Summarize in up to four sentences.: British soldiers equipped with ‘game-changing’ drone-buster
Danielle Sheridan
August 26, 2023·3 min read
The Army’s close combat soldiers will soon receive a cutting-edge weapon sight that will give them a tactical advantage countering unmanned aerial vehicles
The Army’s close combat soldiers will soon receive a cutting-edge weapon sight that will give them a tactical advantage countering unmanned aerial vehicles
Soldiers are to use guns that have been adapted to shoot down drones for the first time, as the Ukraine conflict changes the nature of warfare.

The SmartShooter control system, Smash for short, utilises software that identifies and tracks the Uncrewed Air Systems (UAS) in the air.

Attached to an assault rifle operated by a foot soldier, the software displays a box in the sight’s viewfinder, around the position of the target, so that it can be tracked even if it moves at speed or flies into thick woodland.

When the soldier activates the weapon, which has also been supplied to the UK’s allies, the system suppresses the firing mechanism until it is locked on to the target’s trajectory.

The SmartShooter control system, Smash for short
The SmartShooter control system, Smash for short
The war in Ukraine has become the first drone-versus-drone conflict, with a recent assessment by the Royal United Services Institute think-tank estimating that the country is losing about 10,000 of the devices every month, including surveillance UAVs and single-use “kamikaze” drones.

Battlefield weapons
So prolific is their use that Ukrainian forces had to weld cages on the top of Challenger 2 tanks supplied by Britain to protect them from drone strikes.

Wing Commander Mark Bowden, who is overseeing the rollout of the system, said Russia’s invasion of Ukraine had shown the importance of British soldiers being able to react to new battlefield weapons.

“As we have seen in Ukraine and other operational areas, the UAS threat is growing significantly,” he said. “Smash offers significant enhancement to the close-combat operator across all three services, delivering a tactical edge to the dismounted soldier.”

The system will initially be fitted to the SA80 A3 assault rifle and can also be fitted to other weapons to enhance foot soldiers’ ability to destroy micro and mini UAVs in flight.

James Cartlidge, the Minister for Defence Procurement, 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.”

Right kit
He added: “Adding this capability to our core equipment programme is another example of us procuring the right kit, at the right time, for our personnel.”

Smash is initially being restricted to units kept at high readiness, while an initial order of 225 sights has been placed as part of a £4.6million Ministry of Defence contract.

The MoD said that the contract it had entered into with Yorkshire’s Viking Arms Ltd will enable it to supply further sights over the next few years for use by dismounted close-combat military personnel in the Army, Navy and RAF, based on operational and readiness commitments.

Sam MacArthur, managing director of the Harrogate-based company, described the Smash system as “truly game changing”.

He added that the need for the capability was “very evident”, and the system would “provide significant battlefield advantages”.

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