Gun fires 1 million rounds a minute - ideal for home defense

[swellman]

http://www.cnn.com/2003/BUSINESS/06/26/australia.metalstorm/index.html

Forgive my cutsie thread title. A military technolgy of interest to the US, developed in Australia. I bet this thing is impressive in action!

From the article:

BRISBANE, Australia (CNN) -- Imagine a gun that fires a million rounds a minute -- enough to shred a target in a blink of an eye, or throw up a defensive wall against an incoming missile.

This is Metal Storm, a weapons system that forsakes old-style mechanics for the speed of electronics.

Its inventor is Mike O'Dwyer, a one-time grocer in the Australian city of Brisbane. He's spent 30 years and much of his own money to develop the technology.

[a_unique_person]

Only problem is, how do you fit more than 1 seconds worth of bullets in the thing?

[HarryKeogh]

here's a link to the developer
www.metalstorm.com

you could download video of it in action. cool but not nearly as cool as i thought it would be. video doesnt show it in that rapid fire mode, just shooting 44mm munitions.

[arcticpenguin]

all politics aside,

it's fascinating technology.

[Tony]

Thats a damn good question AUP. Think about the space 1 MILLION bullets would take up.

[aerocontrols]

Originally posted by a_unique_person
Only problem is, how do you fit more than 1 seconds worth of bullets in the thing?

I suspect they are stored outside the thing.

Like in the cargo hold of a destroyer.

I also suspect that the gun will normally use a more modest rate of fire

perhaps a half a million rounds per min. ;)

[shanek]

Originally posted by aerocontrols
Originally posted by a_unique_person
Only problem is, how do you fit more than 1 seconds worth of bullets in the thing?

I suspect they are stored outside the thing.

Like in the cargo hold of a destroyer.

Sha. What are bullets, about 3 cm³, at least? So, 1 million bullets would take up 3,000 km³!

I don't know how big those cargo holds are, but that's pretty big!

[Badger]

Originally posted by shanek


I suspect they are stored outside the thing.

Like in the cargo hold of a destroyer.

Sha. What are bullets, about 3 cm³, at least? So, 1 million bullets would take up 3,000 km³!

I don't know how big those cargo holds are, but that's pretty big! [/QUOTE]

Math's a bit off. There are a million cubic centimeters in a cubic meter.

A million bullets would be about the size of a small bedroom if you assume .50 cal.

[aerocontrols]

Originally posted by shanek


Sha. What are bullets, about 3 cm³, at least? So, 1 million bullets would take up 3,000 km³!

I don't know how big those cargo holds are, but that's pretty big!

I get 3 million cm&sup3 * (1m/100cm)&sup3 = 3 m&sup3

In any case, AUP asked where one would store 1 seconds worth of ammo, which would be 3/60m&sup3

Thanks for teaching me how to get a superscript by the way.

MattJ

[RCNelson]

Saying that it can fire 1,000,000 bullets per minute is kind of like saying my car can go 568,000,000 miles per millennium.

It would be clearer to say that it fires at a rate of 17 bullets per millisecond.

This weapon would be very useful against high speed targets like missiles.
With a regular machine gun, you can aim it so the bullets will pass through the same space that a missile will pass through, but it's difficult to get the bullets to pass through the same space at the same time as the missile. The missile just slips through between the individual bullets in the stream of bullets.

[LW]

Originally posted by aerocontrols








perhaps a half a million rounds per min. ;)

I'm not an expert on this subject, but I'd guess that a several thousand rounds per minute would generate enough heat to melt the barrel very quickly.

[aerocontrols]

Originally posted by LW


I'm not an expert on this subject, but I'd guess that a several thousand rounds per minute would generate enough heat to melt the barrel very quickly.

I thought the smiley would indicate my joking attitude, but a 'rate of fire' can be established by only 2 bullets. His claim of 1 million rounds per second is apparently true, but not for any signficant duration: here ya go (http://www.dartreview.com/archives/000006.php)

Anyone familiar with firearms will quickly recognize this as an impossible feat. Before ever reaching those speeds, the moving parts such as the hammer, trigger, breechblock, and shells would surely melt from frictional heat. This would be true, if the Metal Storm were equipped with any moving parts at all. Instead, Mike OíDwyer, creator of the Metal Storm, describes the gun as ìa barrel tube with an electrical wire attached.î Inside each barrel bullets are lined up end to end, without shell casings. Situated between each bullet is the propellant. An electrical charge is sent down the barrel igniting the propellant and forcing the first bullet from the barrel. In order to prevent all the bullets from going off simultaneously, the pressure created from the first bullet creates swelling in the second bullet, which effectively blocks off the remainder of the barrel. The entire process is repeated to the tune of one million rounds per minute. The fastest modern machine guns keep a gap of about thirty yards between fired rounds; the Metal Storm leaves four inches.

I wanted to see this raw firepower for myself and downloaded the demonstration video from the Internet. Since then, 36 Barrel Metal Storm Prototype Demonstration has become my new favorite film. The first clip demonstrates a respectable 600 rounds per minute, comparable to an automatic rifle used by modern infantry. The Metal Storm performs its task with ease, blowing out a few rounds to warm the barrels for the task at hand. At 30,000 rounds, the next firing sequence, Metal Storm could have called it a day having already surpassed the fastest machine gun cyclic rates fivefold, but the second-long buzz-saw zip of five hundred bullets is mere childís play. Metal Storm wants to show you moreÖlike 60,000 rounds per minute. The sound is frightening, and perhaps the best description I can muster is a giant electronic band-aid being ripped from your leg, or better yet, a semi-truckís air horn in firearm form. Finally, Metal Storm comes to bring the goods, informing the viewer ì36 Barrel Prototype: 180 Rounds at 1,000,000 rounds per minute.î A scrolling message prepares me for the impending display: ìA warning siren will sound, then the weapon will fire immediately after the siren ends,î I wring my hands in anticipation.

As the clip runs I fall back into my chair disappointed. The Metal Storm has not failed, no not at all, but its only after the clip, do I realize that 180 rounds at 1,000,000 rounds per minute is only .011 seconds worth of firing. Thatís one solitary, though deafening, pop, no longer than a single gunshot. This anti-climatic clip is soon remedied by the videoís director, who no doubt as disappointed as I, films another clip, ìTarget Impact: 180 rounds at 1,000,000 rounds per minute.î If you have ever wondered how matchsticks are made, the folks at Metal Storm are more than happy to oblige you with an answer. The clip ìTarget Impactî shows the viewer twelve wooden doors lined up, a loud pop, and in .011 seconds a pile of Shredded Wheat.

I'm interested to know how long it takes to reload the thing.

MattJ

[swellman]

Originally posted by aerocontrols

here ya go (http://www.dartreview.com/archives/000006.php)

If you have ever wondered how matchsticks are made, the folks at Metal Storm are more than happy to oblige you with an answer. The clip ìTarget Impactî shows the viewer twelve wooden doors lined up, a loud pop, and in .011 seconds a pile of Shredded Wheat.

I gotta get me one of these!

Maybe at the next gun show...

[Zep]

I seem to recall that the Brits had something similar to this installed on their small ships in 1982 during the Falklands War, and they are probably still in use today. They were used as close-quarters anti-missile weapons.

Damned if I can remember the name of it just now, but it fired depleted uranium bullets at tens of thousands per second through a high-speed rotating barrel-set, putting up a literal wall of metal that shredded and/or prematurely exploded missiles (I saw some test footage against Exocets).

Can anyone fill in the blanks here?

Zep

[GreyWanderer]

Originally posted by RCNelson
Saying that it can fire 1,000,000 bullets per minute is kind of like saying my car can go 568,000,000 miles per millennium.

I hate it when a rate is measured in something per minute. Per second is much easier to imagine. Like a printer that can print 200 pages a minute... I always have to convert it before it makes any sense to me.

[shuize]

Zep,

Phalanx?

[Zep]

Originally posted by shuize
Zep,
Phalanx? Bingo! Ta! Seems it is actually a US invention anyway - so little do I know!

Zep

[a_unique_person]

I won't settle for anything less than 2,000,000 rounds per minute.

[arcticpenguin]

Originally posted by aerocontrols


I'm interested to know how long it takes to reload the thing.

MattJ
Probably not long, I'm presuming that 'reloading' consists of snapping in a new barrel (which is pre-loaded with the bullets and powder)

[shanek]

Originally posted by Badger
Math's a bit off. There are a million cubic centimeters in a cubic meter.

Oops! Sorry. You're right. I farked up the math.

Never mind.

[shanek]

Originally posted by aerocontrols
Thanks for teaching me how to get a superscript by the way.

:D

Actually, that's an HTML entity. You can get the full list of them here:

http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/sgml/entities.html

Super- and subscripts in general can be done like this:

<SUP>Superscript</SUP> <SUB>Subscript</SUB>

But since HTML is off here for some reason, it won't work.

[a_unique_person]

X&supn
4_^9^Be + _2^4^He �¨ _6_^12^C + _0_^1^n

[Agammamon]

Originally posted by LW


I'm not an expert on this subject, but I'd guess that a several thousand rounds per minute would generate enough heat to melt the barrel very quickly.

Its not 1 barrel. Its a flat grid composed of several barrells that contain multiple rounds/propellent, electronically controlled so they are fired in the proper sequence (and don't end up running into each other in the barrel. Unlike regular guns, the whole thing is one piece rather the separating the ammo and gun (much like missile launchers are now). One of the likely applications for this is either anti-aircraft or anti-missile defenses. It just seems that it would have to be to large and unwieldy to have enough ammo for use on the ground.

The Phalanx CIWS doesn't use depleted uranium. That was considered originally, but has been dropped as too expensive and unneccessary. It just uses plain old 20mm armor piercing rounds.

[Zep]

Originally posted by Agammamon
The Phalanx CIWS doesn't use depleted uranium. That was considered originally, but has been dropped as too expensive and unneccessary. It just uses plain old 20mm armor piercing rounds.
New fact learned!

However I do recall the news reports from the Falklands War (yes, I'm THAT old, sonny!) that the Brits did use depleted uranium rounds, for use against Exocets. Some people were getting hot under the collar that these expended DU rounds would fall to the bottom of the ocean and eventually "pollute the water with radiation". Obviously their understanding of "depleted uranium" was a bit off, but it indicated that DU rounds may have actually been deployed all the same. Can anyone confirm/deny this?

Zep

[Yahweh]

Originally posted by a_unique_person
I won't settle for anything less than 2,000,000 rounds per minute.
So when you hunt turkeys, you're not exactly the kind of guy who expects to eat the thing afterwards...

[NoZed Avenger]

I'd just like to add that these are legal to buy in Texas, though you have to purchase them as single shots and add a $15.00 kit to allow the full 1,000,000 rounds.

[Jon_in_london]

Originally posted by Zep

New fact learned!

However I do recall the news reports from the Falklands War (yes, I'm THAT old, sonny!) that the Brits did use depleted uranium rounds, for use against Exocets.Zep

Your powers have grown weak old man!

There werent any such systems on British warships during the Falklands war. They were introduced as a result of experience gained of exocets during the war, most notably HMS sheffield (?) which was hit and burnt out as result. (actually the ship was hit because the warfare officer was having a crafty wank while he should have been firing chaff patterns).
Other ships were targeted by exocets but no more warships were hit.

Phalanx and its big brother Goalkeeper (uses the same gun as the A-10) used to have DU rounds but these have been withdrawn as too expensive, unnecesary and un-PC.

[richardm]

Originally posted by Agammamon

The Phalanx CIWS doesn't use depleted uranium. That was considered originally, but has been dropped as too expensive and unneccessary. It just uses plain old 20mm armor piercing rounds.

It did in the Royal Navy. Otherwise they wouldn't be explaining about the handling in this document. (http://www.mod.uk/linked_files/gulf_du_safety_guidance.pdf). Apparently they are starting to convert to tungsten now, since the US Manufacturers have stopped making the DU ammunition.

[Agammamon]

And if anyone is still interested - for comparison.

CIWS block 0 3,000 rpm - 1,000 round magazine.
block 1 3,500 rpm - 1,500 round magazine.
20mm

Goalkeeper 4,200 rpm - 1190 round magazine.
30mm

[Jon_in_london]

Originally posted by Agammamon
And if anyone is still interested - for comparison.

CIWS block 0 3,000 rpm - 1,000 round magazine.
block 1 3,500 rpm - 1,500 round magazine.
20mm

Goalkeeper 4,200 rpm - 1190 round magazine.
30mm

I'd ratha hava goalkeepa to defend my home!

(would work wonders on Jehova's witnesses as well).

[Kodiak]

Originally posted by Jon_in_london

Phalanx and its big brother Goalkeeper (uses the same gun as the A-10) used to have DU rounds but these have been withdrawn as too expensive, unnecesary and un-PC.

The GAU-8 Avenger cannon mounted on the A-10 Thunderbolt (http://www.military.cz/usa/air/in_service/weapons/cannons/gau8/gau8_en.htm)

[Zep]

Originally posted by Jon_in_london
Your powers have grown weak old man!
You may strike me down, but I shall become more powerful than you can ever imagine! :D

Zep