Remote Weapon Stations Market 2026 Forecast

The largest programme with public figures is the US Army's Common Remotely Operated Weapon Station (CROWS). Kongsberg reports that it has delivered more than 18,000 M151 and M153 CROWS systems to the US armed services, and more than 23,000 remote weapon stations to 26 nations in total. In October 2022 the US Army awarded Kongsberg a five-year indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contract for CROWS worth up to USD 1.498 billion, according to the company.

In Europe, recent orders are tied to armoured vehicle programmes. In February 2026 Kongsberg and Patria signed a contract worth about EUR 140 million for several hundred Protector RS4 stations for the German and Swedish Common Armoured Vehicle System (CAVS) 6x6 vehicles. The contract anticipates follow-on orders and includes an option to add counter-drone functions, according to Defence Industry Europe. In December 2025 the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration contracted Kongsberg for Protector RS4 stations for three variants of the Swedish Army's CV90, valued at more than 400 million Swedish kronor (about USD 42.7 million), according to The Defense Post.

The UK Ministry of Defence has published a notice under the Procurement Act 2023 for a support contract for the M151 Protector already in British service. It runs from 1 October 2026 to 30 September 2030 at an estimated GBP 1.5 million excluding VAT, according to UK Defence Journal. It covers support for existing systems, not new purchases.

Elsewhere, EOS received an order worth A$1 million to A$2 million from an Indian prime contractor for a single R800 naval station, and is targeting an end-user requirement for more than 130 systems, according to Asian Military Review in March 2026. The report's own breakdown, 97 for the Indian Navy and 30 for the Indian Coast Guard, totals 127. Elbit Systems announced a USD 120 million follow-on contract in March 2023 to supply unmanned turrets, remote controlled weapon stations and mortar systems for Romania's Piranha V vehicles. Earlier, in January 2017, Elbit's Brazilian subsidiary Ares announced a five-year framework contract worth about USD 100 million with the Brazilian Army for REMAX stations.

The disclosed contracts are mostly multi-year frameworks, under which the buyer places individual orders over time. Kongsberg's 2022 CROWS award is a five-year indefinite-quantity contract. Ares's 2017 Brazilian award was a five-year framework with an initial order of about USD 7.5 million. The CAVS contract anticipates follow-on orders through 2026 and beyond.

Our assessment: for suppliers, much of the revenue visible in any one year is likely to come from orders under existing frameworks rather than from new competitions, so a framework award is a better guide to future revenue than a single order. Support work is a further, smaller stream, as the UK Protector notice shows.

Counter-drone use is the development that appears most often in the sources reviewed for this page. The US Army's BLADE programme integrates a precision radar and counter-drone fire-control software with CROWS hardware to help operators track small drones, and was used at the Army's Project Flytrap 4.0 exercise, according to the Army in September 2025. The German and Swedish CAVS order includes an option to add counter-drone functions to the Protector RS4, and FN Herstal says the deFNder Medium can engage low-altitude aerial threats.

Research and Markets cites AI-driven targeting and sensor fusion as a growth factor. In the 2025 and 2026 contracts reviewed for this page, we did not find one that specifies autonomous engagement, as opposed to software that assists a human operator.

Market studies segment remote weapon stations by platform into land, naval and airborne systems. The Business Research Company's September 2026 report uses that split and states that Europe was the largest region in 2025 and that Asia-Pacific is the fastest growing region. Research and Markets' land-only study gives USD 7.1 billion for 2025 against USD 13.1 billion in its all-platform study; the two studies are scoped differently, so this page does not treat the difference between them as a naval and airborne figure.

KNDS Deutschland's FLW 200 is described by the company as a remote controlled light weapon station for light combat and command vehicles, with an operating range of 1,500 metres and mission-specific options of 7.62 mm and 12.7 mm machine guns or a 40 mm automatic grenade launcher. On 29 January 2025 the Bundestag budget committee released EUR 48 million for a first tranche, according to ESUT: 126 FLW 100 stations from KNDS Deutschland and 126 matching mount-adapted sensor units (LAZ 200) from Rheinmetall Electronics, to be ordered for delivery in 2026 and 2027. The same report describes a framework agreement still under negotiation. It covers more than 500 FLW 100, more than 500 FLW 200, 76 mm smoke launchers and more than 1,000 LAZ 200/400 units, at an estimated total of about EUR 218.8 million. Kongsberg's February 2026 CAVS order, covered above, adds Protector RS4 stations for German and Swedish 6x6 vehicles.

Sweden's orders go to Kongsberg and Saab. Beyond the Kongsberg CV90 award above, European Security and Defence reported on 9 January 2026 a Saab order from the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration for Trackfire stations worth around SEK 1.5 billion (EUR 140 million). The order was booked in the final quarter of 2025, covers the Swedish Army and the Amphibious Battalion 2030 project, and runs on deliveries from 2026 to 2028. It includes the new Trackfire ARES variant, armed with a 30x113 mm M230LF Bushmaster chain gun, which the report describes as giving the station a counter-drone role. In the United States, the Department of War published on 27 January 2026 a USD 22,412,881 firm-fixed-price contract modification to Kongsberg for 16 Protector RT20 stations for the Marine Corps Advanced Reconnaissance Vehicle, according to Army Recognition.

Outside Europe and the United States, Defence Connect reported on 19 December 2025 that EOS had announced a new $32 million order for its R400 station. The customer is in North America, described as a large, longstanding defence manufacturing company with an investment-grade credit rating; the stations equip Light Armoured Vehicles for an end user in South America. Manufacture is in Canberra during 2026 and 2027.

Research and Markets names 16 principal suppliers: Kongsberg, Rheinmetall, Rafael, KNDS, BAE Systems, FN Herstal, Leonardo, Elbit Systems, ST Engineering, EOS, Pro Optica, Norinco, Thales, ASELSAN, General Dynamics and Saab.

Kongsberg is the only supplier reviewed here that publishes a cumulative delivery figure, more than 23,000 stations, and it describes itself as the leading remote weapon station provider. Its two recent European orders, CAVS and the Swedish CV90, are both for the Protector RS4. Rafael markets the Samson family, which General Dynamics agreed in December 2012 to offer to the US military. Elbit's recent disclosed award is in Romania. ASELSAN exported its SARP-DUAL station to Kazakhstan in 2020, and EOS is pursuing the Indian naval requirement described above.