GM GDLS to Support US Remote Weapon Stations in Theater
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The GM/ GDLS Defense Group LLC Joint Venture in Sterling Heights, MI has been contracted to provide “contractor logistics support for other customer’s remote weapon station systems.” In plain English, these are automated, unmanned turrets that can be operated from inside a vehicle, with the gunner using a joystick for firing and control while looking at a screen that shows visual, infrared, or other images from the turret’s built-in sensors.
The group’s M1126 Stryker infantry vehicles all mount M151 Kongsberg Protector systems, for instance, which have advanced optics and can be targeted and operated from inside the vehicle.
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Recon/Optical’s CROWS system is also widely popular in theater due to its stabilization feature for firing on the move; it equips many American Hummers and packs a .50 caliber machine gun or a 40mm grenade machine gun. A subsequent GDLS release, however, notes that the contract is confined to RWS systems on Stryker vehicles (i.e. Kongsberg systems).
The thing is, Kongsberg lacks an extensive on-the ground support networks on the front lines – and GM/General Dynamics has one. See below for related contracts and delivery orders…
Contracts & Delivery Orders
Unless otherwise noted, the U.S. Army Tank-Automotive and Armaments Command in Warren, MI issued these contracts and delivery orders to the GM/ GDLS Defense Group LLC Joint Venture in Sterling Heights, MI.
April 27/07: A delivery order amount of $59.3 million as part of a $249.1 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for Stryker vehicle and remote weapon station system parts support. Work will be performed in Sterling Heights, MI (17%), Ft. Lewis, Wash. (30%), Germany (8%), Iraq (14%), Kuwait (2%), and London, Ontario, Canada (29%), and is expected to be complete by Feb. 29, 2008. This was a sole source contract initiated on April 24, 2007 by the U.S. Army Tank-Automotive and Armaments Command in Warren, MI (W56HZV-07-D-M112).
April 17/07: The GM/ GDLS Defense Group LLC Joint Venture in Sterling Heights, MI received a delivery order amount of $13 million as part of an $189.2 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for “contractor logistics support for other customer’s remote weapon station systems.”
Work will be performed in Iraq (66.5%), and Afghanistan (33.5%), and is expected to be complete by April 30, 2008. This was a sole source contract initiated on April 6, 2007 by the U.S. Army Tank-Automotive and Armaments Command in Warren, MI (W56HZV-07-D-M112).
