Like what you've read?

On Line Opinion is the only Australian site where you get all sides of the story. We don't
charge, but we need your support. Here�s how you can help.

  • Advertise

    We have a monthly audience of 70,000 and advertising packages from $200 a month.

  • Volunteer

    We always need commissioning editors and sub-editors.

  • Contribute

    Got something to say? Submit an essay.


 The National Forum   Donate   Your Account   On Line Opinion   Forum   Blogs   Polling   About   
On Line Opinion logo ON LINE OPINION - Australia's e-journal of social and political debate

Subscribe!
Subscribe





On Line Opinion is a not-for-profit publication and relies on the generosity of its sponsors, editors and contributors. If you would like to help, contact us.
___________

Syndicate
RSS/XML


RSS 2.0

Australia’s own weapon of terror

By Wanda Fish - posted Friday, 5 August 2005


It is only one who is thoroughly acquainted with the evils of war that can thoroughly understand the profitable way of carrying it on. Sun Tzu, The Art of War

In the wake of the London bombings and angry condemnation of terrorism, the Australian invention of the world’s deadliest gun will be used as a weapon of ultimate terror by countries that claim to fight terrorism.

Metal Storm, an Australian company whose shares have recently skyrocketed on the stock exchange, has developed a robotised killing machine capable of firing more than one million rounds a minute - enough to shred an entire building in the blink of an eye. The potential applications, being developed with the US Department of Defense, Boeing, Lockheed and Dragonfly Pictures (aerial surveillance company), threaten to make the death and destruction caused by terrorists a mere footnote in the killing of innocent civilians. Their stated intention is to deploy the lethal weapon in “hostile urban environments” and it has been reported in the mainstream media this deadly weapon will be used in Iraq.

Advertisement

Metal Storm technology, invented by a Brisbane grocer, is an electronically initiated, stacked projectile system, which removes the mechanical steps required to fire a conventional weapon. Effectively, the only parts that move in Metal Storm’s weapons are the projectiles contained within the barrels. Multiple projectiles are stacked in a barrel, each separated by a propellant load. The technology allows each projectile to be fired sequentially from the barrel.

Metal Storm’s fully-loaded barrel tubes are essentially serviceable weapons without the traditional ammunition feed, ejection system, breech opening or any other moving parts. Metal Storm barrels can be effectively grouped in multiple configurations to meet a diversity of deadly applications.

Working with the US Army and other weaponry and surveillance companies, Metal Storm’s terrifying force can be deployed on land, underwater, over water, and from the air with unmanned robots and helicopters that are remotely-controlled. Despite claims that Metal Storm’s work is shrouded in secrecy, the information is legally accessible on the Internet from the company’s own website, mainstream press reports, stock exchange information, and even in published Defense Review articles.

In one such posting, David Crane reported that Metal Storm had successfully completed a series of live-fire tests in front of senior personnel from the US Department of Defense using a 16-round prototype 40mm grenade launcher system, which was mounted to an unmanned ground vehicle. The Defense Review article also mentioned that an in-flight live-fire demonstration of an unmanned aerial vehicle did not receive clearance due to “operational restrictions”.

The test would have mounted the Metal Storm 40mm weapon onto an unmanned Dragonfly aerial vehicle that would essentially create an unmanned combat air vehicle, capable of hailing down a deadly arsenal of apocalyptic destruction. However, more recent announcements from Metal Storm’s CEO infer that a live test will be conducted before long, and that the aerial weaponry may be available for military application soon.

The development of this weapon creates a new and frightening application in the war on terror, where authorities encourage police to “shoot to kill” in urban environments. Metal Storm proudly boasts the technology can be used for “non-lethal” or lethal applications in “hostile urban environments”. The potential for civil authorities to control angry crowds of protestors with this weapon cannot be dismissed. Given the overwhelming response by millions of anti-war protestors prior to the invasion of Iraq, it seems only logical that governments are keen to find new and more effective means of crowd dispersal, particularly if pre-emptive invasions of nation states continue.

Advertisement

But it is the wartime applications that are most disturbing. With Metal Storm’s technology, soldiers can remain safely behind the front line while the Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV) uses sensors and targeting capabilities to attack hostile urban areas. This development could be the turning point in the Iraq occupation, which has been tainted for the dwindling number of American pro-war supporters by the deaths of more than 2,000 soldiers and more than 100,000 innocent civilians.

Now, thanks to the brainchild of an Australian former grocer, the surviving Iraqi civilians face the terrible spectre of a robot that can devastate every living creature in a hailstorm of more than one million bullets a minute. While the Iraqi death toll has the potential to mount to tsunami proportions, American soldiers can “safely” annihilate entire urban populations without personal risk. Metal Storm’s UGVs will be able to penetrate resistance pockets, such as Fallujah, and indiscriminately kill every man, woman, child and animal in a storm of lethal bullets.

“Integrating Metal Storm’s electronic weapon system with small, lightweight UAV helicopters will enable them, for the first time, to undertake small scale strikes to support ground troops by day or night, escort convoys, clear roads and retaliate against mobile, man-launched ordnance such as those used in Iraq recently,” said Mike O’Dwyer, the inventor of this formidable death machine, which has become the world’s only known fully-electronic ballistics system. In the time you have taken to read this, Metal Storm’s super “gun” can have fired several million bullets.

  1. Pages:
  2. Page 1
  3. 2
  4. All

Article edited by Daniel Macpherson.
If you'd like to be a volunteer editor too, click here.



Discuss in our Forums

See what other readers are saying about this article!

Click here to read & post comments.

23 posts so far.

Share this:
reddit this reddit thisbookmark with del.icio.us Del.icio.usdigg thisseed newsvineSeed NewsvineStumbleUpon StumbleUponsubmit to propellerkwoff it

About the Author

Wanda Fish is a freelance writer who lives in New South Wales.

Other articles by this Author

All articles by Wanda Fish

Creative Commons LicenseThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

Article Tools
Comment 23 comments
Print Printable version
Subscribe Subscribe
Email Email a friend
Advertisement

About Us Search Discuss Feedback Legals Privacy