Picatinny Arsenal Public Affairs last week reported that US Army Soldiers are getting an opportunity to evaluate and train with a new armored turret system for the Armored Multipurpose Vehicle, the Army’s newest platform. The United States in its Next Generation Combat Vehicle modernization program has a high priority. .
The new Target Commander weapon station integrates with all five variants of the AMPV: utility vehicle, mission command vehicle, mortar vehicle, medical evacuation vehicle, and medical treatment vehicle. AMPV is currently being produced at a low rate.
The OCWS system, which addresses the continuing need for advanced armor protection and capability development for Soldiers, is part of a comprehensive modernization effort within the United States Army. The advanced guard features a new armor alloy and a titanium hatch design.
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The OCWS turret protects the vehicle commander, who acts as a gunner at the top of the vehicle. Essential features include a periscope, a motorized rotation and a spacious interior that allows the gunner to perform complex missions under protection. The weapon mount on the system gives the gunner full access to the crew-serviced weaponry, providing a wide range of firepower options.
OCWS was developed and prototyped by engineers at the United States Army’s Combat Capability Development Command Center at Picatinny Arsenal, New Jersey. The Armament Center reports to the United States Army’s Combat Capability Development Command, which is a division of Army Futures Command.
“OCWS is definitely one of our more sophisticated turret systems,” said Thomas Kiel, technical operations leader for U.S. Army and Marine Corps tactical and armored vehicle turrets. The United States in the Armed Forces Center Defense group DEVCOM said. “AMPV was developed to operate on the front lines of the battlefield, and our team has to meet the challenging requirements associated with that,” added Kiel.
OCWS includes a combination of translucent and transparent armor specially configured to provide enhanced protection and situational awareness to the Commander. The Armament Center works closely with DEVCOM’s Army Research Laboratory to ensure that high-performance armor materials are lightweight, affordable, and readily available.
“Our early prototype was integrated with the vehicle at the test site for official user evaluation,” said Narayan Bhagavatula, Head of Gunner Protection Systems Program at Soldier Lethality Program Administration, as well. at Picatinny Arsenal, said.
Picatinny’s experienced warriors, program managers and engineers attended the Human Systems Integration event at the Aberdeen Test Center to fully appreciate every aspect of the new turret. “It is important that OCWS meet the needs of Soldiers,” said Bhagavatula. “User feedback is the most important aspect of our development.”
At the Soldier-centric event, the turret team gathered all the comments and suggestions from the Soldier and incorporated them into the design. Technical analysis of computer models updates after each design change.
“We were able to really boost the complexity and performance of the system because of the recent advances in modeling and simulation,” says Kiel. Engineers work closely with the Games, Interactive Technology & Multimedia team at the Equipment Center to evaluate computer models in a virtual environment that simulates battlefield scenarios ranging from combat. in dense urban to open terrain, under certain weather conditions.
In collaboration with Rowan University in Glassboro, New Jersey, the Arms Arms Center is acquiring new simulation tools and technologies to be able to assess the overall effectiveness of new weapon systems through the environment. The school is completely immersive.
“Through advanced modeling, we were able to predict the behavior of our turrets under extreme stress, as well as understand how the system would be used in combat,” says Kiel. “The technical data we generate is treated as a weapon system and is managed and secured as such,” he added.
DEVCOM Weapons Center is a leader in DOD in the development of Tactical Turret Systems. More than 50,000 systems have been deployed on a variety of platforms, including the Humvee, Mine Protected Vehicle, MRAP All-terrain Vehicle, and others. The Turret Target Gunner Protector is standard for Light Tactical Vehicles.
At least 14 patents were granted related to the development of turret systems, of which three were selected as the Army’s Greatest Invention. The AGI Awards are somewhat referred to as the “Soldier’s Choice Awards” as nominations are judged by a panel of non-commissioned officers with recent combat experience as well as field experience.
The Product Data Management team at Picatinny is responsible for processing and maintaining all aspects of weapons systems data, which are used throughout the Weapons Center business for various functions such as manufacturing Prototyping, structural modeling and cost analysis. “Technical data in itself is a strategic asset to the U.S. Army and a key ingredient in gaining military advantage,” Kiel said.
“We have built all of the prototype OCWS turrets in-house over the past 18 months,” said Bhagavatula. He added: “Meeting the aggressive test schedule is a priority, along with finalizing the technical data package to start low-speed production. Assembled in the Prototype Integration Facility, the Armament Center provided 20 OCWS turrets for inspection and evaluation.
The AMPV with OCWS has undergone reliability, availability, and maintainability testing at Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona, as well as direct fire testing at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland.
Further operational testing of the AMPV with Soldiers is underway.
