PICATINNY ARSENAL, N.J. - Four Picatinny weapons-development teams have been acknowledged for their superb work by being recognized with spots in the 2008 Army Greatest Inventions of the Year Awards, the commander of the Army Materiel Command recently announced.
According to Gen. Ann E. Dunwoody, commanding general of the Army Materiel Command, four U.S. Army Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center laboratory teams are being recognized for their commitment to improving readiness and for their innovative technologies that positively impact Soldiers.
Nominations for the program were submitted from across the Army laboratory community and Soldier panels from the 1st Armored Division, 25th Infantry Division and 82nd Airborne Division evaluated the nominations, she said.
Picatinny products on the 2008 Army greatest inventions list include the Overhead Cover for the Objective Gunner Protection Kit, Light Machine Gun and Medium Machine Gun Cradle, XM153 Common Remotely Operated Weapon and the PDCue-CROWS Lightning.
All four invention programs are based here.
An awards luncheon will be held in Arlington, Va., Sept. 21.
Overhead Cover for Objective Gunner Protection Kit:
The Overhead Cover for the Objective Gunner Protection Kit attaches on top of an O-GPK to provide additional coverage for gunners. The solution provides increased ballistic protection.
For this project, Picatinny employees worked closely with experienced Soldiers who recently returned from Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom to help overcome the challenges of maintaining weapon maneuverability, visibility and airflow, while ensuring acceptable levels of lethality, situational awareness and mission effectiveness.
The Overheard Cover is applicable to all platforms that accept the O-GPK, including the M1114 and M1151 Humvees, medium tactical vehicles and Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected, or MRAP, vehicles.
Light Machine Gun and Medium Machine Gun Cradle:
The Light Machine Gun and Medium Machine Gun Cradle is an improvement to the currently fielded M197 Machine Gun Mount for the M249 and M240B machine guns.
The new cradle provides a fixed mounting location for standard 100 or 200-round 5.56 mm ammo containers, or a 200-round 7.62 mm steel ammunition can.
The cradle eliminates machine gun stoppages due to twisted or snagged ammunition by keeping the ammunition in-line with the feed tray and provides a more stable and more accurate firing platform.
XM153 Common Remotely Operated Weapon:
The XM153 CROWS is a remotely operated system that provides the capability to remotely aim and fire a suite of crew-served weapons.
The CROWS system is compatible with M2, Mk19, M240 and M249 and offers enhanced capabilities such as improved day and night operational abilities.
CROWS minimizes the warfighter's exposure to hostile events, such as improvised explosive devices, because the gunner operates the system from under armor.
PDCue-CROWS Lightning:
The PDCue 4-Corner System is a low-cost Acoustic Gunfire Detection System capable of detecting and locating the origin of incoming gunfire events.
The CROWS Lightning is a lightweight Common Remotely Operated Weapon Station capable of supporting both the M240 and M249 small arms weapons.
The integrated PDCue-CROWS Lightning system introduces new capabilities to the user which were not present in its standalone configurations.
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