PUSH THE THROTTLE Posted January 23, 2006 Report Share Posted January 23, 2006 http://upi.com/SecurityTerrorism/view.php?...20-070112-5273r New super-gun to be tested in FebBy PAMELA HESS UPI Pentagon Correspondent WASHINGTON, Jan. 20 (UPI) -- Next month a new high-explosive munition will be fired in Singapore and then tested again by the U.S. Army, heralding what may be a sea change in weaponry: a gun that can fire 240,000 rounds per minute. That's compared to 60 rounds per minute in a standard military machine gun. Metal Storm Inc., a munitions company headquartered in Virginia but with its roots in Australia, has been developing a gun that can shoot at blistering speeds, albeit in short bursts as each barrel is reloaded. A Metal Storm gun of any size -- from a 9 mm hand-gun up to a machine gun size or a grenade launcher -- has no moving parts other than the bullets or munition inside the barrel. Rather than chambering a single slug for each shot - very quickly in the case of machine guns -- the bullets come pre-stacked inside the barrel and can be shot all at once, or one at a time, as the shooter decides through the electronic controls. Because there are no moving parts, the weapon is less likely to jam, and will presumably need less maintenance. Lashing many barrels together increases the number of rounds per second. Once fired, however, each spent barrel has to be reloaded. Starting in 2006 the company will demonstrate its prototypes with applicability that is especially likely to interest the U.S. military. The weapon system can be mounted on an unmanned ground combat vehicle, an unmanned aerial vehicle, and might be used as a defense against rocket-propelled grenades and mortars. Metal Storm's speed allows it to lay down a blinding wall of slugs that can intercept and pulverize incoming enemy fire, according to company CEO David Smith. As long as the grenade or mortar is fired from outside a range of about 50 meters or 162.5 feet and a Doppler radar is in use, a Metal Storm system could be an effective defense, he told UPI. Closer than that and there is just not time to react. "But if you are from 50 meters and beyond, if everything can work fast enough -- the radar -- there is enough time mathematically" to shoot down incoming fire, Smith said. At least 153 U.S. troops have been killed in Iraq by enemy rockets and mortars since the start of the war. Nearly 2,000 have been wounded. The grenade launcher barrel can also carry less-than-lethal munitions, like small bean bags, sponge grenades or smoke. On Jan. 16, the Army awarded Metal Storm a $975,000 contract to further develop its non-lethal rounds. "Our so-called competition is (the) Mk19 - grenade machine gun," Smith said. "It's enormously heavy. It takes six people to carry it into a battlefield scene. It's not mobile. "But the military has had this transition out of big system warfighting into much lighter, higher firepower that can be carried into battle by individuals or light vehicles. Our guns have no moving parts -- so they have the same amount of fire power at significantly reduced weight ratio." Metal Storm technology has been under development for about a decade, but a series of small-business innovative research contracts awarded recently by the Department of Energy and the Army mean prototypes are now being produced and demonstrated. "We are to the point we can start providing prototypes. The Army is very, very parochial in how they buy weapon systems," Smith said. "But now we can put it into an actual environment." The company is also studying whether it can mount a Metal Storm weapon on a small helicopter, particularly looking at the recoil effect from the gun. Smith said such a system - deployable down to the squad level -- could be useful in a place like Iraq, where it's a common tactic for insurgents to launch a mortar and then run. By the time soldiers on foot or in a vehicle get to the launch site, the shooters are long gone. But a UAV quickly launched can see where the shooters run to, and if a gun is on board, can shoot at them. The Australian military is testing a Metal Storm gun of its own, the Advanced Individual Combat Weapon (AICW). The AICW combines both an assault rifle and a 40 mm grenade launcher in a single unit with a common trigger, allowing the shooter to choose which munition he wants to fire without having to refit his weapon. It also allows three grenades to be fired at once, whereas one is the only option in the current generation of weapons. Metal Storm Inc. will demonstrate a high-explosive munition with a 10-meter (32.5 feet) or burst radius in Singapore on Feb. 6, Smith said, and for the Army's Picatinny Arsenal and Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center later that month. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
locogato11283 Posted January 23, 2006 Report Share Posted January 23, 2006 sounds dangerous... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRed350x Posted January 23, 2006 Report Share Posted January 23, 2006 Sounds FUN! Kinda like a hand-held version of a phalanx cannon. I've been right next to those during operation. They fire so many rounds per second that you can't hear indiviual shots, just a really loud buzzing sound. They put so much lead in the air it actually looks like a grey cloud. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlazinOne Posted January 23, 2006 Report Share Posted January 23, 2006 The ceremony on test day should open up with Slayer playing "raining blood" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cotton eyed Joe Posted January 23, 2006 Report Share Posted January 23, 2006 http://upi.com/SecurityTerrorism/view.php?...20-070112-5273r 463399[/snapback] Its about time they start testing this thing. I read about this in Popular Science about 5-6 years ago. I might have to see if I can dig up the magazine if I still have it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FasterThanU90 Posted January 23, 2006 Report Share Posted January 23, 2006 this war deal is getting rediculious just bomb the whole f-n country America should take over the world Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frocashmoney24 Posted January 23, 2006 Report Share Posted January 23, 2006 wow thats fast, but..how much does each bullet cost, that things firing thousands of dollars a minute Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PUSH THE THROTTLE Posted January 23, 2006 Author Report Share Posted January 23, 2006 wow thats fast, but..how much does each bullet cost, that things firing thousands of dollars a minute 463479[/snapback] No biggie, Bush is actually getting credit card numbers with his secret wire tapping programs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RNBRAD Posted January 23, 2006 Report Share Posted January 23, 2006 No more open caskets. Need a sifter to gather a persons remains. lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dawarriorman Posted January 23, 2006 Report Share Posted January 23, 2006 Old news, that thing has been around for a while. I saw some videos a few years back of that thing firing, and they had it on a show on Discovery Channel a while back too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cotton eyed Joe Posted January 23, 2006 Report Share Posted January 23, 2006 No biggie, Bush is actually getting credit card numbers with his secret wire tapping programs. 463481[/snapback] LOL Yep he's spying on She-Male 900 numbers. Who's gonna go to their credit card company, or phone company to complain that their transexual phone sex cost 3x as much as it normally does? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PUSH THE THROTTLE Posted January 23, 2006 Author Report Share Posted January 23, 2006 LOL Yep he's spying on She-Male 900 numbers. Who's gonna go to their credit card company, or phone company to complain that their transexual phone sex cost 3x as much as it normally does? 463555[/snapback] Anymore nothing would surprise me about what people will admit too. Just look at Loco's comments on the sugary nature of semen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RIPPEN Posted January 23, 2006 Report Share Posted January 23, 2006 I wish I was the one getting to go out and test some of these guns and bombs... Be able to take all your agression out and get paid for it. RIPPEN Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Motoman991 Posted January 24, 2006 Report Share Posted January 24, 2006 it has to be more like 10's of thousands dollars a minute to fire it. if each bullet cost 30 cents it would cost $72,000 a minture Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dawarriorman Posted January 24, 2006 Report Share Posted January 24, 2006 it has to be more like 10's of thousands dollars a minute to fire it. if each bullet cost 30 cents it would cost $72,000 a minture 463785[/snapback] It can't hold that many bullets. Read how it works, the bullets are stacked in each barrel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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