The U.S. Army has purchased SMASH 2000L computerized optical sight systems manufactured by the Israeli defense firm Smart Shooter. The company is highlighting the system’s counter-drone role, and both the Army and the U.S. Marine Corps have already acquired a limited number of older SMASH 2000 variants for this very purpose.
SMASH 2000L sights, with the ‘L’ standing for ‘light’, are designed for use on a variety of small arms to facilitate more accurate target engagement — basically shooting things with computer-aided precision. While the line’s newest addition is similar to its SMASH 2000 predecessor, Smart Shooter’s product literature for the earlier variant doesn’t officially detail its counter-small unmanned aerial systems (C-sUAS) role despite the company having frequently tested SMASH 2000 in these scenarios and the high interest in such a function by the marketplace.
It is also important to note that Smart Shooter is marketing its newest sight to non-U.S. military customers as the SMASH 3000, so it will be referred to it as SMASH 2000L/3000 from here on out to avoid confusion.
SMASH 2000L:3000 sight fitted to a rifle
In a press release, Smart Shooter explained that the company was awarded the contract from Atlantic Diving Supply, a U.S.-based contractor that provides military equipment to federal agencies, who then subcontracted with Smart Shooter to supply the Army with an undisclosed number of the SMASH 2000L/3000 sights. The contract’s dollar value was not divulged.
The announcement stated that the systems would be deployed specifically as part of the Army’s counter-small unmanned aerial systems (C-sUAS) defense strategy, which Smart Shooter had been testing with the Marine Corps using SMASH 2000 sights since last year. When SMASH first appeared with U.S. special operations units in Syria in June 2020, what looked to be similar evaluations of the earlier system were also being conducted.
In a number of photos taken during the tests, special operators at the At Tanf garrison in southern Syria could be seen using SMASH 2000 to fire at decoy targets hanging below commercial drones to evaluate the system’s sUAS targeting ability. While there is no official confirmation that this demonstration meant SMASH 2000 had been officially acquired by U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM), doing so, namely in the Middle East where the threat from drones has escalated dramatically with At Tanf coming under drone attack many times over the years, would make sense.
U.S. SOCOM has also hired Smart Shooter to develop a separate computerized small arms sighting system called the Individual Weapon Overmatch Optic, which The War Zone covered in detail here. Smart Shooter has even secured a contract with the U.S. Navy to see how a SMASH system optimized for C-sUAS operations would fare in a maritime environment, as drones have begun affecting this domain all the same.
Smart Shooter’s new SMASH 2000L/3000 fitted to a rifle
“We are honored that the U.S. Army continues to value our true fire control systems, and once again selects the SMASH technology for the use of its soldiers,” said Smart Shooter CEO Michal Mor in the press release. “Whether mounted on a rifle or remotely controlled, the unique SMASH technology ensures precise target elimination by guaranteeing that shot accuracy will not be affected by human errors such as fatigue and stress, nor by the target movement.”
“[SMASH 2000L/3000] is Smart Shooter’s lightest handheld operated fire control system,” read the company press release. “Using [artificial intelligence], computer vision, and advanced algorithms, [SMASH 2000L/3000] maximizes force lethality, operational effectiveness, and situational awareness throughout every engagement, in both day and night. Operationally proven, [SMASH 2000L/3000] ensures precise target elimination against ground and aerial targets, making it an ideal hard-kill solution against drones and sUAS.”