The British Army has announced the selection of the SmartShooter SMASH Smart Weapon Sight Fire Control System for countering drones/UAVs. An initial order for 225 SMASH Smart Weapon Sights has been placed with the contract valued at $4.6 million or $5.8 million.

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The new sights are able to track a target’s movements and maintain a lock even if the user is moving. The new sights will fill the UK Ministry of Defence’s Counter-Small Uncrewed Air Systems (C-sUAS) capability requirement. They will be issued to very high-readiness units across the British Army by the end of 2023.

Photographs released by the UK Ministry of Defense show both SMASH X4 and the latest SMASH 2000L (3000) (seen in the photograph below) have been tested. The L85A3 (SA80A3) will be equipped with the sights but the system will require armorers to adapt the base weapon with the addition of a new pistol grip that integrates with the sight.

British Army Selects Sharpshooter SMASH for Anti-Drone Role (British Army)

They are being procured via UK-based Viking Arms Ltd., SmartShooter’s UK dealers and deliveries are set to continue over ‘the next few years’, with the fire control systems being issued to dismounted close combat operators across the UK’s Army, Navy and RAF.

The SMASH sights were tested by the Army’s experimentation battalion, 2 YORKS, last year. Drone use Ukraine has with Wing Commander Mark Bowden, with the Programmes Directorate, Counter UAS-SO1, said: “As we have seen in Ukraine and other operational areas the UAS threat is growing significantly. SMASH offers significant enhancement to the close combat operator across all three Services, delivering a tactical edge to the dismounted soldier in the C-sUAS battle.”

British Army Selects Sharpshooter SMASH for Anti-Drone Role (British Army)

Minister for Defence Procurement, James Cartlidge said:

The importance of uncrewed aerial vehicles on the modern battlefield is undeniable. Alongside procuring, developing and deploying this technology in a range of different ways, we must also be proactive in ensuring our Armed Forces can protect against their use by adversaries. Adding this capability to our core equipment programme is another example of us procuring the right kit, at the right time for our personnel.

The UK Ministry of Defence’s announcement explains that: “SMASH uses image processing to automatically acquire a target from the sight’s field-of-view, and then displays a box around the target in the shooter’s reflex sight. The capability will only fire when the sight is aligned to hit the target.”