Smartshooter’s Smash Hopper mounted to a truck. (Smartshooter)
JERUSALEM — Smartshooter, an Israeli company focused on countering small UAS threats and fire control systems, recently announced that it has established a new Australian subsidiary, dubbed Smash Australia.
The new company will be led by Lachlan Mercer, previously “territory manager” for Smartshooter in Australia and New Zealand, according a company announcement on Aug. 28.
The company has been active in Australia for years, but having a local subsidiary for Smartshooter enables the Australian company to have a local footprint and “shows we are serious in supporting the Australian, New Zealand and Oceania War Fighter,” Mercer told Breaking Defense. “It’s a question of Sovereign Industry Content (SIC),” he said, referring to the capability for Australia to produce a counter-drone capability locally in the event of a conflict.
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Mercer told Breaking Defense that the company’s appearance at the Army Robotics eXposition 2023 event in Perth last week came at the invitation of QinetiQ, a UK-headquartered multinational defense technology company with its own Australian subsidiary. Mercer said the firms have integrated Smartshooter’s Smash Hopper remote controlled weapon station into QinetiQ’s Talon Sword lightweight ground robot “that can travel on other autonomous systems, or in an infantry fighting vehicle, and be deployed en mass to do the necessary clearing, to keep soldiers out of harm’s way.”
Australia, like many countries, is expanding the use of unmanned systems in its military. Mercer said a key message at the conference was that Canberra “wants the ability to send a robot before they send a soldier, so they are looking at robots to generate ISR, kinetic/non-kinetic and electronic warfare effects.”
Mercer claimed that the company has seen interest from the Australian army and its special operations command. “Special operations is looking at all the Smash products from the point of view of its counter-drone capability for dismounted patrols, the ability to engage targets in the maritime surface space (boarding parties/alongside drills),” he said. Smartshooter saw similar interest from special forces going back to 2020 in the US, and won a contract with the US Army in 2022.
Mercer points to two programs that the company is focusing on currently to pursue new contracts: the Land 159 and its close combat family of weapons, and Land 125, which includes a focus on counter-UAS systems. In the second program, the company is offering its Smash Situational Awareness system and a light-weight remote weapon station for unmanned ground vehicles.
Systems such as the Smash Hopper can be fitted on a range of mounts and placed on various vehicles of maritime vessels, Mercer said, and can be combined with counter-UAS electronic disruptors. “Being able to mount a drone disruptor on Smash Hopper will give us line of sight out to 2 to 3 kilometers, so we can provide that as well,” he said. The disruptor itself could come from a different, perhaps local company. “The more that we do within local partnerships inside Australia, the better we are seen as a viable member of the Australian Defence Industry team,” he said.
The new company encompasses Australia, New Zealand and Oceania for potential markets. Prior to Smartshooter, Mercer was in the Australian Army for two decades and has a background in civilian positions in defence and space over the past 15 years, he said.
“In this time I have observed the quantum leap in defense and space technologies, the war fighters’ understanding and acceptance of these technologies, and their hunger and ideas for use and capability generation.” This is true in NATO countries and the countries of AUKUS (Australia, UK, US), he notes. These are the markets the company has been pursuing in the US and Europe.
He says Israel is also seen locally as a country that has come up with outside-of-the-box thinking. “Israel has a great name for delivering innovative equipment that is born from requirements tried-and-tested on the battlespace,” he said. Many Israeli defense companies are active in Australia.
In Israel, Smartshooter CEO Michal Mor praised the establishment of the new subsidiary. “This marks an exciting chapter in Smartshooters’ growth as a global leader in fire control systems. By being present in Australia, we are now better positioned to address the needs of our local customers and partners, and we look forward to fostering new collaborations within this region,” she said.
