This is just for Special Operations Command now, but this is the beginning of a revolution in infantry training:
There were several major innovations in SMASH 2000 compared to the earlier computerized scopes pioneered by American firm TrackingPoint. SMASH could be mounted and used on any weapon with a Picatinny rail. This allows the scope software to work with the trigger of each different weapon. The scope puts a visual block around potential targets the user is aiming at. When the user has the intended target in the block a button is pushed and that target is locked and a precise firing angle calculated and shot fired unless the user intervenes. Other computerized scopes use the same basic concept but more recent models do it more reliably and cheaper.
The most convincing test of the SMASH scope was to have new recruits use it while receiving their first rifle training. Some 70 percent of these novice shooters made accurate shots the first time they fired the SMASH equipped rifle. A few dozen shots later and they were performing like expert snipers. In the hands of snipers and experienced troops SMASH enabled difficult (moving, obscured by smoke) targets to be hit with the first shot.
I wrote about the changes that smart rifles and even aiming aids like the SMASH scope--which I called dumb-but-controlled (DBC)--in a U.S. Naval Institute blog article in 2018.
I wrote that when enemy troops, militias, and terrorists have such technology, American infantry will need to respond by different training, new technology, and better leadership in order to maintain the infantry dominance that America has had in the recent era based on the foundation of heavy marksmanship training.
If our troops are issued their marksmanship, the vast majority of marksmanship training is unneeded and must be better utilized to defeat enemies. What special operations uses now will migrate to even militias in time as the cost comes down.
