Stabilized integrated commander's weapon station for combat armored vehicle

A weapon station mountable on a structure having an operator ingress and egress, said weapon station comprising:

• a low profile adapter mounted on said structure and concentrically with said operator ingress and egress, said low profile adapter comprising a lower mounting surface connected to said structure and an opposite upper mounting surface, said low profile adapter further comprising a segmented structure extending from said lower mounting surface to said upper mounting surface and located directly behind and radially inward of a periscope connected to said structure, said lower mounting surface located vertically below an upper portion of said periscope and vertically above a lower portion of said periscope;
• a rotating platform mounted on said upper mounting surface of said low profile adapter and concentrically with said operator ingress and egress, said rotating platform rotatable about an azimuth axis;
• a weapon mounted on said rotating platform, said weapon capable of being operated in at least one of a power mode, a stabilized mode, and a manual mode;
• and
• wherein said weapon is capable of being fired in said manual mode by an operator without leaving said operator ingress and egress.

A method for mounting a weapon station on a structure having an operator ingress and egress and at least one optical sight with a line of sight (LOS), comprising the steps of:

• mounting a low profile adapter to said structure, said low profile adapter comprising a lower mounting surface and an opposite upper mounting surface, said lower mounting surface mounted on a base housing above said structure, said base housing configured to retain a lower portion of said at least one optical sight, said low profile adapter further comprising a segmented structure extending from said lower mounting surface to said upper mounting surface and located directly behind and radially inward of said at least one optical sight connected to said structure, said lower mounting surface located vertically below an upper portion of said at least one optical sight and vertically above a lower portion of said at least one optical sight,
• wherein the at least one optical sight is an array of one or more periscopes having said LOS,
• wherein said weapon station does not obstruct said LOS through any periscopes of said array of one or more periscopes, said low profile adapter mounted concentrically with said operator ingress and egress;
• and
• mounting a rotating platform on said upper mounting surface of said low profile adapter and concentrically with said operator ingress and egress, said rotating platform having a weapon cradle for retaining a weapon, said rotating platform rotatable about an azimuth axis.