Specialized defence and security monthly ATM has published an interesting article about our remote controlled weapon stations.
The article (in Czech) is available on the link below.
Here is a shortened English version:
MANTIS - sophisticated remote controlled weapon stations by EVPU Defence
EVPU Defence, a successful Czech electro-optical systems manufacturer, recently celebrated 20 years in business. While the early focus of the company was on protecting border zones and strategically important objects, in recent years it has branched out to the defence sector with an intense research, development and production of various systems for military applications. Many of these systems are now used by the Army of the Czech Republic.
Despite the fact that remote controlled weapon stations MANTIS and MANTIS MINI were first shown to the public only a few months ago, their concept is a result of many years of experience that the EVPU Defence specialists had gained through the design and production of previous RCWS types, which were successfully implemented by the Czech Army.
MANTIS and MANTIS MINI are used to detect, monitor and eliminate targets such as armored vehicles, UAV, trucks and enemy troops. They are also essential for protecting the perimeter of the armored vehicles that carry them.
"We strove to design a remote controlled weapon station that would enable high precision fire from a wide variety of military vehicles or vessels,“ says P. Maša, a mechanical designer at EVPÚ Defence. This is why MANTIS comes with two extra axes (superazimuth and superelevation) which allow its electro-optical container to move independently on the weapon system and thus enable the operator to keep his sights on the target at all times. MANTIS’s compact size and low weight makes it suitable for a wide range of mobile or stationary platforms. MANTIS received the prestigious Golden IDET award at the IDET 2021 defence exhibition.
Similarly, MANTIS MINI is a new product which replaced the widely used ZSRD-07 model in the EVPU Defence portfolio. MANTIS MINI is designed for 5,56 - 7,62 mm machine guns.
The two weapon stations have many common features. They both belong among the lightest and most compact available devices of their kind (with MANTIS MINI not exceeding 85 kg). Their operation and maintenance are easy. The sensors are very reliable and hardened against the difficult conditions of combat. Finally, both weapon stations contain many features that can be modified to meet special customer requirements.
"Besides IDET 2021, we successfully introduced MANTIS MINI at the FEINDEF exhibition in Spain, where it aroused a lot of interest", says Patrik Hlůšek, EVPÚ Defence’s commercial director. "This year we plan to show our products at exhibitions in Malaysia (DSA), France (Eurosatory), Thailand (Defence & Security Bangkok), the Czech Republic (NATO Days) and Poland (MSPO). Naturally we will focus on our new and upgraded defence products."
More information on RCWS MANTIS, RCWS MANTIS MINI and other systems for light armored vehicles is available here.
