'Metal Storm' weapons may replace Crusader

UPI Wire ^ | 5/12/2002 12:01 PM | UPI Editor At Large

[greydog]

My suggestion for Mideast peace - erect a wall at the green line, let the PLO have everything on the other side, and have several of these babies flying non-stop around the wall.

To appease the UN (and OSHA) though, you would have to put up signs on the PLO side stating "WARNING, YOU ARE LEAVING A CONFINED AREA"

[Krafty123]

Didn't I see this stuff in Eraser?

_RIPOFF_

Ari

[genefromjersey]

METAL STORM : Got clogged drains ? Does sinus pressure keep you awake ? Suffer from Performance Anxiety ?

Get METAL STORM . It even does weddings and bar mitzvahs.
batteries sold separately.

[billorites]

"Metal Storm's submachine gun will be capable of firing multiple barrel rapid-fire bursts at 45,000 rounds per minute per barrel."

I gotta have one.

[Ken H]

Excellent for home defense as well!

[RLK]

Rate of fire is not the problem. 6,000 rounds a minute is perfectly adaquate. The problem is ammunition supply.

[umgud]

We need a "RAY GUN". No ammo to carry. Just a power supply (nuke?).

[Fishing-guy]

How would a weapon like this replace the function of artillery? This seems to be a small caliber weapon.

[Lokibob]

Exactly!!! One million rounds, at one ounce per round is 62,500 pounds. Now we are back to the weight of the Crusader,and only have one minute of effective fire. Not that I'd believe that 1,000,000 rounds would be fired.

[michigander]

Metal Storm: Ultimate Killing Machine? {13 million rounds a minute}
New machine gun capable of firing 1 million rounds a minute

[aculeus]

The problem is ammunition supply.

That and running out of live enemy to kill.

[Asclepius]

The system's unprecedented firing capabilities can lay down a continuous 50-meter-wide carpet of grenades for about two miles, firing all its grenades simultaneously with a five-yard separation on impact.

So much for the trend toward precision, guided munitions.

Imagine children playing or farmers farming or walkers walking amidst the dud and unexploded munitions, ten, twenty, thirty years later. And losing limbs.

[Jay W]

How would a weapon like this replace the function of artillery? This seems to be a small caliber weapon.

It won't replace artillery.

I like that Crusader system. I hope that Republican Representative J.C. Watts prevails in this dispute and that the Crusader system is built.

Not all of our future enemies will be 3rd or 4th World powers such as Afghanistan or Somalia. The day may well come when the US faces a real power hostile to our country (and don't think that it can't happen either, as history is full of nothing but shifting alliances, and thousands of wars). Whether it be China or Russia or some other power, such as maybe an alliance of the world's muslim nations, we may very well need the weapons to win battles on battlefields. Air power alone may not be enough to do the job. Small arms won't win, either, if the enemy can defend against these or overwhelm them.

I think we're making a huge strategic mistake to the degree our country, as a matter of policy, abandons artillery, tanks, and other necessities of winning wars.

[RLK]

How would a weapon like this replace the function of artillery? This seems to be a small caliber weapon.

-----------------------

It is, by necessity. Can you imagine a gun that would fire 45,000 155 mm howitzer shells a minute? The weight of ammunition require to run the thing for ten seconds would be approximately the weight of New York. Somebody has their head up their behind on this concept.

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

Thanks, I thought I saw some threads on this before.

[Ranger]

A handy tool for a space based anti-missile system. Also interesting area defense system for naval vessels. I wonder what the projectile speed is?

[michigander]

I was quite sure I had too. Thank goodness for the search function.

Information about Crusader

[AmericaUnited]

You can always fire slower. Speed can be electronically controled.

[Ranger]

The Crusader has got to be able to get into the fight. An interesting parallel israilroad-based artillery which was useful in WWI but obsolete by WWII.

[jwfiv]

I'm thinking the key word is mobility.

An 80 ton cannon can't get to where it needs to be in order to acquire its target quickly enough.

A bomber or fighter can.

The American 21st Century blitzkrieg will make der Schickelgruber's move across Europe seem cumbersome and slow.