Metal Storm
Metal Storm Limited is a research and development company that specialises in electronically initiated stacked projectile weapons technology. Metal Storm is both the name of the company and the technology.
The company is based in Brisbane, Australia with a subsidiary in Washington DC, U.S.A. Metal Storm owns the proprietary rights to the electronic ballistics technology invented by J. Mike O'Dwyer.
Metal Storm Information
Financials and funding
The company was founded in 1994, listed on the Australian Stock
Exchange in 1999 and on the Nasdaq in 2001. The company has over 30
worldwide patents covering aspects of ballistics technology.
The stock price has fluctuated between a high of AU$2.65 in 2000 and
AU$0.11 in 2005. The company has never paid a dividend. Metal Storm
advise that a range of financing arrangements made during 2006 will
ensure that operating funds will be available through to at least
2009 without taking into account any income from any potential sales
or development contracts. Metal Storm historically has spent over
$10 million a year on wages and operating expenses.
Metal Storm raised capital as a public company when it listed on the
ASX. Additional funding has been received from the Australian and
USA Governments who are keen to control access to the technology
(see International Interest below). Australia has invested more than
$10 million and USA more than $20 million [1].
Technology
The concept of stacked projectiles (multiple projectiles loaded nose
to tail in a single gun barrel with propellant packed between them)
predates Metal Storm. Roman Candles, a traditional firework design,
employ the same concept. However, in the case of Roman Candles the
propellant which propels the leading projectile from the barrel
continues to burn in the barrel, igniting the charges behind each
subsequent projectile in turn, ensuring that all projectiles in the
barrel are discharged sequentially (and inevitably) following upon
the single ignition. Various methods of separately firing each
propellant package behind stacked projectiles have been proposed
which would allow a 'single shot' capability more suitable to
firearms (for example Scott in 1902 and Broyles in 1974).
Mike O'Dwyer, an Australian inventor, observed that these methods
did not eliminate the problem of unintended propellant ignition
caused by hot gases 'leaking' back up the barrel. Mike O'Dwyer's
Metal Storm patent demonstrated a method whereby projectiles placed
in series along the length of a barrel could be fired sequentially
and selectively without the danger associated with unintended
propellant ignition.
In the original Metal Storm patents the propellant immediately
behind the projectile closest to the muzzle of the gun barrel was
ignited by an electronically fired primer. The projectile was set in
motion, and at the same time a reactive force acted on the remaining
stacked projectiles in the barrel, pushing them backwards. By
design, the remaining projectiles would distort under this load,
expanding and jamming against the gun barrel wall. This created a
seal which prevented the hot propellant gases (expanding behind the
lead projectile) prematurely igniting the remaining propellant
charges in the barrel (blow-back). As each of these propellant
charges was selectively (electronically) ignited, the force 'unjammed'
the projectile in front and propelled it down the gun barrel, and
reinforced the jamming (and hence the seal) between the projectiles
remaining in the barrel and the barrel wall.
The stacked projectile and electronic ignition technology eliminated
the need for cartridges, and for many moving parts associated with
traditional guns. Multiple barrels containing stacked rounds could
be grouped together in arrays allowing unprecedented (albeit very
brief) rates of fire of up to 1,000,000 rounds per minute. As
testing of the technology progressed, it was thought that in
addition to very high rates of fire, very high barrel pressures and
hence high muzzle velocities could be achieved as a number of
charges (and projectiles) could be fired before the first projectile
had travelled as far as the gun muzzle.
Subsequent patents taken out by Metal Storm eliminate the 'jamming'
concept by containing all of the propellant charges within skirts at
the base of each projectile. Each skirt rests on the front of the
following projectile forming a seal. The backwards force created as
propellant charges are fired 'ahead' in the barrel compresses this
seal, preventing hot gases from prematurely igniting the following
charges. Because this technology does not rely on creating a seal
between the projectiles and the barrel wall it can be employed in
rifled gun barrels, and could theoretically lead to a reduction in
barrel wear.
During the evolution of the technology a method of directly igniting
the propellant (via electrodes penetrating the barrel wall) was
replaced with inductive coils outside the barrel operating remotely
on initiators placed within the propellant charges.
Features
The distinguishing features of this technology are the absence of
ammunition feed and casing ejection systems, and the electronic
ignition of the propellant charges. The relatively simple external
shape of the Metal Storm barrels allows for clustering, or for their
attachment to existing weapons and to a range of vehicles including
robotic vehicles. The absence of a mechanical feed mechanism reduces
the weight of the weapon system making it suitable for very light
aerial vehicles. The electronic ignition allows for the firing of
the stacked munitions at 'electronic speed' without any delays
caused by mechanical ammunition feed mechanisms. The electronic
firing also allows tighter integration with electronic targetting
systems and with (in the case of hand guns) electronic grip
recognition technology.
* Several proposed designs, and prototypes have clustered together a
number of metal storm gun tubes in box-like arrays. In this
configuration each gun tube is loaded with stacked projectiles, and
the firing of each of these projectiles is under separate electronic
control. Metal Storm has demonstrated integrated electronic fire
control systems in conjunction with prototype arrays. The arrays are
effectively multi-barrel weapons, similar to volley guns, but with
individually selectable fire control, and with the capacity of 3 to
6 (or more depending on how many projectiles are in the stack in
each tube) shots per tube. These designs have been proposed for use
as close in defence for fixed assets, vehicles and ship defense, and
as an offensive weapon when mounted on aircraft or unmanned vehicles
(ground or air based).
* Designs for the arrays have included options where the gun tubes
at the edges of the array are angled outwards from the main axis so
that a gun tube array mounted on a tracking platform would have the
potential to engage a target before the bulk of the centrally
located gun tubes reached the optimal aiming position. This feature,
combined with the 'always loaded' nature of the technology, and the
potential to produce a very high density (low distance of
separation) of projectiles 'in the air' is put forward by the
company as an advantage for this technology in close-in weapons
support roles.
* Other gun tube array designs have incorporated variable calibre
gun tubes with mixed payloads; such as a variety of non-lethal and
lethal munitions allowing a selectable and/or escalating response.
This design is intended to particularly meet the requirements of
urban insurgent warfare where forces normally equipped with lethal
force weapons may be dealing with civilian crowds. The U.S.
Department of Defense is currently examining the use of other
non-lethal crowd control technologies such as microwaves (to produce
subcutaneous heating), aural projection (to cause discomfort or
disorientation), and 'dazzling' (using lasers to produce temporary
blindness).
Potential applications
Metal Storm technology is not currently deployed. Potential
applications, reflecting patent applications, company statements,
and prototypes under development include area denial (replacing
fixed minefields); minefield destruction; close-in weapons support
for ground vehicles, airships and ships; anti-torpedo defence;
combined gun/grenade launcher for infantry - the Advanced Individual
Combat Weapon (AICW); unmanned ground vehicle offensive capability;
unmanned aircraft (fixed and rotary wing) offensive capability; and
9mm handguns incorporating grip recognition. The company has since
2004 concentrated on development of 40mm weapons and 40mm lethal and
less-than-lethal ammunition.
Limitations
Widespread public awareness of Metal Storm technology was due to
media coverage in relation to the theoretical 1 million
rounds/minute rate of fire. In the United Kingdom it was featured
along with its inventor on the popular BBC show Tomorrow's World.
Limitations in the technology, and difficulties in developing
applications from it have not been publicised to the same degree.
Limitations with the technology became apparent during the late
1990's as development continued. Some of the limitations are
materials dependent, while others relate to the nature of the
technology. Much of the detail of the technology remains classified
but it is understood that:
* Barrel wear may have been a significant issue with the original
shell/barrel jamming design.
* The high pressure generated in the barrel was apparently a concern
with 50mm+ calibres. Metal Storm patented a method of 'barrel
pressure relief' but the current state of development of this aspect
of the technology is not known.
* While the simplified mechanics and relative light weight of a
metal storm gun barrels suggested that they might have advantages
when deployed on light unmanned aerial vehicles, recoil management
becomes a significant issue relative to the light weight of the
vehicle and consequently to flight stability. Metal Storm have
suggested that this may require a partly avionics (flight control)
solution and have been working with Dragonfly Pictures Incorporated
on a solution.
Some issues arise from the fundamental aspects of the technology:
* Manual, automatic and semi-automatic reloading concepts exist,
incorporating breech and muzzle loading into permanent barrels,
throw-away barrels (and barrel arrays), a belt-fed stacked-cartridge
gun patent, and a patented breechless continuous feed gun with
injected propellant. With the exception of the belt-fed and the
breechless gun patents, all of Metal Storm's gun concepts are
limited to bursts of no more the number of bullets or shells
pre-loaded into the barrel(s). A barrel array might contain more
shells in fact than a traditional 'clip' or 'belt', but would not be
able to compete with ship or aircraft mounted guns or dedicated belt
fed machine guns with very long ammunition belts (unless the barrel
array was duplicated to allow alternate reloading). Single-barrel
designs appear to currently be limited to 3 or 5 stacked rounds
before reloading. That limitation in the case of 9mm bullets may
appear restrictive, while in 40mm and above calibres it is
competitive with current capacities in traditional technology guns.
In cases where sustained rates of fire are required, or where manual
reloading would be hazardous, automatic reloading technology will
need to be incorporated with Metal Storm technology, reducing the
advantage of 'mechanical simplicity' inherent in the original Metal
Storm concept.
* Metal Storm has stated that the different barrel lengths travelled
by each of the stacked shells would have no significant effect on
accuracy. It is not clear what the size of the actual effect is, or
whether using variable propellant charges has been used to mitigate
this effect. It is understood that the effect is 'less' in the case
of the low pressure relatively short range 40mm weapons currently
being developed.
* Metal Storm has indicated that single-use throw-away barrels could
be manufactured to 'lower' tolerances than multiple-use barrels and
hence an array of barrels (or spare throw-away barrels) would be
lighter than an equivalent number of traditional technology barrels.
It is not clear whether Metal Storm have been able to quantify the
tolerances or indicate an acceptable method of deployment of such
barrels that did not involve undue risk to the operators.
Key personnel
Directors:
* Terence James O'Dwyer. Chairman 2004-
* General Wayne Allan Downing (US Army retired)
* Dr Daniel Lewis Alspach
* Bruce Sinclair McComish
* Dr Peter Jonson
* James Michael Crunk
Ex-directors:
* William Owens (Admiral), Chairman -2004
* David Allan Smith, CEO 2005-2006
* Michael O'Dwyer
* Chuck Charles Vehlow, CEO -2004
Other key personnel:
* Ian A Gillespie: Chief Operating Officer
* James D MacDonald: CFO, Company Secretary
* George L Bergeron III: Chief Technology Officer
* Arthur David Schatz: Senior Vice President - Operations