Flexible, Modular Approach Gains Traction

Among more than 700 exhibits at this week’s AUSA meeting in Washington, Moog Space & Defense Group’s Reconfigurable Integrated-weapons Platform (RIwP) attracted more than its fair share of attention, perhaps.

A flexible and scalable remote turret, providing operators with over 125 different weapon configurations, the intent of the RIwP is clearly to ensure overmatch and to provide enhanced lethality against current and emerging threats across the entire threat spectrum. As the US Army and Marine Corps prepare their forces for potential confrontations with near-peer forces once more, enhanced lethality figures high on the agenda of force planners and theatre commanders.

The system on display in Washington this week was configured with the M230LF 30mm cannon, a 7.62mm coaxial machinegun, a four pack of STINGER surface to air missiles and two HELLFIREs. Also visible was the L3 WESCAM MX-GCS sensor, already providing surveillance and target engagement capabilities in the US Army’s Initial Manoeuvre – Short-Range Air Defense (IM-SHORADS) programme, as MONCh reported earlier this week. (See story here). RWiP lies at the heart of the Leonardo DRS counter-UAS kinetic defeat and manoeuvre M-SHORAD capabilities currently on contract with both the US Army and Marine Corps.