The U.S. military recently published photos of Marines in a unit headed to the Middle East equipped with an advanced optic designed to help them shoot down small drones.
The April 4 photos show members of the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, or MEU, using a smart scope optic mounted on their M4 carbines as part of training against small drones. Roughly 2,500 Marines in the unit are currently embarked on the Boxer Amphibious Ready Group, which deployed in March to support operations in the Middle East. When the photos were taken, the Marines were aboard a ship in the Pacific Ocean.
When contacted by Task & Purpose, a representative of Smart Shooter Inc. confirmed that the optic seen in the photos is the SMASH 2000L advanced fire control system.
“With SMASH 2000L, dismounted Marines are equipped with an effective, combat-proven solution against the growing threat of drones and small unmanned aerial systems,” said Scott Thompson, vice president and general manager of U.S. operations for Smart Shooter Inc.
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He added that the Pentagon task force established in 2025 to coordinate defenses against drones awarded a contract in March for Smart Shooter fire control systems.
The SMASH 2000L is designed to track drones and other moving targets, and it also compensates for shooters’ movements, Thompson told Task & Purpose in July.
The fire control system performs the necessary ballistic calculations to hit a target, and it won’t allow the shooter to fire until the best moment to score a hit, Thompson said at the time. If needed, the system can be unlocked so that shooters can fire at will, he added.
The Marine Corps confirmed in July that it would begin fielding the SMASH 2000L later that year, with an emphasis on equipping units that had either deployed or would deploy soon.
The recent photos showing Marines with the SMASH 2000L mounted on their M4s were posted on the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service, or DVIDS, a publicly accessible website that offers a vast online archive of photos and videos produced by military photographers and public affairs personnel.
The Marine Corps declined to provide any specific information about the smart scope shown in the photos.
“We prefer to not focus on the systems themselves, but more so focus on the capabilities they provide,” said Lt. Col. Eric Flanagan, a spokesman for Combat Development and Integration.
Marines in the 11th MEU are training with technology that allows them to detect, track, identify and destroy or defeat small drones while dismounted, Flanagan told Task & Purpose.
“This training will allow the Marine Corps to maintain operational superiority and safeguard Marines, maritime forces, and the Joint Force against the evolving [unmanned aerial systems] threat in diverse operating environments.”
Marine Corps officials announced last year that units would soon receive new technology to help dismounted Marines destroy and jam small drones.
“One of the things that is apparent to all of us is that unmanned aerial systems are a threat not just to infantry Marines, but to all Marines,” Lt. Gen. Eric Austin, deputy commandant for combat development and integration, said in April 2025.
