PARIS – Maine Machine Products Co. announced Wednesday that it has received a multimillion-dollar contract to build components for a U.S. Army weapon station to protect gunners from hostile fire.

The company will manufacture just over 80 precision parts for the Protector Remote Weapon Station, which provides soldiers with the ability to acquire and engage targets while inside the safety of a vehicle. It is commonly used by the U.S. Army Stryker Brigade.

Bruce Fox, a production manager at Maine Machine, said his son will be serving in Iraq this fall and will likely benefit from the Protector.

“We’re extremely proud to have a project like this in here that’s going to protect the troops,” Fox said.

The product is part of a $1.4 billion Common Remotely Operated Weapon Station agreement signed last year by the United States military and the Norwegian company Kongsberg Defence and Aerospace.

Roland Sutton, chairman of Maine Machine’s board of directors, said the contract with the Norwegians was one of the largest deals the company has had in its 52 years of business.

“It’s a tribute to the Maine Machine Products team that we were able to put this all together,” Sutton said.

David MacMahon, president of Maine Machine, recognized the work of the company’s 145 employees in securing the contract.

“Without people, without the associates of Maine Machine, all you’d see here is a bunch of iron,” he said.

The Protector system is designed for use in land and sea vehicles. The system consists of a weapons station, fire control unit, and controller, allowing a gunner to safely operate the weapon from within the vehicle.

The system can fire machine gun or explosive rounds, has thermal imagery capabilities for night vision, and a laser range finder. It is stabilized to remain level on bumpy terrain and has a manual override in case of system troubles.

Egil Haugsdal, executive vice president of Kongsberg, said the company plans on tripling the production capacity of the Protector systems from last year. Haugsdal said the products are shipped to the military the day after they are completed, and his company is hoping to have complete production and assembly done in the United States.

“What we are doing here is very important, and we couldn’t do it without you,” Haugsdal told Maine Machine employees at Wednesday’s ribbon-cutting ceremony.

MacMahon said he would not disclose the amount of money involved in the contract, but that the company had purchased two new machines for the manufacture of the products. The company has also hired an additional 14 people.

“I think it’s a secure, multiyear project,” MacMahon said.