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

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

: "lethal", female

inflection In linguistic morphology, inflection (or inflexion) is a process of word formation in which a word is modified to express different grammatical categories such as tense, case, voice, aspect, person, number, gender, mood, animacy, and ...

) is a

Remote Weapon System A remote controlled weapon station (RCWS), or remote weapon station (RWS), also known as a remote weapon system (RWS), is a remotely operated weaponized system often equipped with fire-control system for light and medium-caliber weapons which can ...

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

remote control In electronics, a remote control (also known as a remote or clicker) is an electronic device used to operate another device from a distance, usually wirelessly. In consumer electronics, a remote control can be used to operate devices such ...

, including 5.56 mm,

7.62 mm The 7.62 mm caliber is a nominal caliber used for a number of different cartridges. Historically, this class of cartridge was commonly known as .30 caliber, the imperial unit and customary unit equivalent, and was most commonly used for i ...

, and

12.7 mm This is a list of firearm cartridges which have bullets in the to caliber range. *''Length'' refers to the cartridge case length. *''OAL'' refers to the overall length of the cartridge. *''Bullet'' refers to the diameter of the bullet. Some me ...

.50 BMG

machine gun A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifles ...

40 mm 40 mm grenade (also styled 40mm grenade) is a generic class-name for grenade launcher ammunition ( subsonic shells) in caliber. The generic name stems from the fact that several countries have developed or adopted grenade launchers in 40 ...

automatic

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

anti-tank missile An anti-tank guided missile (ATGM), anti-tank missile, anti-tank guided weapon (ATGW) or anti-armor guided weapon is a guided missile primarily designed to hit and destroy heavily armored military vehicles. ATGMs range in size from shoulder ...

s and observation pods. 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 fully automatic gun that is capable of rapid-firing large-caliber ( or more) armour-piercing, explosive or incendiary shells, as opposed to the smaller-caliber kinetic projectiles (bul ...

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 Smoke grenades used at demonstrations in Paris, 2008 upBritish L83A1 Smoke Grenade manufactured in May 2008. This grenade has already been used. A smoke grenade is a canister-type grenade used as a signaling device, target or landing zone mark ...

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

Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd. ( he, רפאל - מערכות לחימה מתקדמות בע"מ, formerly Rafael Armament Development Authority), ("Rafael" from Hebrew acronym of "Authority for the Development of Armaments" - ) is an Israel ...

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

has also installed a variant of the Samson RCWS in pillboxes along the Israeli Gaza Strip barrier intended to prevent Hamas terrorists from entering its territory. 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

heavy machine gun and the SPIKE guided missile. Dozens of alleged terrorists have been killed with the Sentry Tech system. The first reported death of an individual appears to have taken place during Operation Cast Lead in December 2008."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, originally named the Kodiak by the Canadian Army, is the third generation of the Light Armoured Vehicle (LAV) family of armored personnel carriers built by General Dynamics Land Systems – Canada (GDLS-C), a London, Ontario, base ...

* : 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 Namer ( he, נמ"ר, ), means "leopard" and also a syllabic abbreviation of "Nagmash" (APC) and "Merkava", is an Israeli armoured personnel carrier based on a Merkava Mark IV tank chassis. Namer was developed by and is being assembled by the I ...

, some

IDF Achzarit The Achzarit ( in Hebrew: "cruel", female inflection) is a heavily armored personnel carrier manufactured by the Israeli Defence Forces Corps of Ordnance. History The Achzarit is based on the Soviet-built T-54/T-55 tank, beginning with those ...

, some

HMMWV The High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV; colloquial: Humvee) is a family of light, four-wheel drive, military trucks and utility vehicles produced by AM General. It has largely supplanted the roles previously performed by the ori ...

* : 100 units * :

RG-31 Nyala The RG-31 Nyala is a 4×4 multi-purpose mine-resistant ambush protected infantry mobility vehicle manufactured in South Africa by Land Systems OMC (the division of Denel SOC LTD, located in Benoni, South Africa) and in Turkey by FNSS Defence S ...

* :

Otokar Cobra The Cobra is a family of armored vehicles produced by Otokar of Turkey. It is produced in two generations. The Cobra ( tr, Kobra) is an armoured tactical vehicle developed by Turkish firm Otokar. Durability The monocoque steel v-hull provides ...

* :

Hunter AFV The Hunter Armoured Fighting Vehicle (or Hunter AFV in short) is a tracked Singaporean armoured fighting vehicle jointly developed by ST Engineering, Defence Science and Technology Agency, and the Singapore Army. Intended to replace the Singapore ...

* : Hyundai Wia * :

Alvis Stormer The Alvis Stormer is a military armoured vehicle manufactured by the British company Alvis Vickers, now BAE Systems Land & Armaments. The Stormer is a development of the CVR(T) family of vehicles (Scorpion, Scimitar, Spartan etc.), essentially ...

* : 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 weapons Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Remote weapon stations