Kongsberg Wins Remote Weapon Stations Contract for British MIV Programme

Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace has signed a contract valued at $114 million (NOK 1 030 million) with Thales UK for delivery of the Protector RS4 remote weapon stations (RWS) to the British Army Mechanised Infantry Vehicle (MIV) programme

More than 20.000 of the Protector RS family of RWS’s has been delivered to 23 countries since the beginning of this century. Kongsberg has provided UK with Protector RWS’s since 2008, and MIV is the seventh delivery contract including two upgrades for the British Armed Forces. The Protector RS4 RWS will be integrated on the British Army`s new fleet of Boxer 8×8 vehicles in close cooperation with Thales UK, Rheinmetall and KMW.

“We are very pleased that the British Army continues to rely on Kongsberg as the supplier of remote weapon stations. This confirms the strong position of Kongsberg’s Protector RS4 RWS, and continues the close relationship between Kongsberg, the British Armed Forces and Thales UK,” says Executive Vice President Land Systems at Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace, Pål E Bratlie.

A Kongsberg statement said for more than two decades, the company has been the world-leading global supplier of remote weapon systems. The Protector family of products has millions of hours of operational use and is continuously evolved to meet increasingly demanding requirements, utilising advancements in technology in order to meet new threats.

The product range covers a wide variety from the small and light systems to medium calibre remote turrets (RT series). Among a wide-range of capabilities, the Protector family also enables dual-user operations, counter UAS (Unmanned Aerial System), multi-sensor fusion, manned-unmanned teaming solutions, a qualified Safe operation via radio for use on UGVs (Unmanned Ground Vehicles) as well as other new functions required by the expanding user community. – adj/mgm (Photo: Thales UK)