DIVISION DYNAMIC SYSTEMS

PROTECTING MILITARY PERSONNEL

The PROTECTOR Remote Weapon Station was developed to protect military personnel inside armoured vehicles. Weapons and sensors are mounted on the outside of the vehicle, while the operator remotely controls the system from a protected position inside the vehicle.

The PROTECTOR has been in full-scale production since December 2001. Altogether, more than 2 000 RWS systems have been produced since then. The control system has been tested in war zones, and has rapidly become a world leader in its segment. KONGSBERG delivers orders to Norway, the USA, Canada, Ireland, Australia, Finland, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Portugal, the Netherlands and Luxembourg.

In August, KONGSBERG signed a framework agreement with the US Army for weapon control systems for the CROWS (Common Remotely Operated Weapon Station) programme worth roughly NOK 8 billion over five years. The total scope will depend on future needs and annual appropriations.

The framework agreement makes KONGSBERG by far the pre-dominant and largest supplier of weapon control systems to the US, and a world leader in this niche. In consequence, KONGSBERG is expanding its capacity considerably in Pennsylvania, adding another 10 000 m² of factory space in addition to the new production facilities that just opened. PROTECTOR currently consists of four main products: PROTECTOR M151, PROTECTOR Lite, PROTECTOR NM 221 og Sea PROTECTOR.

The M151 has been the most high-volume product thus far. It is lightweight, easy to integrate and does not require any reduction in the vehicle's armour, offering great flexibility for customer-specific modifications. PROTECTOR NM 221 is the original product and differs from M151 and Lite in that the system allows the user to reload ammunition from the inside instead of using an external ammo box. Launched in 2006, PROTECTOR Lite is well suited for smaller vehicles and armoured trucks armed with smaller calibre weapons. KONGSBERG was first in the world to sign a contract for this product, which lends itself for use with several new vehicle programmes. KONGSBERG sees a strong potential for a new growth product here.

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