The Defence Department has obtained a number of Israeli-made ‘SMASH 3000’ targeting gun sights and is currently testing them for use by the Australian Defence Force (ADF).
The SMASH 3000 is a “rifle mounted electro-optical fire control system”. In other words, it is a high-tech AI-assisted electronic gun sight that is fitted onto an existing weapon to drastically improve targeting accuracy.
Defence’s evaluation period is still running and is due to end on Christmas Day. A four-month contract valued at $495,910.49 with Israeli weapons company, Smartshooter Ltd., for “equipment and training” has commenced on 25 August 2025 and is concluding on 25 December 2025.
Declassified Australia has learnt that Smartshooter describes its SMASH 3000 as being “combat-proven” and promotes that it is in operational use in Gaza by the Israel Defense Force (IDF). The company also states it is “already operational” with other armed forces in Europe, the UK, and the US.
“SMASH 3000 provides a reliable, combat-proven hard-kill solution against drones and sUAS while significantly increasing hit probability in any combat scenario,” says a company press release.
Australia is aiming to ‘benefit’ from Israel’s development of this weapons system used in combat by the IDF in the genocidal war in Gaza. Israel’s behaviour in Gaza has seemingly had no negative impact on Australia’s defence purchase posture towards Israel.
The high-tech weapons sight is able to locate and track a target, and then lock-on the target to provide an almost guaranteed ‘kill’. Marketed for use against drones, the sights can also be used against targets on the ground.
The evaluation by Australia is to assess the system’s suitability for integration into the Australian Defence Force’s (ADF) Dismounted Interim Counter-Unmanned Aerial Systems (C-UAS) Ensemble.
Just over a week ago, the director of Australia and New Zealand Territory for Smartshooter’s subsidiary SMASH Australia Pty Ltd, Lachlan Mercer, spoke about the current equipment supply and training contract for evaluation by the ADF:
“The recently fulfilled order marks a strategic breakthrough into the Australian market after significant appraisal of SMASH Fire Control by the ADF, with potential for follow-on purchases in other programs.
“This further extends SMARTSHOOTER’s established presence in the Asia-Pacific region.”
The company already has a presence in the Asia-Pacific region, with India supplied in 2020, and in August news emerged of an un-named “mysterious Asian country” to be provided with hundreds of the SMASH 3000. Singapore is the only other Asia-Pacific country known to have undertaken an evaluation of the SMASH.
The Defence Capability Acquisition and Sustainment Group published an open tender in March 2025 stating that LAND 156 seeks to procure “commercially available, rapidly deployable existing CsUAS [Counter Small Unmanned Aircraft System] technologies suitable for the dismounted close combatant”.
Australia is close to deciding on the acquisition of anti-drone equipment for its infantry soldiers with testing of several systems conducted in South Australia this month.
Trading with Israel
The SMASH 3000 was unveiled in Australia at the Land Forces 2022 conference in Brisbane in October 2022, with Israel-based CEO Michal Mor stating battlefield experience has helped refine the weapon:
“We have incorporated all operational and technical insights from previous versions into the system, making it even more effective while enabling significant weight and size reduction.
“Operational and combat-proven, the SMASH fire control systems allow infantry soldiers to swiftly and accurately neutralize their targets.”
Less than 12 months later Smartshooter announced the establishment of its new Australian subsidiary, SMASH Australia Pty Ltd, with head office located in Canberra’s Barton.
In August 2023, the CEO, Michal Mor, stated that,
“We are thrilled to announce the establishment of our new Australian subsidiary. This marks an exciting chapter in Smartshooter’s 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.”
In November 2023, Declassified Australia submitted an FOI request to the Department of Defence for documents going to or from the Australian Trade and Defence Office in Israel from 7 October 2023 to 10 November 2023.
One document was identified and, after being heavily redacted, was produced which revealed a 6 November 2023 email sent between Australian officials in Israel in relation to ‘Smartshooter’, attaching five redacted images with the line, “Hi [redacted] any updated thoughts about this? Thanks!”
Defence did not respond to Declassified Australia’s questions in September 2025, or to subsequent follow-ups, asking it to confirm whether or not it had placed an order or has any pending orders to acquire the SMASH 3000 gun sight systems manufactured by Smartshooter.
In September 2025 Declassified Australia submitted an FOI request for copies of purchase orders, agreements to purchase, or correspondence in relation to the purchase, of the SMASH 3000.
Defence identified 11 relevant documents but, after admitting it consulted directly with Smartshooter, refused access to all of the documents on several bases including claiming they are ‘commercial-in-confidence’.
Defence detailed its reasons for refusal to provide the documents:
“The documents contain information which are part of SMARTSHOOTER’s commercial offering to Defence, and form part of their competitive market advantage which differentiate them from other commercial adversaries.
“Consequently, the disclosure of this information could reasonably be expected to impact this competitive advantage, and therefore the capacity to compete in the marketplace…
“The documents contain information regarding commercial and contractual matters between Defence and SMARTSHOOTER. Disclosure of this information would, or could, substantially adversely affect the ongoing relationship.”
The touchiness of this Defence response may be now understood from the new contract that had been signed with Smartshooter in August, just the previous month.
Battlefield Tested
Smartshooter uses the Israeli war in Gaza in its promotion of the SMASH 3000, even releasing photographs of Israeli forces using the equipment in a Special Forces raid in Gaza.
In November 2023 Smartshooter posted on ‘X’ that ‘SMASH 3000 now powers the IDF Special Forces of Sayeret Maglan in Close Quarter Combat (CQC) operation scenarios, delivering a tactical edge to dismounted soldiers’
The IDF’s elite Sayeret Maglan unit has been heavily involved in operations in Gaza, including conducting close-quarter combat (CQC) raids in dense urban areas like Khan Younis, a city located in southern Gaza, along with 51st battalion of the “Golani” brigade.
In December 2023, Israeli news outlet Ynet, stated that the war is “good” for Smartshooter, “as it was for other defense industries, which are now experiencing peaks in orders from all over the world”.
Ynet reported the CEO, Michal Mor, as saying that increasing orders had “obliged the plant to work 24/7”.
“This is the finest hour of the defense industries that provide solutions so that we can live here… Our goal is to increase the safety of the soldiers and reduce injury to innocent bystanders. Minimal fire with maximum effectiveness.”
Indeed in December 2023 the IDF itself described the SMASH gun sight system in use in the war in Gaza:
“The fire monitoring system SMASH has been introduced to the battlefield during the war against Hamas.
“This operational support tool weighs less, identifies the enemy within seconds, can lock on targets and assist in eliminating them and quadruples our forces’ chances of hitting their target.”
The IDF declared the SMASH gun sight as “changing the face of the modern battlefield”.
No doubt this is because it is an AI-powered fire control gun sight that lets soldiers hit difficult targets with very little training by automatically tracking the target and telling the user exactly when to shoot for a high hit probability, significantly cutting down training time and ammunition needed.
It uses computer vision and algorithms to lock onto targets, calculate trajectories, and ensures precise hits even in stressful situations, transforming standard rifles into ‘smart weapons’ for infantry.
It is worth noting that Smartshooter’s other ‘products’ have been used in Israel’s illegal occupation of the Occupied Palestinian Territories, including Gaza.
In 2022, Israel’s military installed Smartshooter’s remote controlled weapons at a checkpoint in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron with the capacity to fire stun grenades, tear gas and sponge-tipped bullets.
Its SMASH HOPPER has been integrated into the Israeli MDT David light armoured vehicle and there have been numerous reports (previously denied by the company) that its ‘SMASH Dragon’ – which can be mounted on different forms of unmanned aerial platforms such as drones, and can strike targets while hovering over them – have been used in Gaza.
Many have labelled Gaza the site of the first AI-powered genocide. The use of AI has rightly been the subject of significant controversy, including it being a factor in the high number of civilian casualties and extensive physical destruction.
Australia’s Obligations
Australia has legal obligations under international law, set down by the International Court of Justice.
Australia is not to provide aid or assistance that would continue Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories; to do all it can to prevent genocide; not to engage in economic relations that support the ongoing occupation; to take all positive steps within our power to bring Israel’s illegal presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territories to an end, and to prohibit all military related trade with the State of Israel.
In her 20 October 2025 report, ‘Gaza Genocide: a collective crime’, Francesca Albanese, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied in 1967, highlighted that:
“Third States also continue to purchase Israeli weapons and military technology. Besides being a core component of its economy – in 2024 weapons exports accounted for 23 percent of Israeli exports, the second-highest share globally – these exports also enhance Israeli arms manufacturing capacity.
“A unique selling point of Israeli military technology is that it is tested on Palestinians under occupation and related military activities.
“The ongoing genocide has enabled Israel to expand the range of weaponry and surveillance systems tested on the Gaza population.
“As a result, the value of arms exports increased by 18 percent during the genocide, with exports to the EU more than doubling and accounting for 54 percent of Israeli military exports in 2024. Other significant destinations include Asia and the Pacific (23 percent) [emphasis added] and Arab countries under the Abraham Accords (12 percent).”
Australia presents itself as a country with a transparent and honest government that upholds international law, that condemns and tries to prevent genocide, and that acts consistent with the rulings of the International Court of Justice.
Australia’s Defence Forces have the identical legal obligations as the nation does under international law, to not trade with a country perpetrating genocide, war crimes, and crimes against international law.
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