Tel Aviv: Israeli company SMART SHOOTER, has unveiled the SMASH Dragon: an armed drone system incorporating Smart Shooter’s combat-proven SMASH technology that ensures precise target elimination.
Presented by the company for the first time, SMASH Dragon is an advanced robotic weaponry payload that can be mounted on different drones and other unmanned aerial platforms. It can incorporate various types of assault rifles, sniper rifles, 40mm, and other ammunition with great precision. Extremely lightweight and therefore allowing long mission endurance, SMASH Dragon integrates a unique stabilization concept with the SMASH technology that enables the system to accurately hit static and moving targets while flying.
Featuring SMASH’s proprietary target acquisition and tracking algorithms as well as sophisticated computer vision capabilities, the remotely operated SMASH Dragon offers the SMASH technology’s fast and precise hit capabilities and other exclusive benefits while engaging targets from the air.
The system successfully completed live firing tests and is currently under advanced stages of development.
Last year, the US Marine Corps purchased several of the Smart Shooter SMASH 2000 systems. The purchase was made by the Marines Warfighting Laboratory, through its Rapid Capabilities Office (MCRCO).
According to the company it has also signed a cooperative research & development agreement with US Naval Surface Warfare Centre, Crane Division (NSWC Crane). Under this agreement, the US Navy will evaluate the use of SMASH technology on ships and vessels for Counter-UAS purposes. This collaboration aims to perform joint integration and evaluation of Smart Shooter’s technology with weapons and ammunition currently supporting the US Navy’s mission. With an increased hit probability for small unmanned aerial systems (sUAS) and increased engagement range, Smart Shooter’s SMASH technology has demonstrated the potential to increase the Navy’s ability to engage sUAS at the individual level – using existing weapons and ammunition in inventory.
The evaluation by the US Marines and Navy may be the beginning of a wider use by US forces.
-The writer is an Israel-based freelance journalist. The views expressed are of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views of Raksha Anirveda
