British Army to receive new C-UAS capability

Smart Shooter's SMASH weapon sight uses ballistically calculated coincident shot release to significantly increase the hit rate against micro and mini UASs. (Smart Shooter Ltd)

The British Army will be equipped with new weapon sights that identify and track unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S) announced on 27 June.

Known as SMASH, the fire-control weapon sight developed by Smart Shooter is designed to improve a soldier's accuracy on the battlefield by integrating a track and lock-on capability. It also features a ‘drone mode' that enables soldiers to engage and achieve a high probability hit rate against micro and mini UAVs.

The GBP4.6 million (USD5.85 million) contract comes under a larger GBP20 million five-year framework that seeks to equip all three services in the dismounted close combat category with the capability.

This initial order is for the SMASH X4 weapon sight, with deliveries expected to commence towards the end of 2023, a Ministry of Defense (MoD) spokesperson told Janes.

Viking Arms is the UK partner for Smart Shooter, which will support the delivery of additional sights to the three services based on operational and readiness commitments, the announcement said.

The procurement is part of the Land Ground Based Air Defence (Land GBAD) programme, which seeks a fully integrated air-defence system of systems that counters aircraft, missiles, munitions, and unmanned aircraft systems (UASs). SMASH is the first tranche of ‘Land GBAD Project 6', which is delivering a counter-small unmanned aircraft system (C-sUAS) capability for the dismounted and mounted soldier. Project 6 will deliver further C-sUAS capabilities in the future, the announcement added.