US Army Blade Runners’ upgrade HUMVEEs with CROWS II

The US Army’s 204th Military Police Company ‘Blade Runners’ are upgrading their M1151 Enhanced Armament Carriers with Kongsberg’s M153 Common Remotely Operated Weapon Station II (CROWS II).

Of the overall fleet, only a few M1151s were identified and prepared for installing the CROWS, while the unit maintenance personnel were tasked with disassembling the turrets of nine up-armoured M1151s to set up them for the upgrade, according to sulphurdailynews.

Further, six non-commissioned crew members would be sent for training by experts on the system’s operation, performing maintenance, upon which they need to train the soldiers on how to operate the system.

In addition to offering lethal platform for incorporation into each squad, CROWS enables to detect targets several thousand metres away, as well as determine the capable weapon system for deployment to put up with the enemy within their configuration to destroy them.

Designed to be mounted on a range of vehicles, with the gunner remaining inside the vehicle, the system supports the MK19 grenade machine gun, 0.50-calibre M2 machine gun, M240B machine gun, and M249 squad automatic weapon.

The Protector remote weapon control system (RWS) in the CROWS II configuration enables soldiers to acquire and engage targets from the safety of a vehicle, further improving military troop protection and lethality.

Valued at $1.4bn, CROWS is a joint acquisition programme designed to offer enhanced protection capabilities, training support and development for the US Army’s vehicle programmes.