The Killer Weapon That Sees What Soldiers Can't

The Common Remotely Operated Weapon Station, known as CROWS, was once a mere aspiration of the military. However, modern technology has now caught up with the warfighters’ craziest dreams.

This revolutionary series of weapon stations is transforming the way soldiers engage with targets. The US military has implemented CROWS on their armored vehicles and ships, providing soldiers with an unprecedented level of protection and accuracy. CROWS is a versatile weapon system that provides both defensive and offensive capabilities, making it an indispensable tool.

Designed to be mounted on various vehicle platforms, the system is equipped to handle a range of armaments, including the Mk 19 grenade launcher, the 12.7-millimeter M2 .50 caliber machine gun, the 7.62-millimeter M240B machine gun, and the 5.56-millimeter M249 Squad Automatic Weapon.

Now more than ever, the troops on the frontline are ready to fight against invisible foes…

[rickwhite]

CROWS is developed by Kongsberg Defense & Aerospace Norway and sold to 16 countries.

[ChopSwayze]

I was the part of the first team that recieved the CROWS system in Iraq in 2005. They installed the system in 5 days onto our humvee at LSA Anaconda. 2 weeks on the system! It changed my life!

[Cta]

The Protector RWS is a remote controlled weapon station. The manufacturer is the Norwegian company Kongsberg Defense Systems, which has taken over the product and further developed it substantially from the original developer, which was another Norwegian company, named Vinghøg. Protector has been in production since December 2002.

The system has been sold to 29 countries, over 23, 000 have been produced and Protector RWS is the market leader for this type of remote-controlled weapon station. Approximately 18, 000 of the Protector RWS have gone to the USA, the majority of these through the CROWS II program which started in 2007. The majority of these are produced in the subsidiary Kongsberg Protech Systems USA, located east of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania.

[surq]

I WAS a CROWS gunner during my deployment in 05-06. That piece of shit broke down CONSTANTLY! Our leadership insisted we go on mission regardless because the technology was deemed 'intimidating' despite being deadlined! When it worked, it was impressive, but malfunctions required the gunner to repair the malfunction manually. It looks like some major improvements have been made, but I truly hope that current gunners have a vastly superior system to what I had in 2005.

[georgecoons]

1 RPG black paint gun will blind it. Thats how they stopped the T800 terminators. And HK tanks.

[jedironin]

Somebody PLEASE mount the CROWS system to the tried-and-true Quad-Mount .50 BMG turret!! 😁

[FloydMaxwell]

"Able to track vehicles at up to 25 mph" -- this must be at a certain distance (as it is easier to track at say a mile away vs 50 feet away)

[JUSTME-mblg]

This would have saved hundreds of American lives if this system was available for the early Middle East conflicts. I saw ErDOGan using these against the Kurds near the Syrian Border but no sign of them in the US forces.

[uss-dh]

These were fun to play with in my BFBC2 days.

[sparksmcgee]

Dewalt put out a lot of gunk gear in the late 90s as everyone was putting out every type tool as a battery. A lot of junk just to have something in every slot. It killed me sticking with a single brand. Now with battery adapters I didn't have to get a new multi tool because my Maktia batteries were only being used for it. Now I can use it with other brands batteries.

[oneshotme]

Damn love seeing our military have these!!!
Enjoyed your video and I gave it a Thumbs Up

[rickjames]

Why didn't they give these to the front line units back in 2004? could have used them on overwatch missions or route clearence. All we had was sandbags on cargo trucks with regular mounts. Then we finally got some better humvees with full plated turrets but never even seen a CROWS system that I remember. Either way, I hope they adapt these for any drone use as well. I think that will be very important in future warfare as things evolve.

[dr.michaellittle]

Yet another superb video! Love your content 👏

[romes]

We had these at my unit on the JLTV and MATVs, and they’re rarely functioning and require constant maintenance.

[NickRose-rlcm]

Your videos kick ass bro, keep up the good work!

[Ryan-lkpu]

How would the crew deal with jams? I've seen tons of videos of operators cycling the weapon to clear jams mid firefight

[stardog]

We used these when I was in the colonial marines and found them to be very effective. We heard of one squad that lost all but one of its members on LV-426 despite using them, but that was no fault of the cannons. Most of the squad was wiped out prior to deploying the weapons. Once set up they worked very well, but the xenomorphs who attacked got past the gun emplacements simply by overwhelming them with sheer numbers.

[frankmccann]

All they need is a sound weapon such as you know who had that would buckle 3 inches of armor at kilometers away?

[sibbesen]

Reminds me of the UA 571-C Remote Sentry Weapon System from Aliens...

[ljprep]

That's one helluva nice system. I'm sure the turret gunners appreciated their new place =inside= the vehicles. Did they ever get the reliability problem fixed, Surq0784?