SMASH is a kind of electro-optic sight system.
This was later upgraded to target small, moving drones from closer ranges of rifle.
SIGNIFICANCE
The theatre of modern warfare is constantly evolving with today’s infantryman facing a whole host of new threats that never existed previously.
Drones, for instance, have revolutionised the ways in which states carry out attacks, often offering inexpensive and highly effective solutions to undertake strikes without the need to risk personnel.
But in the same way that nation-states can use drones, adversaries may also benefit. Weaponised drones pose an increasingly clear and present threat to soldiers stationed at sensitive or vulnerable locations. Identifying and taking out a fast-moving unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) can prove a futile challenge even for the greatest of sharpshooters.
In order to address this threat, weapons designers across the world have developed a whole slew of solutions ranging from the use of trained eagles to locate and latch on to drones in mid-air to radio jamming technology.
Yet the SMASH 2000 Plus system, developed by Israeli outfit Smartshooter, is one counter-drone solution that the Indian Navy has identified as having the greatest promise.
Simply put, the SMASH 2000 Plus scope enables a soldier using an assault rifle to lock onto moving targets within his/her field of view and shoot them down with the first round. In doing so, it has effectively integrated tank fire control technology on to the common assault rifle.
A rifleman can use the scope to first track the target before holding down the trigger of the assault rifle. However, the scope will only allow the weapon to fire at the precise moment that it determines that a shot will assuredly strike the target. Using sophisticated algorithms, the technology calculates the movement of a target and predicts where it is likely to be via advanced image processing.
The Israeli manufacturer advertises the technology as putting “a precision anti-drone capability at the fingertips of its users,” even going so far as to claim that it can strike tiny drones moving at high speeds up to a range of 120 meters with the first shot.
Key to the success of the technology has also been the weight factor. The light-weight scope technology is also, reportedly, easy to mount on the rail of a rifle without increasing the weight burden on a soldier.
India is likely to make a decision soon on the deployment of anti-drone technology at military installations across the adding that the armed forces are already carrying out drills with the Israeli anti-drone SMASH 2000 Plus systems which may be procured on an immediate basis.
NEED FOR INDIA
The development comes in the wake of a first-of-its-kind drone attack in the country, where unmanned aerial vehicles were used to drop two bombs at an Indian Air Force (IAF) station at Jammu airport, injuring two IAF personnel.
Over 300 drones and unidentified flying objects have been sighted along the sensitive border with Pakistan after the August 5, 2019 abrogation of Article 370 that granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir. However, the armed forces are not suitably equipped with technology to tackle these new lethal sky-floaters.
The Indian Navy has already started the process of procuring these defense systems, while the Indian Army and the Indian Air Force might take these up soon as well. Drones are often difficult to catch on the radar because they fly at low altitudes; in such cases, security personnel can only rely on a manual approach in spotting these drones and bringing them down when they get close.