UK Counter-Uncrewed Aerial Systems Small Arms (aka Anti-Drone Weapons)
Last summer the MoD announced it had signed an initial contract for 4.6 million to acquire sights from @smartshooter_ssl to equip on to L85A3s (to begin with) that are in use with close combat forces. The primary stated purpose is to effectively engage small enemy UAS and one of the program officers specifically stated that this procurement was, at least in part, driven by what has been happening in Ukraine.
The IDF and Indian military are already using Smart-Shooter sights and the US Army has a training school currently running with them. The low down of how this system works, is that the sight contains a camera, laser range finder and various electronics. The sight processes what it sees in order to identify and then track targets, predicting a trajectory and providing relevant aiming markers to the firer. The firer then applies constant trigger pressure and the sight only allows them to actually fire when the sight predicts that alignment has been obtained such that they will score a hit.
You will note in the header image that the pistol grip is not the standard L85 green pistol grip and there are 2 wires running in to the sight. I would imagine in the case of SA80 series that the trigger bar is prevented from moving forward to act upon the main sear and release the hammer until correct alignment is detected by the sight. Presumably the other remote switch shown either activates the laser or controls some other element of the sight’s digital systems.
The sight shown in image one appears to be the SMASH 2000L (3000) an unmagnified red dot type optic. The image below shows the SMASH x4, a variant that provides magnification.
Whether 556 is particularly effective against mini and micro UAS I do not personally know. You can find various promotional media showing the SMASH system used on more common terrestrial targets. The advantage to this setup is that personnel can engage other ground targets as normal (unlike the various purely electronic ‘drone guns’), but then also have an increased probability of scoring hits on small and fast moving airborne objects.
The future is, increasingly, now.
Press release reference articles:
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