Deployed gunners have eagle eyes with safer turret system

Air Force News Agency,

MOODY AIR FORCE BASE: Security forces Airmen here are now training with a new high-technology weapons system currently being used during outside-the-wire patrols in Iraq.

Instructors from the Army's Military Police School from Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., trained members of the 820th Security Forces Group in the effective use of the common remotely operated weapon station, said Master Sgt. Richard Amann, the 820th SFG NCO in charge of training.

CROWS is a stabilized, computer-controlled, all-weather firing platform mounted over the turret-gunner's station of an up-armored Humvee, Sergeant Amann said. It provides a 360-degree long-range precision engagement capability to a patrol crew while keeping the gunner safely protected inside the vehicle.

“Currently the 822nd Security Forces Squadron is deployed and are utilizing CROWS,” he said. “When the 823rd SFS deploys shortly, they will also utilize the system.

“The 820th Security Forces Group is meeting the enemy face-to-face while augmenting ground commanders in nontraditional roles that at one time were more typical of Soldiers,” Sergeant Amann said. “With the change comes the responsibility of ensuring our Airmen are the best trained and equipped.”

The approximately $250,000 weapon station is capable of mounting a variety of armament, such as the MK-19 40-mm automatic grenade launcher or an M2 .50-cal. heavy machine gun, said Steve Coppinger, a CROWS training specialist.

“The weapon station is guided by a laser rangefinder and ballistic computer pre-programmed with the flight characteristics of every ammunition type,” Mr. Coppinger said. “The result is an incredibly accurate firing solution, even when the vehicle is on the move. A gunner only needs to put the crosshairs on target, tag it with the laser rangefinder, accept the firing solution and the computer adjusts the aim point automatically.

“CROWS allows a team to have 'first shot on target' accuracy well before a team is close enough to be in danger,” he said. “One of the crews I trained in Iraq later told me they used a .50 cal M2 to kill an insurgent with just a single shot taken at 2,300 meters. They hit him in the head from 1.4 miles away with the first round.”

The system also provides a level of safety and combat-effectiveness previously unavailable to a gunner standing exposed in a turret.

“A turret gunner usually has only one 'sensor' available to him as he stands exposed behind a turret-mounted weapon,” Mr. Coppinger said. “The standard human 'MK-1 eyeball' has drawbacks. It isn't armored, can't see heat, gets tired, and doesn't have a laser rangefinder.”

The CROWS brings the gunner safely inside the vehicle and gives him a stabilized high magnification camera system and thermal imager that overcomes these deficiencies, Mr. Coppinger said. Using a 13-inch color screen, the gunner is able to safely survey a much larger area with extremely high resolution, all while providing high weapon accuracy at a moment's notice.

For stationary posts, the weapons station can be set to perform an automatic sweep of a designated sector or be pre-programmed with a list of possible targets. To prevent friendly-fire incidents, it can also designate specific no-fire zones occupied by coalition forces.

“The bottom line is that CROWS will keep 820th SFG Airmen safer, while allowing them to perform their missions more effectively,” Sergeant Amann said. “It's a proven asset to our operations because this station has already saved numerous lives from improvised explosive devices and sniper fire.”