I came across a piece of data that left me speechless: in China, a weapon, Metal Storm, has been announced that is capable of shooting 450.000 shots per minute. To give you an idea, It's like concentrating the fire of 100 tanks into a single gun. Firepower so devastating that it can even intercept hypersonic missiles traveling at Mach 7.
When firepower surpasses imagination
I confess that I have a hard time believing the numbers of the Metal Storm. I mean, I'm not a military expert, but even for a layman a weapon system that fires with 5 cannons at the same time, generating a firepower, the data is astonishing. To give you an idea: America's most powerful weapons system fires 4.500 rounds per minute. The Metal Storm fires 100 times more. A difference so huge I can hardly fathom it.
But what I find most surprising is its practical purpose: to intercept the hypersonic missiles. The immediacy (the result of an “electronic trigger” that eliminates all physical contact and fires in 17,5 microseconds. It’s such a short time that our brains can’t even process it) and the density of the fire literally create a wall of bullets capable of knocking down objects traveling at those speeds.
Metal Storm, it looks like a (bad) war movie
The genesis of Metal Storm is worthy of the old villains of 80's movies. Indeed: Years' 90, when an Australian inventor named Mike O'Dwyer had a crazy idea: to create a weapon with a firepower never seen before, capable of intercepting any missile.
Early 2000s, O'Dwyer built a prototype with 36 barrels that fired (I kid you not) 1 million rounds per minute. You can only imagine the interest this generated in militaries around the world.
In 2006, the Chinese People's Liberation Army offered O'Dwyer $100 million for his technology. But sometimes things don't go as planned, and the project was shelved due to technical problems. Until now, perhaps.
How Metal Storm Really Works
The “Chinese sauce” Metal Storm has been extremely simplified compared to the original idea. The weapon is like a large container with multiple interchangeable barrels, each pre-loaded with its own bullets.
When the ammo runs out, the entire container is replaced in an instant. It's like changing a printer cartridge, if you'll pardon the comparison. The trigger system, then, is something that seems to have come out of a science fiction movie: a series of coils that form an electronic trigger without any physical contact. A coilgun, if I wrote it correctly: this would be the technology that allows that absurd firing speed.
What does this mean for the future?
I can’t help but ponder the implications of such a weapon. The Metal Storm isn’t just an impressive technological demonstration; it’s a paradigm shift in missile defense. In a world where hypersonic missiles are becoming increasingly common, having a system capable of intercepting them is a huge strategic advantage.
I wonder how this would change the global military balance. China would have technology that would make many current weapons systems obsolete. It's like having an antivirus against a new generation of computer viruses.
But I have to admit, all of this worries me a little. Like any revolutionary military technology, the Metal Storm could trigger a new arms race. And history teaches us that these races they rarely end well.
