The Samson Remote Controlled Weapon Station (RCWS), also known as Katlanit (קטלנית in

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

: "lethal") is a

remote weapon system A remote controlled weapon station (RCWS), remotely operated weapon system (ROWS), or remote weapon system (RWS), is a remotely operated light or medium-caliber weapon system, often equipped with a fire-control system, that can be installed on Co ...

(RWS) that enables a variety of devices to be operated automatically or by

remote control A remote control, also known colloquially as a remote or clicker, is an consumer electronics, electronic device used to operate another device from a distance, usually wirelessly. In consumer electronics, a remote control can be used to operat ...

, including 5.56 mm, 7.62 mm, and 12.7 mm .50 BMG machine guns, 40 mm automatic

grenade launcher A grenade launcher is a weapon that fires a specially designed, large caliber projectile, often with an explosive, Smoke screen, smoke, or tear gas, gas warhead. Today, the term generally refers to a class of dedicated firearms firing unitary gre ...

anti-tank missile An anti-tank guided missile (ATGM), anti-tank missile, anti-tank guided weapon (ATGW) or anti-armor guided weapon is a missile guidance, guided missile primarily designed to hit and destroy armoured fighting vehicle, heavily armored military v ...

s and observation pods.

Variants

There are a total of three variants of the Samson family: * Samson Jr. ROWS - for 5.56 mm and 7.62 mm machine guns, weighing . * Mini Samson ROWS - for 12.7 mm and 14.5 mm machine guns, as well as 40 mm grenade launcher, weighing , similar to that of Mini Typhoon naval ROWS and OWS. * Standard Samson - for guns with calibre ranging from , weighing , similar to that of standard Typhoon naval ROWS and OWS. For example, the Samson Remote Controlled Weapon System for 30 mm

autocannon An autocannon, automatic cannon or machine cannon is a automatic firearm, fully automatic gun that is capable of rapid-firing large-caliber ( or more) armour-piercing, explosive or incendiary ammunition, incendiary shell (projectile), shells, ...

is designed to be mounted on lightly-armoured, high-mobility military vehicles and operated by a gunner or vehicle commander operating under-the-deck. It offers optional SPIKE guided missile,

smoke grenade A smoke grenade is a canister-type grenade used as a signaling device, target or landing zone marking device, or as a screening device for unit movements. Smoke grenades are generally more complex and emit a far larger amount of smoke than sm ...

launcher, and embedded trainer. The RCWS 30 is a product of

Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd. () is an Israeli Defense contractor, defense technology company. It was founded as Israel's National R&D Defense Laboratory for the development of weapons and military technology within the Ministry of Defens ...

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

has also installed a variant of the Samson RCWS in pillboxes along the Israeli Gaza Strip barrier. The Sentry Tech system, dubbed Roeh-Yoreh (Sees-Fires) in IDF service deployed on the Gaza fence, enables camera operators located in a rear-located intelligence base to engage border threats using the 12.7 mm heavy machine gun and the SPIKE guided missile."Lethal Robotic Technologies: The Implications for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law"
Philip Alston, ''Journal of Law, Information and Science'', 2012

Operators

Current operators

* : * : * :

LAV III The LAV III is the third generation of the LAV (Canada), Light Armoured Vehicle (LAV) family of armored personnel carriers built by General Dynamics Land Systems – Canada (GDLS-C), a London, Ontario, based subsidiary of General Dynamics Land ...

* : 4 stations initially procured for needs of Croatian Army, installed and tested on M84D and M95 tanks, but eventually Croatian Army opted for Protector RWS, 12.7 mm and 30 mm. * : Pandur II * : IDF Namer, some IDF Achzarit, some HMMWV * : Infantry Carrier Vehicle Dragoon * : RG-31 Nyala * :

Otokar Cobra The Cobra () is a armoured tactical vehicle developed by Turkish firm Otokar. The vehicle has some subsystems from the Humvee. The Cobra is the first generation of the Cobra family of vehicles, a second generation named Otokar Cobra II is also pr ...

* : Hunter AFV * : Hyundai Wia * : Alvis Stormer * : 88 German Boxer Infantry Fighting Vehicles with Rafael's weapon stations with 30 mm cannons and "Spike LR" antitank missiles

References

{{Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Vehicle-mounted weapons Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Remote weapon stations

Variants

Operators

Current operators

See also

References