Posted on 02/02/2006 6:31:53 PM PST by LouAvul
LIVERMORE, Calif. (AP) - Officials at Lawrence Livermore National laboratory have added a new weapon to their armory, a high-powered gun that can fire 3,000 rounds a minute.
The weapons, which are also to be installed at other facilities in the Energy Department complex, were displayed Thursday by Linton Brooks, head of the National Nuclear Security Administration.
Brooks called the new weapons a way to make sure any attempt to storm the nuclear weapons lab is unsuccessful.
"What we want to do is equip our protective force with the capability that will leave no doubt about the outcome," he said. "What we're not trying to do is level the playing field."
The new weapon is a Gatling gun, electrically powered, six-barreled and capable of firing more than 50 rounds a second. The Dillon Aero M134D guns will be mounted on vehicles and cost between $50,000 and $75,000. Lab officials declined to say how many guns they're deploying, citing security concerns.
Lab critics questioned the wisdom of putting a high-tech gun at the lab, which is across the street from suburban homes. They agree that the lab needs to be able to repel intruders but say the real problem is that the main site, which is relatively small at 1 square mile and in a major metropolitan area, isn't a good place for nuclear materials.
"If you don't have the firepower that's one kind of security weakness, but if you do have the firepower you potentially endanger nearby workers and community members because it's such a compact site," said Marylia Kelley, executive director of Tri-Valley CARES, a Livermore-based activist group. "You have homes and joggers and people walking their dogs and kids playing right out on the sidewalk across the street from the site."
(Excerpt) Read more at modbee.com ...
Bet ol Gunny is hoping someone will ask him a question on Mail Call so he can get some trigger time!
Pray for W and Our Freedom Fighters
I want one of those guns and I know where to get it. I will send my brother-in-law.
I got my 550B this summer, I love it. For handgunners there is no reason to buy any other brand. I wasted a couple of hundred dollars on a Lee press before seeing the light.
Still wrong. No classified work is done at Berkeley. None. Zip. Squattro. They DON'T collaborate on weapons work.
I hope my illustration adequately answers the other poster's questions about loading the belts.
Yeah, way too dangerous for city folks. Ya'll send 'em down to the border when yer done. We'll put 'em to good use ;)
"You can never have too much ammunition" ping.
There are a very few of these "miniguns" in private hands, including one rig with three of these guns on a turret. Prices are in the mid-six figures, and naturally they fall under the NFA, so it's not as easy as walking into your local Wal-Mart for a deer rifle.
-ccm
The M-61 Vulcan - a Viet Nam era weapon that was mounted on aircraft as well as ground-fired - was a 20mm, 6 barrel that fired 100 rounds per second - 6,000 rounds per minute. Why do we need a new one that fires smaller rounds at half the rate???
Oooh, nice a....mmo!
I hope my illustration adequately answers the other poster's questions about loading the belts.
What a job that man has. He gets to fire anything and everything that comes his way.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5854686068870249151
see if this works
That's great......had sound and everything.
That little girl is going to be a force to be reckoned with....I bet she'll never take $h-t from anyone.
I love America!
We are blessed.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
