Sweden’s FMV has ordered 60 protected weapon stations from Australian firm W&E Platt to provide firepower and protection to vehicle gunners.
The FMV contract is the fourth for the Platt MR 550 Bi-Metal Ring Mount in as many years, which will equip the latest batch of RG32M 4x4 mine hardened patrol vehicles recently ordered from BAE Systems OMC South Africa for the Swedish Army.
More than 100 Swedish RG32M vehicles are already equipped with MR550 series protected ring mounts, a number of which are known to have seen operational service in Afghanistan.
It is not known if the latest batch of Swedish RG32M vehicles will also be deployed to Afghanistan.
The MR 550 Bi-Metal Ring Mount is the latest variant of the successful Platt MR 550 Protected Ring Mount series, which has also been ordered by Brazil, where it has been installed on a dozen prototypes of the new Iveco VBTP 6x6 armoured personnel carrier.
Tailored for wheeled and tracked armoured vehicles with a gross vehicle mass under 10 tonnes or larger vehicle designs sensitive to changes in centre-of-gravity, the MR550 Bi-Metal Ring Mount weighs less than 400kg and features a dual layer of spaced armour to save weight yet still provide high protection levels against improvised explosive device blast and kinetic threats from small arms fire and shell splinters.
The spaced armour solution combines two different material types and provides upgradeable protection from STA NAG Level 1 up to STA NAG Level 3.
The MR 550 Bi-Metal Shielded Ring Mount can be equipped with a range of weapons, including the M2HB 12.7mm heavy machine gun, Mk 19 40mm automatic grenade launcher or HK 40mm Grenade Machine Gun, MAG-58/M240 7.62mm general purpose machine gun and the Minimi/M249 5.56mm light machine gun.
The ring mount is manually operated via gearbox and traverses through 360 degrees.
Maximum weapon elevation is +60 degrees and depression – 30 degrees.
In Swedish service the MR 550 Bi-Metal Shielded Ring Mount has been seen with a multi-spectral stick-on camouflage system, outwardly similar to the Barracuda system from Saab.
Delivery of the first ring mounts for Sweden will commence in the last quarter of 2011, with final deliveries scheduled for early 2012. The order also includes protective covers and 60 adjustable Gunner Stands, also designed by Platt.
In addition to Sweden and Brazil, Platt has most recently supplied around 120 MR 550 Composite Ring Mounts for the British Army’s new Warthog protected all terrain vehicles —DefPro.com