WASHINGTON: This week, Kongsberg booked an order with the United States Army valued at $40 million for spare parts, repair and overhaul within the Common Remotely Operated Weapon Station (CROWS II) framework agreement.
This contract was preceded by an order earlier this month from General Dynamics Land Systems valued at $28 million for the delivery of PROTECTOR Remote Weapon Stations for Stryker vehicles to the US Army.
“The U.S. Army is currently fighting on unconventional battlefields that consistently put Soldiers in harm’s way,” said Knut Saeter, Executive Vice President of Kongsberg Protech Systems in Alexandria, VA. “Kongsberg is meeting the Army’s needs by delivering a product that increases troop protection, adaptability, and effectiveness.”
The U.S. Army’s CROWS II, a Kongsberg design based on the PROTECTOR family of Remote Weapon Stations (RWS), is intended to enhance troop safety by enabling the operator to remotely control the system from inside the protection of an armored vehicle. Designed to mount on an array of vehicle platforms and support numerous weapon systems, the PROTECTOR RWS has over 20 million hours of operation, a proven and unprecedented Operational Readiness Rate (ORR) of over 99%, and is currently supplied to 17 nations around the world.
With headquarters in Norway and production facilities in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, USA, Kongsberg Protech Systems maintains its position as the world’s leading provider of remote weapon stations.
Kongsberg Protech Systems is a business area within the Kongsberg Group. As an international, knowledge-based company, Kongsberg supplies high-technology systems and solutions to customers engaged in the oil and gas industry, the merchant marine, and the defense and aerospace industries. In 2009, Kongsberg had a turnover of NOK 13.8 billion (approx. US $2.3 billion) with 5,423 employees in more than 25 countries as of 31 December, 2009.
The contract with the U.S. Army was announced to the Oslo Bourse on 22 March, 2010; the contract with General Dynamics Land Systems was announced on 11 March, 2010.
