FN Herstal showcases its DeFNder remote weapon station at IAV 2018.

The Belgian Company FN Herstal one of the most important small arms manufacturer in the world, is able to provide light and medium weapon station for wheeled and tracked combat vehicles. At International Armoured Vehicles 2018, in London, FN Herstal showcases its deFNder™ Medium remote weapon station which can be armed with a machine gun up to 12.7mm caliber.

Belgian-made FN Herstal deFNder™ Medium remote weapon station for machine gun up to 12.7mm caliber at IAV 2018 (Credit Army Recognition).

Taking advantage of its long-standing firearms expertise, FN Herstal designed and developed a complete family of remote weapon stations called deFNder™. The deFNder™ Medium is capable of fullfilling a wide range of missions such as, self-defense, infantry fire support and combat missions - also in urban environment - when mounted onto light, medium or heavy vehicles, surveillance and observation, escort, checkpoint, perimeter defense and more.

It can integrate all FN Herstal machine guns up to .50 caliber, including the exclusive M3 machine gun, and is capable of extended elevation operation angles. The deFNder™ Remote Weapon Stations provide optimized remote firing capability while keeping the operator completely under armor protection in order to meet today's operational requirements. The deFNder™ Medium has be designed with a low silhouette "above deck", less than 640 mm high, with a total weight less than 120 kg without weapon and ammunition.

The deFNder™ Medium provides the best ratio depression/elevation range [-42°; +73°] (depending on weapon type) versus height (633mm). The deFNder™ Medium is the only remote weapon station capable of integrating the exclusive FN Herstal M3P machine gun, which has a unique firing rate of 1,100 rounds per minute. To control the deFNder™ Medium weapon station, there is an operator console and control handle. Fire control and weapon management functions include single shot and adjustable length burst options, fired round counter and end-of-belt cut-off.