U.S. Army deploys cutting-edge $13M smart rifle scopes that automatically shoot down enemy drones in combat

Fox News ^ | Jun 10, 2025 | Jasmine Baehr

[McGruff]

[Secret Agent Man]

I want to order several.

Yes I know they wont sell me one

[tumblindice]

13 million?! Each?

[E. Pluribus Unum]

$13M means $13,000,000, not $13,000, right?

[Frank Drebin]

And that’s a shoulder fired weapon...imagine what they’re come up with for ship or area defense systems versus the wonder drone weapons...

[redinIllinois]

Wow!!

[ETCM]

$13m is the price of the contract for X number of optics. Not sure how many optics that includes, but seeing as fancy military optics already cost north of $3k, I would guess this one is way beyond that. Maybe $25k-$50k+.

[nathanbedford]

This clearly takes us one step closer to drone vs. drone warfare, warfare largely in the absence of human presence.

Mount an anti-drone device such as this on a drone, and we get close to that reality.

[rdcbn1]

In volume, a basic system is about $5K per rifle

[jonrick46]

You make a brilliant point. Imagine AI taking control over the protection.

[Getready]

They oughta’ mount that device on a 50 caliber machine gun or a shotgun with a ballistic slug for drones....wonder if it could knock a RPG out...maybe that also could be used on smaller caliber rifles for snipers or general short range fire fights...just point in that general direction and you will hit it...

[Lazamataz]

We are so screwed.

[nathanbedford]

Buggerd too.

[ETCM]

Color me skeptical. That would make it less than half the price of the Army’s XM-157 Next Generation Squad Weapons — Fire Control optic.

[tumblindice]

Like that Star Trek episode ? where a certain number of people from each side agree to die, to avoid property damage, the screaming and biting, metal teeth, hurting, pain?
“Fascinating.” Spoock

[Callahan]

That was “Taste of Armageddon.” One of my favorite episodes.

“ Death, destruction, disease, horror… that’s what war is all about. That’s what makes it a thing to be avoided.” — Capt. James T. Kirk

[rdcbn1]

Color me skeptical. That would make it less than half the price of the Army’s XM-157 Next Generation Squad Weapons — Fire Control optic.

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The system has a ton of options but the basic system is not that expensive.

[Brian Griffin]

Drones might move somewhat randomly like rabbits.

Also, I think larger exploding projectiles with pellets would be needed to reliably take out a drone.

Also, since I normally hear drones before I see them, I think that noise cancellation might be useful.

[Brian Griffin]

If the sensor is optical, a can of spray paint might make the drone hard to see.

[Candor7]

I want one. If the Iranians and Chinese can get them back channel, We each should be able to get one.