The CROWS M153 Protector is a remote weapon station that provides the ability to acquire and engage targets from inside an armored vehicle. CROWS is protected by its own armor and is designed to be mounted on a variety of vehicle platforms on its mount which is fixed to the exterior of the vehicle along with its control 
group. It is also capable of mounting a variety of crew-served weapons, to include the M2 .50-cal Machine Gun, the Mk19 40mm Automatic Grenade Machine Gun, the M240B 7.62mm Machine Gun and M249 Squad Automatic Weapon. The CROWS sight package includes a daylight video camera, a thermal camera, an eye-safe laser rangefinder and a fully integrated fire control system that provides ballistic correction.
The ability to develop, maintain and improve sophisticated and robust weapons technology requires experience, advanced technical skills and ingenuity. PIDESO software technicians created and engineered ‘Stay Alive’ software applications for CROWS that establish a data exchange with the Display Unit (DCP) LRU. The applications are used in the system software as well as in the TPS software used to test the DCP. The data exchange between the Main Computer (MCU) and the DCP enables CROWS to keep the DCP active for testing as well as for normal operation. PIDESO also provides material support that includes the repair of select fielded equipment, fabrication of hardware for component installations, and fabrication / verification of cable assemblies and prototype cabling for CROWS II.