US Patent 9146081 Adaptive gunner protection kit

A gunner protection system for positioning armored panels around a hatch opening and a mounted weapon or equipment system. The armored panels are arranged to create an armored envelope surrounding the vehicle hatch and defining an opening through which the weapon or equipment system can be operated. The armored panels can be individually raised to define a portion of the armored envelope or lowered to change the geometry of the armored envelope or opening according to the particular weapon or equipment system. Similarly, all of the armored panels can be lowered to collapse the armorer envelope to allow for efficient transport of the vehicle with the gunner protection system attached to the vehicle.