Stabilized Weapon Platforms

FlexFORCE has developed a suite of lightweight stabilized mounts for crew serve weapon systems. The core stabilization frame is very adaptable and can be used to upgrade numerous existing weapon systems. These include:

Fixed and rotary wing forward facing weapon mounts

Brown and green water boat crew served weapon mounts

Fixed and rotary wing door gunner positions

Light or unarmored ground vehicle weapon mounts

The advantages of the flexFORCE stabilized weapon mounts are:

• Overmatch: The effective range for engaging a point target (e.g.: small four door pickup) with an un-stabilized M2 or M3 from a moving vehicle is usually less than 500m. While the rounds are lethal to 10x that range, most gunners have a less than 3% hit ratio. With stabilization, accurate engagement beyond 1000m is achievable even with significant host platform motion. This range disparity creates an overmatch situation where the forces with the stabilized mounts can engage and destroy the adversary before the adversary can effectively engage.
• Kills Per Load Out: Even the largest tactical vehicles have limited space and weight claims for ammunition. One hundred (100) rounds of .50 cal ammunition weighs ~35lbs and the typical load out for a mission is less than 1000 rounds per weapon. Even with the increased weight of the stabilized mount, the number of kills per load out can be increased more than 10x. The effect of stabilization is so dramatic that even the fully armored RWSs, with their load outs reduced by 50%, can still achieve 10x increases in kills per load out.
• Cost: Although the ASP and SWP have higher upfront costs, they are less expensive to operate than a non-stabilized mount. Assuming a mission load out of 800 rounds, $4/round, and a conservative 10x increase in accuracy; each mission with a stabilized mount will cost $2,880 less in ammunition costs alone. Ignoring the fuel savings for rotary wings aircraft, the logistics costs of getting the ammunition to the front line, and the training savings in time and ammunition, each stabilized platform pays for itself in approximately 15 missions.
• Operational Capability: An M2/M3 on an unstable platform is at best an area effect/ suppression weapon. This limits its deployment capability to missions where there is a low chance of collateral damage or where collateral damage is acceptable. There are many missions (especially in border security and counter narco-terrorism) where a system is needed that can disable an engine with a low probability of hitting the passengers. Often security and law enforcement personnel are put at great risk trying to get close enough to the target.

Pre-Shot Threat Assessment Radar (P-STAR)

State of the art broadband radar detects threats by identifying the signature of a weapon pointing at, or near, the sensor. A weapon barrel is a short circuited circular wave guide of specific diameter and length with frequency-dependent transmission and reflection peaks. A weapon barrel aimed at, or near, the radar antenna returns a unique signal “fingerprint” readily distinguishable from clutter and background noise.

• Computational requirements are low because only reflected signals associated with known weapons will be processed.
• Subsequent sweeps interrogate potential targets multiple times to identify a positive match.
• Other targets (clutter, weapons not aimed at the host, etc.) return a very different radar signature.
• Multilayered signal processing analyzes large amounts of data without the need for fragile, costly, or power hungry equipment.