December 11,2008:
The remote control turret changed the battlefield more than you might
think. It all began three years ago, when
the U.S. Army realized that new remote control gun turret designs actually
worked, and suddenly they could not get enough of them. The army ordered over
9,000 CROWS (common remotely operated weapon stations), but for a while could
only get 15 a month. By the end of 2006, there were about a thousand CROWS in
service by the end of the year.
The main
issue was that the enemy was no longer able to knock out the turret gunner,
early in a firefight, and take away a lot of the vehicles firepower. Because of
that, once the enemy opens fire, they are in trouble. The remote turret tends
to begin delivering accurate fire right away, and is much more immune to enemy
fire than a human gunner. If the vehicle is a Stryker, the enemy will soon find
themselves dealing with half a dozen or so heavily armed infantry, who get out
of the vehicle and come at the ambushers. Iraqis don't like that. They also
don't like how some of the CROWS turret equipped vehicles will come after them.
All those accurately aimed bullets coming their way, and no enemy soldiers in
sight, is demoralizing.
The idea for
CROWS has been around for nearly half a century. Years of tinkering, and better
technology, eventually made the remote control gun turret effective and
dependable. CROWS is a real lifesaver, not to mention anxiety reducer, for
troops who drive through bandit country a lot, and have a turret mounted gun (usually
in a hummer). The guy manning the turret mounted machine-gun is a target up
there, and too often, the bad guys get you. Not with CROWS. The gunner is
inside the vehicle, checking out the surroundings on a computer monitor (with
night vision and telephoto capabilities). CROWS also has a laser rangefinder
built in, as well as a stabilizer mechanism to allow more accurate fire while
the vehicle is moving. The CROWS systems cost about $260,000 each, and can
mount a variety of weapons (M2 .50 caliber machine-gun, MK19 40-mm automatic
grenade launcher, M240B 7.62mm machine-gun and M249 5.56mm squad automatic
weapon).
The accuracy
of the fire, and uncanny speed with which the CROWS gun moves so quickly and
deliberately, is due to something few officers expected. The guys operating
these systems grew up playing video games. They developed skills in operating
systems (video games) very similar to the CROWS controls. This was important,
because viewing the world around the vehicle via a vidcam is not as enlightening
(although a lot safer) than having your head and chest exposed to the elements,
and any firepower the enemy sends your way. But experienced video gamers are
skilled at whipping that screen view around, and picking up any signs of
danger. Iraqis are amazed at how observant CROWS is. Iraqis tend to just wrote
this off as another example of American "magic."
Many Iraqis,
especially the bad guys, get distressed while watching a CROWS turret being
exercised by some video game addict inside the vehicle. That's because the most
noticeable part of CROWS, as it swivels and "looks" around, is the
machine-gun. Many Iraqis don't even recognize the vidcam and other sensors.
They think the machine-gun is, well, sort of R2D2 with a bad attitude and a license
to kill.
Meanwhile,
inside vehicles like the Stryker, the troops do feel like they are in another
world. The Stryker is air conditioned, well equipped with electronics
(including a sound system you can plug an iPod into) and a lot nicer than the
nastiness outside.