can elevate the CROWS unit up to 15 feet, which allows the gunner to use its slew-to-cue capability—that is, the abil- ity to slew to any cursor-on-target target selected by the gunner.


Spearheading the development of CWS was John Dillon, an electronics engi- neer at the Weapons Development and Integration Directorate of the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Research, Development and Engineering Center (AMRDEC). In developing the system, Dillon, a 33-year government employee assigned to the Close Combat Weapon Systems (CCWS) Project Office, was trying to provide Soldiers with a new solution to an age-old problem while efficiently using proven Army combat systems. Te problem: Shrinking DOD budgets demand that more and more be done with existing systems to maximize their life span, “which means we have to learn how to adapt our current systems in new and creative ways,” Dillon said.


A PLATFORM FOR PROTECTION Dillon had worked extensively on the Jav- elin missile program and knew that the portable, shoulder-fired, medium-range weapon could bring increased lethality to both mobile and fixed-base platforms. He and his AMRDEC team began to develop a means to integrate it onto vehicle platforms and specifically the CROWS platform.


Teir concept was simple enough: modify a standard 20-foot shipping container to become a protective device for Soldiers in remote areas or on the front lines. Tey demonstrated this new concept to user communities and garnered great inter- est for further development, but budget restrictions hampered their progress. In 2009, Dillon began to discuss his idea


‘ONE NASTY JACK-IN-THE-BOX’ In Afghanistan, CWS gives Soldiers in forward areas a new capability to combat indirect fire and to cover troops on patrol. Word of its potential spread quickly at a time when Soldiers were look- ing for new ways to defeat insurgents. (Photos courtesy of Jay Crawford, CCWS Project Office)


with Rapid Response Concepts (RRC), a company focused on delivering remote site infrastructure solutions in a variety of settings. Rather than a moving vehicle, which wasn’t always needed, they envi- sioned a secure yet portable space that would protect the Soldier and be capable of mounting existing weapon systems like Javelin or CROWS, thus expand- ing their use in the field and making better use of resources. AMRDEC and RRC entered into a cooperative research and development agreement that year to build the system.


Sometimes used as an armored bunk room, the venerable shipping con- tainer was a good fit for the Army and for other services, Dillon said. It’s more solid than a tent and easily modified to mount weapons like the Javelin and CROWS. Commercial applications were


also feasible; shipping companies could potentially use the system to defend against increasingly common attacks by pirate groups off the coast of Africa and across the Middle East.


BUILDING THE BOX Te group presented its concept to the Rapid Equipping Force (REF), which works to harness current and emerging technologies to provide rapid solutions to urgently required capabilities. REF was interested because the proposed solution incorporated technology from previous projects as well as current inventory, thus maximizing resources while reducing cost, training requirements and the logis- tics tail. But REF expressed concern that it might be too big and instead suggested using a smaller container and moving the operators to another, protected location.


ASC.ARMY.MIL


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OUTSIDE THE BOX


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