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Metal Storm

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For the Turkish novel whose title translates to "Metal Storm", see Metal fırtına.
"Metalstorm" redirects here. For the 1980s science fiction movie, see Metalstorm: The Destruction of Jared-Syn.
Metal Storm Limited
Company typePublic (ASX: MST)
(Nasdaq: MTSX)
IndustryDefense
Founded1994
HeadquartersBrisbane, Australia
Key people
Terence James O'Dwyer, Chairman
Websitehttp://www.metalstorm.com

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.

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$0.105 in 2006. The company has never reported any earnings or 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 2008 without taking into account any income from any potential sales or development contracts. This additional raising was conducted as an issue of convertible notes on which Metal Storm is now paying interest at a rate of 10% per annum. This represents a significant cost to Metal Storm in addition to other expenses. 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.[2]

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 targeting 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 solely on development of 40mm weapons and 40mm lethal and less-than-lethal ammunition as this represents the fastest path to a commercial, saleable solution.

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 1990s 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 calibers of 50mm and greater. 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 Piasecki Helicopter Corporation 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-
  • Bruce Sinclair McComish
  • Dr Peter Jonson
  • James Michael Crunk
  • John Nicholls

Ex-directors:

Other key personnel:

  • James D MacDonald: CFO, Company Secretary (resigned March 22 ,2007 will leave role 13 April 2007)
  • Arthur David Schatz: Senior Vice President - Operations

Patents

Patent holders:

  • J. Mike O'Dwyer
  • Dr Vinod Puri
  • John Ramon Bambach
  • Sean Patrick O'Dwyer (Mike's son)

International Interest

In October 2006, the Australian media[1] and New Zealand media[citation needed] reported that Mike O'Dwyer had rejected a US$100 million offer by the Chinese People's Liberation Army to go and live in China, where he would have provided all of his knowledge, and that there had been other attempts to acquire the technology. Under Australian law, it would have been illegal for Metal Storm to sell the technology to the Chinese military, but it would not have been illegal for O'Dwyer to have gone to China to work for them. US and Australian Government military sources have stated that there are arrangements in place to prevent knowledge from being transferred.[citation needed]

  • Metal Storm plays an important role in the alternate-history novels of the Axis of Time trilogy by John Birmingham, as an important element in future naval close-in weapons systems and also in a combat rifle, the Remington G4.
  • The O'Dwyer VLe,[3] a prototype Metal Storm handgun, is featured in the John Ridley novels What Fire Cannot Burn and Those Who Walk In Darkness
  • Metal Storm weapons mounted on the chassis of an M1A1 Abrams tank are featured in When the Devil Dances and Hell's Faire books by John Ringo as stand-alone weapons. They are also installed on the upper deck of the SheVa Self-propelled artillery vehicle 'BunBun' as an improvised secondary weapons system.
  • Metal Storm weapons were also mentioned (and used by the bad guys) in the Matthew Reilly action novel "Scarecrow".

References

  1. ^ a b Chinese whispers and the Aussie killing machine, Sunday Nine MSN, October 1, 2006
  2. ^ for example Scott in 1902 and Broyles in 1974
  3. ^ O'Dwyer VLe

See also

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