dr lee j finniear... now/next/after next, page-6

If management are doing their best then perhaps the task is beyond them. Sure there has been progress but it seems to be continually down dead end streets only to back up and start a different project. Surely we should have a finished product by now! The patents will run out before we get a weapon to production, but that's ok well just start building something with a new patent so that we have more time.

Its been four years for 3GL, (FEB 2006 The 3GL grenade launcher which is also being shown at the Asian Aerospace and Defence Technologies Exhibition in Singapore this week is a concept weapon designed to compete with the M203 grenade launcher currently in wide use by law enforcement agencies and military forces around the world).

And three years for Maul (Metal Storm has completed the Detailed Design Phase for the USMC 18mm Grenade Launcher prototype system. A Critical Design Review scheduled for March, 5th, 2007 where it is expected that the Government will ratify the Metal Storm design and fabrication of the first two prototypes will commence. When was the successful test bench firing of that one was it November 2007?)

How many man hours?


When I see the announcement made that MST has started a limited production run on a product Ill start to believe again.

Lets say that we want a hundred of these items ready for sale so that there is a quantity ready for real testing not three hand built concept demonstrators.

Manufacturing companies would have to tool up, beyond the hand machined products we have now, which is a pretty big ask in itself, financially and technically.

This means commitment to a product, a finished product, the item that will be for sale, well call it a maul shall we.

Basically the ammo tube you stick in the end is the product, STK should be making these for us. Yes? Is it ready to go?

As for the rest of it all the different mfg's must be supplied with the files for manufacturing Cad/Cam files for tooling. Production materials must be specified to Military spec, in this case several military specs' as we have no procurement order from any single defence force.

Everything must be specified down to the solder used to mount the components on the circuit board. Companies must be sourced that have the necessary standards rating to supply materials/components to include, and these materials/components specified for production of the sub assemblies. All of this well before the units can be put through final assembly.

This isn't like being in the MST workshop and saying to Joe can you shave a couple of extra thou off that trigger switch it still sticks. Every purchased or manufactured component must be of acceptable standard for Military spec, so that there is an audit trail for failure, there must be a serviceable life for the product everything must meet or exceed the necessary specification. Even the soldering must be inspected and/or tested to the NASA standard terminations for military equipment.

Any way once this is all done and we have a hundred of these little rippers stored ready to go, in the secure armoury, the marines or whoever will actually get serious about testing these weapons.

They will not test them until there is a finished product ready for testing! There is No point in them testing endless prototypes! Sure they'll always look at concepts and get them out for demonstrations. But they wont test a weapon till it is a finished product.

They'll buy 30 or so of them (every one here will be terribly excited) and they will really test them regardless of what sort of testing we think has been done, they'll be ground into the dirt, frozen, thawed, boiled, impact tested and even destruction tested. There is a pretty good release here on the basic outline of testing this one was for the failed dragon skin armour it will be a little different for a weapon, however you'll get the general idea.

http://www.militarytimes.com/static/projects/pages/dragon_skin_release_000121may07.pdf

Now if we pass probably some twelve months after that, when the paper work has gone through and all the evaluation committees both military and government have been through their mass debating, we may get a volume order for another hundred for field testing in theatre.

Eventually we may see in five or six years a full blown production order for a few thousand. Go Team! (When do the patents run out?)

Now multiply this effort by however many products you want. Of course after the first one it becomes easier, but we still have to get the first one. If we are further along the path than I think great!

I do not believe management of MST is being clear or has been clear to share holders on where we are in the progress of products or progress of our company. At the moment we have only hand built concept demonstrators, that's all! And management are not communicating any viable time lines to the market of where we are in real terms of progress towards manufacture of a finished product.

The design is great! Fantastic! But how close to a finished product are we? No one can answer that because we haven't been told. Either management don't know or its so far off they don't want to spook the market to death. They feel more comfortable with decade long speculation.

colour it however you like we are being deceived.