"M153" redirects here. For USA Road, see M-153. For Cape Town Road, see M153 (Cape Town).
The Common Remotely Operated Weapon Station (CROWS) is a series of remote weapon stations used by the US military on its armored vehicles and ships. It allows weapon operators to engage targets without leaving the protection of their vehicle. The US military has fielded both the M101 CROWS and M153 CROWS II systems.
Common Remotely Operated Weapon Station (CROWS) mounted with M2 Browning .50 Caliber Machine Gun fitted with a blank firing adapter.
An RG-33 convoy with CROWS remote weapons stations attached.
The CROWS system provides an operator with the ability to acquire and engage targets while inside a vehicle, protected by its armor. It is designed to mount on a variety of vehicle platforms and supports the Mk 19 grenade launcher, 12.7 mm M2 .50 Caliber Machine Gun, 7.62 mm M240B Machine Gun, and 5.56 mm M249 Squad Automatic Weapon. The system is composed of two parts: the mount which is fixed to the exterior of the vehicle and the control group. The mount is capable of 360° rotation and −20° to +60° elevation and is gyro-stabilized.[1] The sight package includes a daylight video camera, a thermal camera and an eye-safe laser rangefinder. It is also furnished with a fully integrated fire control system that provides ballistic correction.[2] The weight of the weapon station varies accordingly due to different armament modules: 74 kg (163 lb) light, 135 kg (298 lb) standard (including the naval version), and 172 kg (379 lb) for CROWS II.
The control group mounts inside the vehicle (behind the driver's seat on the Humvee). It includes a display, switches and joystick to provide full remote control of the weapon system. This enables the fighting crew to operate from inside armored combat vehicles, while still maintaining the ability to acquire and engage targets.[3] Its camera systems can identify targets out to 1,500 m away, and the mount's absorption of about 85% of weapon recoil delivers an estimated 95% accuracy rate, as well as the ability to track targets moving 25 mph (40 km/h). Large ammunition boxes enable for sustained firing periods, carrying 96 rounds for the Mk 19, 400 rounds for the M2, 1,000 rounds for the M240B, and 1,600 rounds for the M249. Each CROWS costs $190,000.[4]
Variants
M101 CROWS
The first supplier for the CROWS program was Recon Optical (Barrington, IL) with their RAVEN SRWS 26 January 2021 at the Wayback Machine product.[5] As part of the first CROWS contract, the Recon Optical RAVEN R-400 RWS were fielded in 2004 in Iraq, employed by special forces, military police, infantry and transport units.
After an open solicitation Kongsberg Protech Systems (Kongsberg Gruppen, Norway and Johnstown, PA) won the CROWS II contract with a variant of their M151 PROTECTOR, which is also used on the StrykerM1126 Infantry Carrier Vehicle.[6][7] Kongsberg received a framework contract of more than US$1 billion for the delivery of up to 6,500 CROWS systems to the US Army and a first purchase order exceeding US$300 million[8] As of October 2009, the framework contract has been almost completely converted to fixed contracts.[9] At the very end of 2009 the agreement was extended to include 10,349 systems.[10]
Between the M151 and M153 variants KONGSBERG has delivered more than 18,000 systems to the U.S. Armed Services. These systems are in-service within every branch of the U.S. military and many US agencies.[11] It is employed in various versions of the Humvee, Buffalo MRVs, RG-31 Nyalas, RG-33s, the Army's M1126 Stryker APC, and was soon integrated into the Oshkosh M-ATV, JERRV, Caiman, and MaxxPro.[1]
Sea PROTECTOR MK50
A nautical version of the CROWS II weapons system has been developed and deployed by the U.S. Navy on its Mark VI patrol boats .[12][13][14][15] It allows vessels to engage speedboats piloted by suicide bombers at longer ranges. Gyrostablization is particularly important for a weapon carried by a small vessel being buffeted by waves when traveling at high speed. In Navy service, the CROWS II is referred to as the "MK50 Gun Weapon System (GWS)."[16]
CROWS-J
In May 2018, Stryker ICVs of the 2nd Cavalry Regiment deployed to Europe to test the CROWS-Javelin, a version of the M153 turret fitted with an FGM-148 Javelin anti-tank missile tube. This enables the vehicle gunner to detect and destroy heavy armor out to 3 km (1.9 mi) without requiring a soldier to dismount. The Army plans to up-gun all its Stryker brigades by adding a 30 mm cannon to half of the ICVs in rifle and scout platoons while adding the CROWS-J to the other half, roughly 80 vehicles with each per brigade.[17][18][19][20]
CROWS III
By September 2013, the U.S. Army had over 8,000 CROWS systems in use. The new CROWS III incorporates a laser dazzler to temporarily blind suspicious individuals rather than needing to open fire, additional cameras on the side and rear of the turret to expand situational awareness without rotating the turret, and an infrared laser pointer to paint objects at night. The larger version of CROWS is equipped with a Javelin missile launcher.[21]
Even though Kongsberg Gruppen enjoyed record profits during this time, the decision was made to merge subsidiaries, Kongsberg Defense and Kongsberg Protech Systems in an effort to save 100 Million NOK or $10,285,500[22] by terminating the contracts of several employees from these divisions.
References
^ abFuller, BG Peter N.; COL Douglas A. Tamilio (18 May 2010). (PDF). PEO Soldier. United States Army. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 November 2011. Retrieved 28 October 2010.
^John Pike (19 November 2005). "XM101 Common Remotely Operated Weapon Station (CROWS)". Globalsecurity.org. Retrieved 27 May 2011.
^Staff Sgt. Kristina Barrett. "CROWS gets Airmen out of the turret". Af.mil. Retrieved 27 May 2011.
^Weapon system moves Reserve gunners to the safety of the backseat - Army.mil, 30 January 2017
^"fbodaily.com". fbodaily.com. Retrieved 27 May 2011.
^. Gao.gov. Archived from the original on 4 November 2009. Retrieved 27 May 2011.
^. Kongsberg.com. Archived from the original on 11 February 2009. Retrieved 27 May 2011.
^. defpro.com. Archived from the original on 17 July 2011. Retrieved 27 May 2011.
^. Kongsberg.com. 22 August 2007. Archived from the original on 11 March 2011. Retrieved 27 May 2011.
^"U.S. ARMY AWARDS USD 1.498 BILLION IDIQ CROWS CONTRACT TO KONGSBERG". Kongsberg.com. 31 October 2022.
^ Chuck Hill (2 July 2014). "Precision Machine Guns?". Chuck Hill's blog. from the original on 20 July 2018. Retrieved 20 July 2018.
^ "The Sea PROTECTOR MK50 supporting the U. S. Navy". Kongsberg. from the original on 26 April 2018. Retrieved 20 July 2018.
^"The Sea Protector MK50 Supporting the U. S. Navy". Defense Aerospace News. 11 September 2013. Retrieved 20 July 2018. In April 2013, the U.S. Navy announced the order of a marinized version of the M153 Common Remotely Operated Weapon Station (CROWS) from Kongsberg Protech Systems to fulfill requirements for its remotely operated Stabilized Small Arms Mount (SSAM) weapon systems program.
^ . Sea Waves magazine. 12 September 2013. Archived from the original on 20 July 2018. Retrieved 20 July 2018. The Sea PROTECTOR MK50 has been undergoing testing this fall and features the latest technology from KONGSBERG, such as the VIS95 day camera providing enhanced situational awareness, as well as compatibility for an array of ammunition and weapons.
^Army, Navy link up for sophisticated weapon install - Army.mil, 4 December 2015
^New Stryker armored with CROWS-J Javelin missile turret for US troops in Europe. Army Recognition. 4 September 2018.
^Army wants a new remote operating system for its ground combat vehicle cannons. Army Times. 8 March 2019.
^Army Details Plan to Equip Stryker Infantry Carriers with Tank-Killing Missiles. Military.com. 24 September 2019.
^Battle group in Poland is the only Army unit to use 'upgunned' Strykers. Stars and Stripes. 11 June 2020.
^The Relentless Terminator - Strategypage.com, 12 September 2013
^"KONGSBERG strengthens its defence business - KONGSBERG". www.kongsberg.com. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
External links
Media related to CROWS (RWS) at Wikimedia Commons
Media related to CROWS II (RWS) at Wikimedia Commons
Common Remotely Operated Weapon Station (CROWS) at U.S. Army Acquisition Support Center
crows, other, uses, crow, disambiguation, m153, redirects, here, road, cape, town, road, m153, cape, town, common, remotely, operated, weapon, station, series, remote, weapon, stations, used, military, armored, vehicles, ships, allows, weapon, operators, engag. For other uses see Crow disambiguation M153 redirects here For USA Road see M 153 For Cape Town Road see M153 Cape Town The Common Remotely Operated Weapon Station CROWS is a series of remote weapon stations used by the US military on its armored vehicles and ships It allows weapon operators to engage targets without leaving the protection of their vehicle The US military has fielded both the M101 CROWS and M153 CROWS II systems Common Remotely Operated Weapon Station CROWS mounted with M2 Browning 50 Caliber Machine Gun fitted with a blank firing adapter Contents 1 System overview 2 Variants 2 1 M101 CROWS 2 2 M153 CROWS II 2 2 1 Sea PROTECTOR MK50 2 2 2 CROWS J 2 3 CROWS III 3 References 4 External linksSystem overview Edit An RG 33 convoy with CROWS remote weapons stations attached The CROWS system provides an operator with the ability to acquire and engage targets while inside a vehicle protected by its armor It is designed to mount on a variety of vehicle platforms and supports the Mk 19 grenade launcher 12 7 mm M2 50 Caliber Machine Gun 7 62 mm M240B Machine Gun and 5 56 mm M249 Squad Automatic Weapon The system is composed of two parts the mount which is fixed to the exterior of the vehicle and the control group The mount is capable of 360 rotation and 20 to 60 elevation and is gyro stabilized 1 The sight package includes a daylight video camera a thermal camera and an eye safe laser rangefinder It is also furnished with a fully integrated fire control system that provides ballistic correction 2 The weight of the weapon station varies accordingly due to different armament modules 74 kg 163 lb light 135 kg 298 lb standard including the naval version and 172 kg 379 lb for CROWS II The control group mounts inside the vehicle behind the driver s seat on the Humvee It includes a display switches and joystick to provide full remote control of the weapon system This enables the fighting crew to operate from inside armored combat vehicles while still maintaining the ability to acquire and engage targets 3 Its camera systems can identify targets out to 1 500 m away and the mount s absorption of about 85 of weapon recoil delivers an estimated 95 accuracy rate as well as the ability to track targets moving 25 mph 40 km h Large ammunition boxes enable for sustained firing periods carrying 96 rounds for the Mk 19 400 rounds for the M2 1 000 rounds for the M240B and 1 600 rounds for the M249 Each CROWS costs 190 000 4 Variants EditM101 CROWS Edit The first supplier for the CROWS program was Recon Optical Barrington IL with their RAVEN SRWS Archived 26 January 2021 at the Wayback Machine product 5 As part of the first CROWS contract the Recon Optical RAVEN R 400 RWS were fielded in 2004 in Iraq employed by special forces military police infantry and transport units M153 CROWS II Edit Soldier posing with an M153 The USCGC Sea Devil WPB 87368 mounts a Sea PROTECTOR MK50 with an M2 Browning 50 Caliber Machine Gun After an open solicitation Kongsberg Protech Systems Kongsberg Gruppen Norway and Johnstown PA won the CROWS II contract with a variant of their M151 PROTECTOR which is also used on the Stryker M1126 Infantry Carrier Vehicle 6 7 Kongsberg received a framework contract of more than US 1 billion for the delivery of up to 6 500 CROWS systems to the US Army and a first purchase order exceeding US 300 million 8 As of October 2009 the framework contract has been almost completely converted to fixed contracts 9 At the very end of 2009 the agreement was extended to include 10 349 systems 10 Between the M151 and M153 variants KONGSBERG has delivered more than 18 000 systems to the U S Armed Services These systems are in service within every branch of the U S military and many US agencies 11 It is employed in various versions of the Humvee Buffalo MRVs RG 31 Nyalas RG 33s the Army s M1126 Stryker APC and was soon integrated into the Oshkosh M ATV JERRV Caiman and MaxxPro 1 Sea PROTECTOR MK50 Edit A nautical version of the CROWS II weapons system has been developed and deployed by the U S Navy on its Mark VI patrol boats 12 13 14 15 It allows vessels to engage speedboats piloted by suicide bombers at longer ranges Gyrostablization is particularly important for a weapon carried by a small vessel being buffeted by waves when traveling at high speed In Navy service the CROWS II is referred to as the MK50 Gun Weapon System GWS 16 CROWS J Edit In May 2018 Stryker ICVs of the 2nd Cavalry Regiment deployed to Europe to test the CROWS Javelin a version of the M153 turret fitted with an FGM 148 Javelin anti tank missile tube This enables the vehicle gunner to detect and destroy heavy armor out to 3 km 1 9 mi without requiring a soldier to dismount The Army plans to up gun all its Stryker brigades by adding a 30 mm cannon to half of the ICVs in rifle and scout platoons while adding the CROWS J to the other half roughly 80 vehicles with each per brigade 17 18 19 20 CROWS III Edit By September 2013 the U S Army had over 8 000 CROWS systems in use The new CROWS III incorporates a laser dazzler to temporarily blind suspicious individuals rather than needing to open fire additional cameras on the side and rear of the turret to expand situational awareness without rotating the turret and an infrared laser pointer to paint objects at night The larger version of CROWS is equipped with a Javelin missile launcher 21 Even though Kongsberg Gruppen enjoyed record profits during this time the decision was made to merge subsidiaries Kongsberg Defense and Kongsberg Protech Systems in an effort to save 100 Million NOK or 10 285 500 22 by terminating the contracts of several employees from these divisions References Edit a b Fuller BG Peter N COL Douglas A Tamilio 18 May 2010 Project Manager Soldier Weapons Briefing for NDIA PDF PEO Soldier United States Army Archived from the original PDF on 14 November 2011 Retrieved 28 October 2010 John Pike 19 November 2005 XM101 Common Remotely Operated Weapon Station CROWS Globalsecurity org Retrieved 27 May 2011 Staff Sgt Kristina Barrett CROWS gets Airmen out of the turret Af mil Retrieved 27 May 2011 Weapon system moves Reserve gunners to the safety of the backseat Army mil 30 January 2017 Crows Archived 11 August 2006 at the Wayback Machine fbodaily com fbodaily com Retrieved 27 May 2011 U S GAO B 310436 B 310436 2 Recon Optical Inc December 27 2007 Gao gov Archived from the original on 4 November 2009 Retrieved 27 May 2011 Kongsberg Defence amp Aerospace Kongsberg com Archived from the original on 11 February 2009 Retrieved 27 May 2011 defpro com defpro com Archived from the original on 17 July 2011 Retrieved 27 May 2011 Increased scope of CROWS II framework agreement Kongsberg com 22 August 2007 Archived from the original on 11 March 2011 Retrieved 27 May 2011 U S ARMY AWARDS USD 1 498 BILLION IDIQ CROWS CONTRACT TO KONGSBERG Kongsberg com 31 October 2022 Chuck Hill 2 July 2014 Precision Machine Guns Chuck Hill s blog Archived from the original on 20 July 2018 Retrieved 20 July 2018 The Sea PROTECTOR MK50 supporting the U S Navy Kongsberg Archived from the original on 26 April 2018 Retrieved 20 July 2018 The Sea Protector MK50 Supporting the U S Navy Defense Aerospace News 11 September 2013 Retrieved 20 July 2018 In April 2013 the U S Navy announced the order of a marinized version of the M153 Common Remotely Operated Weapon Station CROWS from Kongsberg Protech Systems to fulfill requirements for its remotely operated Stabilized Small Arms Mount SSAM weapon systems program Sea PROTECTOR MK50 supporting the U S Navy Sea Waves magazine 12 September 2013 Archived from the original on 20 July 2018 Retrieved 20 July 2018 The Sea PROTECTOR MK50 has been undergoing testing this fall and features the latest technology from KONGSBERG such as the VIS95 day camera providing enhanced situational awareness as well as compatibility for an array of ammunition and weapons Army Navy link up for sophisticated weapon install Army mil 4 December 2015 New Stryker armored with CROWS J Javelin missile turret for US troops in Europe Army Recognition 4 September 2018 Army wants a new remote operating system for its ground combat vehicle cannons Army Times 8 March 2019 Army Details Plan to Equip Stryker Infantry Carriers with Tank Killing Missiles Military com 24 September 2019 Battle group in Poland is the only Army unit to use upgunned Strykers Stars and Stripes 11 June 2020 The Relentless Terminator Strategypage com 12 September 2013 KONGSBERG strengthens its defence business KONGSBERG www kongsberg com Retrieved 25 April 2021 External links Edit Media related to CROWS RWS at Wikimedia Commons Media related to CROWS II RWS at Wikimedia Commons Common Remotely Operated Weapon Station CROWS at U S Army Acquisition Support Center XM153 Common Remotely Operated Weapon Station CROWS permanent dead link PEO Soldier Live Archived 23 May 2015 at the Wayback Machine U S Army Program Executive Office PEO Soldier description of the CROWS Youtube video of Future Weapons CROWS episode Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title CROWS amp oldid 1129470164, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
