Bob
You said:
---"My bet is they settle innto a diversification of armored vehicle applications and it just becomes part of the many expanding applications."
You mean like this?? emphasis on the "app"...
hc
Defense Daily International
October 14, 2011 Friday SECTION: Vol. 13 No. 40
Kongsberg Protech Looks To CROWS RWS Future Capabilities
Kongsberg Protech Systems' Protector CROWS remote weapon systems (RWS) is
adding capabilities to increase the missions the system can do beyond its
primary role of protecting of soldiers under armor while they fire a weapon,
company officials said.
CROWS provides safety and survivability for soldiers who no longer needed
to be exposed in a hatch to fire weapons.
"What I foresee for the future, the number of systems will decrease
because you won't have the number of requirements from the theater any more but
still we have 11,000 systems out there--and they're easy to upgrade," said Rune
Johannessen, executive vice president marketing and sales United States.
Kongsberg Protech Systems Protector CROWS is a unit of Norway's Kongsberg
Gruppen.
"CROWS is very modular and flexible the way it's built (and has open
architecture)," he said. "I think we will see more of the add-ons in the future.
They have already test-fired the Stinger missile from the weapon system. That
suddenly gives you air-defense capability."
The Stinger missile may be old, but there are a huge number of them in
the military inventory. Further developments include closer integration with additional systems, command and control, battle management and communication devices--our system is prepared to handle them," Johannessen said. "We are working on that as well, to try to be ahead."
Another potential addition to CROWS would be the Javelin fire-and-forget
anti-tank missile, which has been integrated on CROWS with only a minor
modification, providing a measure of self-defense for vehicles that did not have
it before.
An uncertain future also considers a range of threats, so Kongsberg is
working on an escalation of force suite that integrates non-lethal weapons.
"We have taken what they have fielded to hand held devices--a bright
white light on the top and a green dazzler laser and put them on CROWS, as well
as an acoustic (Long Range Acoustic Device) LRAD device," Johannessen said.
"This means you can do a number of operations on a road block for instance, and
be under-armor, not having to approach the vehicle, you can speak to them, play
prerecorded messages, blind them, and dazzle them through the LRAD."
Essentially, Johannessen said he envisions a future where the weapons
station is somewhat like an iPhone, with Apps that could be added for the weapon
station.
Right now, controls could be displayed on a phone, but security is an
issue, he said. Perhaps in the future, the system could be controlled by a phone
or similar device.
Another future capability is the 360 degree camera, added to improve situational awareness, he said. With the 360 degree camera, the gun doesn't have to be pointed where the troops are actually looking. It's totally integrated as
an App on the weapon station. |
