Claw RCT can be fitted to a wide range of AFVs, either as original equipment or as an upgrade.

Ammunition for weapons can be reloaded from inside the vehicle under full armour protection.

Turkish defence companies FNSS Savunma Sistemleri and Aselsan have displayed the jointly produced Claw remote-controlled turret (RCT) in public.

Development of the Claw RCT (known as 'Pence' in Turkey) for home and export markets commenced in 2008 and is privately funded. A prototype was completed in early 2011 and shown at the IDEF exhibition in Istanbul in May.

Claw is suitable for installation on a wide range of tracked and wheeled armoured fighting vehicles (AFVs), either as original equipment or to enhance the firepower of older platforms.

The prototype is armed with Rheinmetall Italy's stabilised 25 mm KBA dual-feed cannon, which is provided with 160 rounds (80+80) of ready-use ammunition. The empty cartridge cases are ejected outside the turret.

The KBA cannon has a maximum cyclic rate of fire of 600 rds/min and the gunner can select single-shot or burst modes of fire.

A 7.62 mm MG3 machine gun (MG) is mounted coaxially with the KBA cannon on the right-hand side of the RCT and is provided with 200 rounds of ready-use ammunition. The gun is electromechanically cocked from the user interface within the hull.

A key feature of Claw is that ammunition for both of these weapons can be reloaded from within the platform under full armour protection.

A bank of four 76 mm grenade launchers is mounted either side of the turret towards the rear, but these could be replaced by grenade launchers of other calibres, such as the Russian 81 mm or US 66 mm.

Turret traverse is all-electric through 360 degrees, with weapon elevation from -10 degrees to +50 degrees.

The electro-optics (EO) and fire-control system (FCS) have been developed by Aselsan and are integrated into the left side of the forward part of the turret.

A meteorological sensor is mounted on the turret roof towards the rear and feeds information to the FCS, which has a full ballistic computation capability.

The dual-axis stabilised EO package includes an 8-12 µm thermal camera with wide and narrow fields of view, a day camera and a laser rangefinder. This enables the platform to engage targets in most weather conditions with a high first-round hit probability.

The 25 mm KBA cannon is electronically slaved to the sight and an automatic target tracker is fitted as standard. The second version of Claw is intended to have an independent commander's sight on the roof to provide a hunter/killer capability.

The weapons are laid onto the target by the gunner from within the hull of the platform using a flat-panel display with controllers for left and right hand. This display could also be used to provide images from cameras mounted around the vehicle as well as information from a battle management system.

The turret shell is made of all-welded aluminium armour with add-on steel armour, providing ballistic protection to STANAG 4569 Level 2 standard. This can be increased to Level 3 if required.

The baseline Claw's low weight of 1,700 kg enables it to be fitted to a much wider range of platforms than conventional manned turrets fitted with a basket. The latter takes up considerable internal volume and reduces the number of troops that can be carried when the platform is being used in the armoured personnel carrier role, for example.

The prototype Claw RCT was shown integrated onto the FNSS Armoured Combat Vehicle - Stretched (ACV-S), which is already in service with two export customers.

Firing trials will be carried out in Turkey in the second half of 2011 with the Claw integrated onto the latest-generation FNSS Pars (6x6) Wheeled Armoured Combat Vehicle (WACV) and the ACV-S tracked vehicle.

While the prototype Claw is armed with the 25 mm KBA cannon, a number of other weapons could be installed in this turret, including the ATK 25 mm M242 and 30 mm Mk 44 cannon or the Mauser 30 mm MK 30-2 with its air-bursting munition capability.

Claw can also be integrated onto the baseline FNSS ACV as well as the Pars (8x8) WACV that has been ordered by Malaysia.

• Modular weapon system

• Remote controlled from inside the vehicle

• 25 and 30 mm main armament options

• Advanced fire control capability with independent sight system

• Automatic target tracking

• All around armor protection

• Low silhouette

• Ammunition loading and reloading under armor

• Light weight