Posted on 05/13/2002 10:51:49 PM PDT by JohnHuang2
Edited on 07/12/2004 3:53:33 PM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
A new type of ballistic technology that can fire more than 1 million rounds per minute from a 36-barrel weapon is one of the reasons Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld has canceled the $11 billion Crusader artillery system.
The technology is known as "Metal Storm," which is also the name of the Australian research and development company that owns it.
(Excerpt) Read more at washtimes.com ...
Here is the link to their site. Interesting mpegs. Absolutely incredible weapons system. Scary....makes Puffs and AC-130s look tame...if that's possible.
Screw the Crusader.
JDAM is a good example - it's cheaper to circumnavigate the globe in a B2 than it is to launch an equivalent load of Tomahawks. Crusader would be the next step in cost savings, a sationary fire-base that could hit anything in a 60 mile radius at a much lower cost. Drop one off and resupply it once a week. I would think it would pay itself off in fuel savings alone.
A great deal of money has been invested in air superiority, but the fact is that turning the skies black with attack aircraft is an expensive business to be in. The possibilities should at least be explored.
I'm not sure how Metalstorm technology enters the equation. Metalstorm is a 'volume over substance' system, an 'area weapon' if you will. Crusader's primary role would be precision fire.
Imagine going back in time to WWII and explaining that we need artillery for precision fire and special automatic rifles for area suppression :)
I believe he would MUCH prefer to be supported by EXTANT Crusader pieces, rather than 'drawing board' high-tech weapons.
We need to keep the Crusader AND to develop new high-tech weapons.
As Chris Ruddy or NewsMax opined recently, we would need to up the annual DoD budget to more than $600 Billion to truly restore our military.
I think Bush lacks Reagan's laser-vision focus on the threats that this country faces. Case in point: Today's announcement that he is going to sign away two-thirds of this country's nuclear arsenal in a worthless treaty with the always-trustworthy Russians.
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