Specialist Christopher D. Baird and Spc. Graham T. Binkley, both gunners with Co. F, 2-278th ACR, 13th ESC, attach the M-2 .50-caliber machine gun to the Common Remotely
Operated Weapon Station before a mission April 7 at Joint Base Balad, Iraq. Spc. Lisa A. Cope, 13th ESC Public Affairs
(Below) A Soldier stares into the screen of a next generation of
common remotely operated weapons station, July 31, on Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan. CROWS II enables servicemembers to engage insurgents from atop a mine resistant ambush
protected vehicle. Photo Credit: Pfc. Cody A. Thompson, 40th Public Affairs Detachment
“Top Cover” - is a phrase that has a similar resonance as “Walking Point” does for soldiers patrolling in jungle or today in the gulleys and alleyways of Afghanistan.
For the soldier leading a patrol – walking point – there is the constant fear that he will be the man caught by the first shots of an ambush or the blast of a mine or IED. For the sentry giving top cover – looking out of the roof hatch in a vehicle – many of the risks are the same. They range from an accurately thrown half brick through to sniper’s bullet or blast from a roadside bomb.
However there are operational
environments where a soldier manning a heavy machine gun or grenade launcher on a vehicle like a Land Rover WIMIK has an important role. The British ISTEC Services Ltd weapon and sight mounts are ideal for vehicles employed in peace keeping operations where a human presence may reduce tensions or fast moving special forces operations this type of mount can be brought to bear very quickly against lightly equipped hostile forces. However both the point man and top cover sentry are the vital part of a foot or vehicle mounted patrol but now technology has started to take out some of the danger. Instead of a vulnerable human looking out of a
vehicle, a remote weapons system (RWS) takes his or her place. Until recently RWS were seen as a machine gun or grenade launcher with a co-axial day and night sighting and observation system mounted on the roof or rear deck of a vehicle. The weapons could range from a 5.56mm machine gun up to a 30mm cannon and 40mm grenade launchers, however anti-tank guided weapons like Javelin and Hellfire would also be fired from a RWS mount. The operator, safe under armour, could observe, aim and engage targets displayed on a screen inside the vehicle. A critical design feature in a RWS is the mount or cradle for the weapon. The shock and vibration when a weapon is fired can be transmitted to the mount and this can throw the weapon off aim. In general war this is a problem, in low intensity counter-insurgency operations it can have ramifications that reach up to government level. A burst of fire directed at a sniper or would-be bomber that hits innocent bystanders because the machine gun is not securely mounted can undo months of confidence building. A weapon in a RWS needs to be secure and also properly buffered to take the repetitive recoil forces when it is fired. It is an indication of how important
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