{"id":1287,"date":"2002-02-01T12:00:18","date_gmt":"2002-02-01T17:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/?p=1287"},"modified":"2002-02-01T12:00:18","modified_gmt":"2002-02-01T17:00:18","slug":"metalstorm_a_ne","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2002\/02\/01\/metalstorm_a_ne.html","title":{"rendered":"Metalstorm — a new super-hero?"},"content":{"rendered":"

No, a new weapons technology<\/a>, that looks like it will raise firing rates of weapons from the current top thousands-per-minute (on the Navy’s Phalanx system) to millions <\/i>per minute. <\/p>\n

O’Dwyer’s design does away with most of the moving parts of a conventional gun. Bullets are lined up one behind another in the barrel and separated only by propellant, which is ignited electronically. There’s nothing mechanical to break down.
\n“When we ignite the propellant that’s right in front, behind the leading bullet if you will, that pushes that bullet out,” O’Dwyer said. “What happens because of the nature of the invention, the bullet that’s immediately behind it, when the high pressure is applied to the nose of that bullet it actually expands and locks in the barrel. So progressively as we move down the barrel, we fire, the one behind expands and locks, and then unlocks and away it goes. It sounds simple, and in its operation it is simple, but the physics are very complex.”
\nThe firepower is astounding. In 1\/25 of a second, 180 bullets can shred a wooden door. It happens so fast, it sounds like one pop. <\/p>\n

With the bullets already lined up in the barrel and no moving parts for loading, it’s easy to set up arrays of barrels, which lead to the incredible firing rate.<\/p>\n

While much of the story on the page talks about other technologies, it sounds like this could be a significant advance in everything from handguns to artillery, such that the present cartridge-and-clip tech will someday seem as quaint as powder-and-shot.<\/p>\n

(The page has the text of the story available by download. It’s worth doing, just to see some incredibly cool graphics of the system in action.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

No, a new weapons technology, that looks like it will raise firing rates of weapons from the current top thousands-per-minute (on the Navy’s Phalanx system) to millions per minute. O’Dwyer’s…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1287","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fourth-estate"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":10427,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2007\/01\/17\/diving_underwater_to_avoi.html","url_meta":{"origin":1287,"position":0},"title":"Diving underwater to avoid folks shooting at you …","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 17-Jan-07 1:38pm","format":false,"excerpt":"... actually works pretty well ... The team then switched to a swimming pool to continue the experiments \u2013 and to make the test more realistic, switched from shooting straight...","rel":"","context":"In "Science & Nature"","block_context":{"text":"Science & Nature","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/science"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":11764,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2008\/02\/06\/guns_in_spaaaaaace.html","url_meta":{"origin":1287,"position":1},"title":"Guns! In! Spaaaaaace!","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 6-Feb-08 10:39am","format":false,"excerpt":"Would normal slug-throwers work in space (outside the confines of a ship's atmosphere)? Surprisingly, yes. It\u2019s true that there\u2019s no oxygen in the abyss of space, but the firing of...","rel":"","context":"In "Gaming"","block_context":{"text":"Gaming","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/gaming"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":40910,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2014\/01\/28\/catching-a-bullet.html","url_meta":{"origin":1287,"position":2},"title":"Catching a Bullet","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 28-Jan-14 11:35pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Thought Experiments are cool. In this case: could you catch a bullet fired into the air, if you were at the right place and the right time?\ufeff Catch! Answering your hypothetical questions with physics, every Tuesday. Prev \u00b7 Catch! Is there any way to fire a gun so that the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3106,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2002\/08\/08\/gas_guzzlers_an.html","url_meta":{"origin":1287,"position":3},"title":"Gas-guzzlers and gun-bunnies","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 8-Aug-02 2:01pm","format":false,"excerpt":"A nice fluff piece about a local company that builds combat-ready SUVs. A standard configuration can hold a .50-caliber machine gun in several barrel lengths and a 40 mm grenade...","rel":"","context":"In "Potpourri"","block_context":{"text":"Potpourri","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/potpourri"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":41328,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2014\/03\/04\/roll-out-the-elf-barrels.html","url_meta":{"origin":1287,"position":4},"title":"Roll Out the Elf-Barrels!","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 4-Mar-14 9:52pm","format":false,"excerpt":"It's ironic that Peter Jackson claims the barrel escape from the Wood Elves is his favorite part of The Hobbit, as the centerpiece of his rendition -- Big Chase Scene! Elves with Bows! Orcs with Swords! Dwarves with Barrels! Legolas with CGI! -- is nothing like the very placid ride\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":131917,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2016\/11\/03\/blown-away.html","url_meta":{"origin":1287,"position":5},"title":"Blown away","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 3-Nov-16 1:09pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Bullets and the shockwave stuff they do are endlessly fascinating. Which makes them a good candidate for an animated GIF. Originally shared by +Yonatan Zunger: Today, a simple illustration of physics. You might wonder why so much liquid splashes backwards; you can see what's happening most clearly with the water\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/9%2B03%2B2016%2B-%2B1.gifimgmax%3D660.gif?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1287","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1287"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1287\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1287"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1287"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1287"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}