Top gunner in an armored vehicle is one of the most dangerous jobs in the U.S. Army. Not only are you out there, exposed, when the bad guys start shooting, you can also get crushed if your vehicle rolls over in a ditch or on a steep grade. When Humvee crews welcome embedded reporters into their trucks for the first time, they always teach them how to help yank the gunner down, to protect him during a roll-over.
In 2006 the Army came up with a partial solution to both problems. With some cameras and servos, plus a nifty interface that looks a lot like a small version of a 1980s arcade game, your gunner can operate his weapon while safely tucked inside the vehicle. The Army called the $260,000-a-pop remote gun turret CROWS, for "Common Remotely Operated Weapon System," and ordered thousands of them. Now CROWS is getting a sequel, CROWS II, the first copies of which are being fitted to new blastproof trucks in Afghanistan. "It has a few more bells and whistles that CROWS I didn't have," said Samuel Cottrell, a trainer for the system.
Three years ago, commanders worried CROWS would make gunners less accurate, because they'd be aiming with a joystick and a camera. They underestimated how much first-person-shooter video games had prepared young soldiers remote combat. "We're glad to know all those hours spent in front of the screen didn't go to waste," Engadget mused. With CROWS II's better sensors and controls, it should be even more like a video game.
In theory, you can plug almost anything into a CROWS mount, from guns all the way up to Hellfire missiles. The cameras are great for spotting IEDs, too. With all these uses, lots of armed services are getting in on the remote turret craze. The Marines have a CROWS-like system for hanging a machine gun underneath an otherwise unarmed V-22 Osprey tiltrotor, and the Israeli navy fits remotely controlled "Typhoon" gun and missile mounts to its patrol boats and sea robots.
"Truly amazing,” is how one soldier described CROWS, which is said to be 90-percent ballistically accurate. But the Army downplays the turret's "awesome" factor. “It is not the answer for everything,” Cottrell said. And if your truck's power goes out, you have to climb out and work the gun manually.
[PHOTO: Army]
