Norway-based Kongsberg company announced on Monday that the U.S. Army has awarded a 5-year IDIQ contract valued up to $1.498 billon for the continued delivery of the Common Remotely Operated Weapon Station (CROWS).
According to a press release from Kongsberg, between the M151 and M153 variants company has delivered more than 18,000 systems to the U.S. Armed Services. These systems are in-service within every branch of the U.S. military and many US agencies, providing protection for soldiers within combat vehicles, facilities, and vessels. The Kongsberg PROTECTOR family of remote weapon stations is the most widely used system in the world, providing commonality among NATO and allied forces.
“Kongsberg is proud to be selected as the supplier in this competitive award for the next five-year CROWS contract. This is an important milestone. We are extending our collaboration with US Army as we have since 2007 enabling Kongsberg, together with the customer, to provide the soldiers with the best remotely controlled weapon solution,” says Eirik Lie, President of Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace.
“With this award, Kongsberg and the U.S. Government will be able to fully realize the investments made in the Tech Refresh systems and bring those capabilities to new and existing customers both in the US and abroad. CROWS Tech Refresh is the “next generation” of remote weapon stations. The Tech Refresh systems are designed to provide greater stand-off, increased precision, and networking capabilities as well as vastly improved situational awareness in addition to being backwards compatible,” said Eirik Tord Jensen, Executive Vice President for Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace Land Systems division.
With more than 23,000 systems sold worldwide and 17 years of CROWS experience, Kongsberg will continue to support the soldiers with new systems and capabilities meeting tomorrow’s requirements while maintaining, supporting a wide range of CROWS variants. With systems sold to 26 nations, Kongsberg is the world-leading provider of remote weapon stations.