and acquires targets within the field-of-view of the sight, promptly displaying a highlighted box around the target in the shooter’s reflex sight.
Once the shooter selects a target by pulling and holding the trigger, the system waits until it has “lock-on” and destroys the UAS.
This capability ensures that the system will only initiate firing when the sight is precisely aligned to strike the intended target.
The British armed forces will be joining the US Army in operating the system, after the Pentagon awarded Smart Shooter a contract for the delivery of SMASH 2000L systems in October last year. The system was also ordered by the Dutch military in February 2022 after successful trials in 2020.
