Kongsberg takes Protector to sea
Richard Scott
Having achieved significant international sales success with its Protector remote weapons station in the armoured fighting vehicles market, Kongsberg Defence and Aerospace (Stand 314) has unveiled a naval derivative designed to provide close-in force protection against asymmetric surface threats. Known as Sea Protector, the system is adapted from the latest M151A2 Protector weapon/sensor mounting already fielded by the US Army’s Stryker Brigades, and ordered by Australia, Canada and several other nations.
The navalised system shares the basic architecture of the land-based Protector system, with engineering modifications limited to selected component changes (to ‘navalise’ the system for the maritime environment), an enhanced stabilisation system and a water spray system (for the lenses of the sensors). Above deck, the Sea Protector system comprises a stabilised platform equipped with infrared and TV sensors to provide situational awareness, and allow for positive (visual) identification and assessment of potential threats.
A laser rangefinder can also be fitted. Sea Protector can accept various weapons, including a 12.7mm machine gun, a 40mm automatic grenade launcher and/or a launcher for precision-guided missiles such as Javelin, Mistral or CRV7/Hydra. Another advantage claimed by Kongsberg is the system’s small size and simple ship fit: the above-deck weapons station is fixed to the deck using eight bolts, and requires only two 51mm deck penetrations to serve as cable feed-troughs. Below-decks, the operator can control the Sea Protector mounting from inside a deck house, in the operations room or any other suitable area.
As well as offering a basic standalone capability, Kongsberg says the system can be interfaced with the vessel’s navigation radar to help cue targets at night or in bad visibility, or be fully integrated with the ship’s combat management system. Being compact and relatively lightweight, Sea Protector is said to be suitable for installation aboard naval ships and patrol craft of any size. Last year, a prototype system was installed on a Norwegian Naval Home Guard patrol craft of less than 14m in length for a highly successful series of live firings. In addition to the standard Sea Protector, Kongsberg also offers Sea Protector Lite, a lower mass variant designed to support lowrecoil weapons such as a 7.62mm machine gun.
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