YOUR TRUSTED ADVISOR IN THE FIELD OF REMOTE WEAPON SYSTEMS

Hosted by Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace’s Land Systems division and supported by the Slovenian Ministry of Defence and Armed Forces, the PROTECTOR Users Working Group was held in Ljubljana, Slovenia this year. The PUWG 2022 was a two-day event for OEMs and partners, starting with a PROTECTOR conference day in Ljubljana on June 7 and a live fire demonstration of the PROTECTOR Remote Weapon Systems (RWS) with narration on June 8.

The demo addressed the wide range of PROTECTOR RWS and Remote Turrets, including CUAS, MUM-T and Remote Turrets. The live fire demonstration was held at the Slovenian Armed Forces' main training area - Poček Military Training Ground outside of Ljubljana.

“Our aim is to be a trusted advisor in the field of Remote Weapon Systems and provide our customers with correct information so that they can make the right decision for their armed forces. Our PROTECTOR Remote Weapons Systems are a highly flexible and easy-to-use system, and the PROTECTOR family of Remote Weapon Systems enables soldiers to perform their tasks from a protected position. To be able to show the systems’ compatibility and integration on different armoured and military vehicles are of the utmost importance for Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace,” said Arne Gjennestad, VP of Marketing and Sales Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace, at the opening of the event.

The PROTECTOR family of remote weapon systems has delivered more than 21.000 PROTECTOR Remote Weapon Systems, and has been selected by 28 nations. A total of 15 current user nations were present at the event.

Participants received detailed information about the PROTECTOR Remote Weapon Systems-family - ranging from RS2 to Remote Turrets on a range of different platforms. Another important focus was the KONGSBERG Through Life Support system. The Land Systems-team presented solutions for countering UAS and how KONSGEBRG uses its knowledge from remote controlled weapon turrets, to control robotic vehicles with unmanned weapon systems (Manned Unmanned – Teaming).

A key topic was the remote systems’ ease and flexibility integrating onto different vehicles, and how KONGSBERG offers different configurations with the same mechanical and electrical interface.

“We successfully integrated the M230LF onto Kongsberg’s RS6 remote weapons station and fired our newest percussion-primed High Explosive Dual Purpose (HEDP) from the Pandur EVO vehicle. The systems displayed the compatibility of integrating Bushmaster® cannons on light platforms with the capabilities of armor and Counter UAS defeat,” said John McCollum, Director of Business Development at Northrop Grumman.

The PROTECTOR family of Remote Weapon Systems shown at PUWG was mounted on a variety of different vehicles, including Milrem’s Type X and THeMIS autonomous vehicles, GDELS’ armoured vehicles Pandur and Eagle, Patria’s AMV 8x8 wheeled armored vehicle, Supacat’s HMT vehicle and Oshkosh Defense’s Joint Light Tactical Vehicle.

“The Mk44 Stretch and the M230LF are two proven and reliable medium caliber chain guns, as shown at the Kongsberg PROTECTOR Users Working Group. The M230LF can defeat a range of threats on the modern battlefield from armored vehicles to Group 2 UAS utilizing Northrop Grumman’s suite of advanced ammunition. The integration with KONGSBERG’s remote weapon stations, turrets, and platforms will help protect our allies from today’s emerging threats,” said McCollum.

“It was great to finally manage to have a physical event of this scale. Meeting users and partners in person is always great and I would like to thank all participants, customers and partners for a successful event. PUWG would not be able to take place without the excellent support of the Slovenian Ministry of Defence and the Slovenian Armed Forces,” said Arne Gjennestad, VP of Marketing and Sales Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace, at the opening of the event.