mpm-nlws

I am very Peed off with the latest announcement of an equity investor taking one very large slice of metalstorm, not so much about the equity position and the dilution it would cause which we all knew would come with it, but the part that really gets up my nose is the lack of transparency with this company, it has to be someone who the Governments of both the US and Oz would be happy with, there is no doubt about that, and I very much doubt that it would be from someone with a country of origin that didn't conform with what the US and Oz saw as being fit!

I wrote an email to Lee last week telling him how I felt about this deal, he told me that he was unhappy with how it was misreported in the papers? not sure just what he mean't by that? but the way he spoke it did sound as if he knew who this entity really were, he told me that he will pass on my feelings about the lack of transparency and he would ask if they could explain further before we vote on the deal? but he also said it was at their discression to take such action, it would be purely their decision!


This is a little dated but this reporter seems to be coming around to the metalstorm weapons idea, at one point she totally bagged it?


Nonlethal Crowd Control
By Sharon Weinberger January 11, 2008
Imagine if the military could incapacitate an entire crowd of people with a
nonlethal weapon mounted on a Humvee. That's what the Marine Corps hopes to do
with its Mission Payload Module Non-Lethal Weapons System (MPM-NLWS):

The MPM-NLWS will provide a Joint warfighting capability that delivers
counter personnel non-lethal effects applicable to controlling crowds,
denying/defending areas, controlling access and engaging threats while
providing increased standoff distance for protection of friendly forces. These
non-lethal effects will enable friendly forces the following capabilities:
deny, disrupt and/or canalize enemy movements and maneuvers; Deny enemy access
to terrain or facilities; Enhance friendly force weapons, obstacles, and
munitions effects; Generate exploitable delays and opportunities; Produce
desired effects on enemy forces (non-lethal); and reduce causalities and risks
to the U.S. and allied forces. The MPM-NLWS will be designed to operate in all
operating environments and is well suited for asymmetric warfare, urban
environments, maritime security, homeland defense and decisive combat
engagements.

I.B System Description

The MPM-NLWS is a non-lethal weapon system that is explicitly designed and
primarily employed so as to incapacitate with a high probability of infliction
to personnel positioned within the targeted area, while maintaining a low
probability of permanent injury. The MPM-NLWS is envisioned, but not
conclusive, to be a tube launched munitions system that delivers a volume of
fire to affect a targeted area; however, other non-kinetic non-lethal
technologies (payloads) are known and may be available that could adequately
satisfy the desired performance parameters and system attributes identified in
the MPM-NLWS Performance Specification.

As the pictures above shows, it's a Humvee (or Humvee-replacement) mounted
system, although the draft solicitation says that future versions may go on
unmanned ground systems or naval vessels (which would have made the recent
confrontation with Iran pretty interesting). It's worthwhile to note that one
of the lead candidates for the delivery system is Metal Storm (of "million
rounds a minute" fame) While I've often ridiculed questioned Metal Storm's
market strategy (i.e. convincing shareholders that Metal Storm is the next
sliced bread), I do believe the technology may have some very decent niche
capabilities, like this one.

http://blog.wired.com/defense/2008/01/nonlethal-crowd.html