Kongsberg Delivers its 20,000th Remote Weapon Station

Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace has delivered its 20,000th Remote Weapon Station (RWS) from its Protector family of products, the company said.

The system has been in use since 1999 by the Norwegian Armed Forces, and has developed into a family of versatile systems with capability to integrate weapons from 5.56 mm rifles to 30 mm cannons, anti-tank and air defence missiles, mission oriented sensor packages and flexible control solutions. The Protector RWS has been sold to 23 nations including Norway, United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Canada, Australia, the Netherlands and Switzerland.

More than 17,000 stations are delivered to United States alone, where unit number 20,000 was a Protector Low Profile for the US Army M1V3 Abrams Main Battle Tank.

With highly skilled and determined production teams in Kongsberg, Norway and in Johnstown, PA, in the USA, and an experienced, innovative team of more than 200 engineers dedicated to the development of the RWS, the Protector RWS has continuously evolved over time through collaboration with customers and users worldwide. Kongsberg is currently in production of the most advanced, flexible and technologically mature family of RWS available for the U.S. and world market. Kongsberg is committed to provide thorough, reliable and proactive through-life support of the Protector family, when and where the users need it.

“Kongsberg is proud to be the world’s leader in Remote Weapon Station technology and related technology integration, such as battlefield management & control of unmanned platforms. Our product’s maturity is far beyond just being a concept – the Protector has millions of hours of operational experience with militaries around the world”, says Pål Bratlie, Executive Vice President Land Systems, Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace AS.

“Kongsberg is leading the development of wireless and remotely controlled weapon systems, integrated on manned and unmanned vehicles, enabling capabilities that will secure our soldiers mission and safety to an even greater extent,” Bratlie added. “The Protector RWS is one of our biggest export successes designed for growth and evolving technologies and has generated 40 BNOK to date in turn-over. Implementation of Counter UAS capabilities and wireless, network-based fire control are proof that we can move forward in lock step with our customers when their needs change.” says Eirik Lie, President of Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace.  –shp/mhi/mgm