Metal Storm in further grenade-gasm tests, paper issues

@Louis

It would if you fired the whole lot simultaneously, but you don't. The whole idea is multiple shots per barrel. If you want simultaneous discharge of multiple projectiles, you use multiple barrels. Imagine, if you will, a cube of, say, 64 barrels in ranks of 8. rank one fires, then rank 2 etc. Once all have fired their first shot the whole process is repeated starting with rank one until either the ammo is exhausted or the operator takes his finger off the switch.

As the whole arrangement is computer controlled you can fire it in any repeating pattern you desire, making pretty patterns in the air with the projectiles (yes, it *is* a silly idea).

The whole idea is pretty much a rehash of the circa 17th century "organ gun" concept. This had an array of barrels on the three sides of a prism-shaped carriage, the idea being that you fired set A, rotated the prism, fired set B and so on. The drawback was (as with Metal Storm) that reloading was a very, very tedious exercise. With the organ gun you have to reload 36+ muzzle-loading muskets, with Metal Storm you get to shove x projectiles down y barrels. Where Metal Storm has a slight advantage here is that each side of the prism (if you will) may be fired multiple times.

@Louis - double post.

Of course, the ability of Metal Storm to provide operator-customised projectile dispersal patterns from multi-barrelled implementations is in no way connected to Metal Storm being an Australian company.

There's no reason to believe that this feature is designed to allow you to stand up, mid firing, and yell in a broad Australian accent at your cowering enemy: "Can you tell what it is yet?".

@ TeeCee

Or alternatively, shouting 'I can see the pub from ere'

reloading isn't handled individually during combat

reloading is by the tube. if a barrel contains 10 rounds it is fired ten times then the barrel is pulled out, a fresh barrel with 10 new rounds is inserted. barrels are rather lightweight and aren't designed to handle too many firings. For small systems (UCAV, etc) where there isn't room for a proper magazine/reloading system this stacked ammo concept works great.

This gives an operator a magazine fed grenade launcher with the same footprint as a singe round unit.

Their replacement for the M203 underbarrel grenade launcher is a disposable tube that holds 3 rounds IIRC. (weighs about the same as a steel single shot 203 but 3x the firepower) then you pop out the tube and stick in a new one. the tube is to be a composite unit for light weight and doesn't need to be as durable as a permanent barrel so various plastics can be used instead. Once it fires three rounds, toss it like an old LAW tube.

Metalstorm has some excellent ideas that have many applications, but it will require some paradigm shifting in organizations that can't find the clutch.

Civilian

Any chance they will start selling to civilian market, not in the UK but the USA has some states with miniguns, small artillery etc.

You know....

in any kind of civilised world, the directors of this company would be charged with conspiracy to commit mass murder...