MST metal storm limited

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    http://investor.metalstorm.com.au/irm/Company/ShowPage.aspx?

    CACN 064 270 006
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    CEO Bulletin
    Brisbane, Australia – 18 August 2008: Metal Storm Limited (ASX trading code: MST, OTC Symbol:
    MTSXY).
    In this CEO Bulletin I provide a direct update on Company progress in its main development projects.
    Future updates will be either in the form of a CEO Bulletin or a Corporate File Open Briefing.
    Metal Storm is continuing its focused research and development effort toward a single goal – delivering
    Metal Storm weapons and ammunition to the market that are qualified safe and durable so that military
    customers can buy them.
    We are well advanced on several key, interlinked projects that are designed to deliver this outcome. I will
    describe each of these below, together with achievements, progress and expectations.
    Ammunition Project
    The common factor for all our low velocity 40mm weapon systems will be the ammunition they fire. The
    primary goal of the ammunition project is to produce safe yet lethal ammunition that performs well in its
    ballistics and can be mass produced at a competitive cost.
    The current project focuses on the completion of a Metal Storm 40mm adaptor tail that can be fitted to
    conventional low velocity 40mm warheads, converting them for use with Metal Storm weapons. This will
    allow us to exploit the many 40mm warhead natures already available in the market without extensive requalification.
    For the qualification of the first ammunition nature, the warhead and tail combination must endure
    extensive environmental, performance and durability testing before it will be accepted for use by military
    forces around the world.
    The ammunition project has a goal of completing qualification testing for transportation and man-firing by
    the end of this calendar year. It is a project that is receiving a majority of our engineering investment, as
    ammunition is essential for any and all weapons systems the Company may deliver.
    Over the past few months the project team has completed the overall ammunition design and produced
    two slight variants which are concurrently being taken through pre-qualification testing to see which
    performs better for the lowest manufacturing cost.
    Earlier this year the project team completed proof guns and fire control systems capable of measuring
    time to barrel exit, muzzle velocity and instantaneous pressure readings between each round in the stack
    as rounds are progressively fired from the weapon. With this extensive data available a well disciplined
    approach to ammunition design optimization has been possible.
    The proof guns have been designed to be capable of taking a stack of six rounds rather than four. If
    current testing on six round stacks is successful, the instantaneous firepower to weight ratio of each Metal
    Storm weapon system could be further increased by up to 50%.
    The team has completed several significant pre-qualification test programs including firing stacks of 3
    rounds at extremely low and extremely high temperatures, firing stacks at a range of 200 metres to
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    examine longer range flight ballistics, plus electromagnetic interference testing and a range of durability
    tests.
    Systems Safety Plan documentation is a massive but essential part of each project currently underway.
    The Company has commissioned Qinetiq, the highly respected UK Defence firm to guide our team to
    produce System Safety Plans of a standard acceptable to military forces worldwide.
    We expect to lock off the final preferred design of the 40mm Metal Storm ammunition in time for
    qualification testing that is scheduled for the fourth quarter.
    In parallel with the primary ammunition project, the Company also continues its research and development
    of less lethal ammunition. Spearheaded by the Metal Storm Inc (MSI) engineering team with respected
    industry partners, a number of less lethal munitions are currently in development, including sponge rounds
    and chemical payload rounds.
    3GL Project
    The goal of the 3GL project is to deliver a lightweight hand held 3 shot grenade launcher that can be used
    stand-alone or under-slung on an assault rifle, and qualify it safe for man-firing.
    A fully functional 3GL concept prototype was demonstrated in June 2007. Since then the weapon has
    been subjected to extensive re-design and testing to improve its durability, ballistic properties, increase
    speed of loading and unloading, reduce manufacturing costs and improve its overall ergonomics and user
    interface.
    The team has built 6 versions of the weapon over the last 12 months, and these have supported
    approximately 300 test firings.
    Ergonomic grip and user interface design has been a significant effort for the team. For example, a
    compact version with a short pistol grip and recessed LED indicators replacing the screen display (shown
    below) will be exhibited alongside the existing design at AUSA in October.
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    Having completed a range of pre-qualification testing, the 3GL team expects to complete final design lockoff
    by October. Several weapons will then be built to this design and qualified in two phases. The first
    phase will qualify the weapon for safe man-firing using inert rounds and is scheduled to be completed in
    parallel with the ammunition qualification. The second phase requires the use of qualified ammunition,
    and will therefore be undertaken early in 2009 as soon as the ammunition completes its qualification
    process.
    The Company intends to build several “spare” 3GL weapons in the same batch as the qualification
    weapons so demonstrations can be carried out in parallel to the qualification initiative.
    Multi-Barrel Project.
    Formerly known as the Redback project, the Multi-Barrel project incorporates many of the original
    objectives of Redback, but extends them substantially. The overall project goal is to create modular “plug
    n play” Metal Storm barrels, fire control systems and sensor interfaces that can be networked together in
    extensible configurations.
    At this stage is inappropriate to release specific details, however, the intended development will make the
    deployment and control of an extended network of Metal Storm weapons systems with varying barrel
    configurations a powerful and simple task.
    The above innovations will be applied to both Redback and FireStorm weapons systems as each weapon
    continues on its development path.
    FireStorm Project
    FireStorm is a combined mount, sighting system and 4
    barrel, 16 shot grenade launcher developed by Metal
    Storm.
    Since its introduction last year FireStorm has been a
    platform used to deliver the US Army Crowd Control SBIR
    Contract demonstration, and is the platform used for
    40mm less lethal munitions development by the MSI
    engineering team
    Recent advances to the system have been the inclusion of
    a Metal Storm camera sighting system and laser
    rangefinder. In its less lethal configuration the Company
    has also integrated a laser dazzler onto the FireStorm pod
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    to provide an additional response alternative during crowd control operations.
    FireStorm is currently being prepared for the less lethal firing demonstrations for the US Marine Corps in
    September.
    Firestorm (left) firing less lethal chemical
    payload rounds in a test shoot on 15th August.
    MAUL Project
    The first phases of the project to deliver under the contract with the Office of Naval Research are currently
    underway. Further reports will be provided as the project proceeds.
    IP Protection Project
    Metal Storm has amassed a large patent portfolio with 213 patents granted and 137 patents pending
    throughout the world.
    Over a year ago the Company hired a full time, qualified IP Specialist to manage and improve its IP
    Portfolio. Managing legal fees, driving down costs whilst improving coverage has been a challenging but
    vital endeavour.
    Over the last few months a specific project has been established in the engineering team to focus on IP
    protection. The key goal is to ensure that the Company maximises the IP protection on its product
    designs before the products are released to the market.
    Work has been proceeding well and we are filing a range of patents and patent claims as a result of this
    project initiative.
    Conclusion
    This Bulletin has focused on the product development projects currently underway at Metal Storm. We
    expect that our weapons and ammunition will meet the qualification requirements set down in our test
    plans, and that we will be able to offer demonstrations to potential customers in the first half of 2009.
    Further updates on other aspects of Metal Storm business will follow in future Open Briefings and CEO
    Bulletins in the coming months.
    Lee Finniear
    18th August 2008.
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    NotesPID=1564
 
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