120,000 rounds per minute

[Lazy D]

Imagin this, no heat, no recoil, no sound, no gunpowder, no flash -- just 120,000 rounds
per minute of pulverizing power. The next generation of weapons systems has
arrived: the DREAD centrifuge-powered weapon system.

Imagine a gun with no recoil, no sound, no heat, no gunpowder, no visible
firing signature (muzzle flash), and no stoppages or jams of any kind. Now
imagine that this gun could fire .308 caliber and .50 caliber metal
projectiles accurately at up to 8,000 fps (feet-per-second), featured an
infinitely variable/programmable cyclic rate-of-fire (as high as 120,000
rounds-per-minute), and were capable of laying down a 360-degree field of fire.

http://www.military.com/soldiertech/...soldiertech.nl

[625]

That looks amazing!
The article does leave me asking questions, though. If this thing could fire projectiles at up to 8,000 fps, how fast would that centrifuge have to spin? How could something that spins that ridiculously fast, not build up any heat?
Amazing, but I'm a bit skeptical without more info.

[Lazy D]

I think it is more Sci-Fi than anything. If it materialized I'd sure like to shoot the sucker.

[Jim Watson]

Anytime anybody says "no recoil" about any projectile weapon but a rocket, I get VERY suspicious about the rest of his claims. A two-foot diameter rotor (About the maximum you could get in that 32 inch housing with the wall thickness needed to direct the shot and protect the gunner against a fragmented rotor.) launching a shot at 8000 fps would have to be turning 76,000 rpm minimum.

[Handy]

I'm curious how you'd be able to manuever something with that much gyroscopic force.

[3 weelin geezer]

What about being able to shoot 360 deg.? Whats the point? I sure wouldnt want my gun killing me. Btw, that thing reminds me of that gun I used to have that shot foam disks when I was a kid. Why does it state a caliber anyways if it can shoot in any direction I don't see how it could have a barrel as we know it. I figger it operates like a cotton candy maker. Even if it does employ a barrel, how could anyone actually carry all that lead (in .308) to keep it fed for even one minute? How would they be fed into the gun? That thing looks more like a model of the USS RELIANT from 'the wrath of khan' movie.

[grey_pilgrim]

Even if they made that thing battlefield ready,
I don't know how the range and acurracy would be on that thing , and thats the main problem i have with this weapons system.

The DREAD won't jam because, according to its inventor, it can't jam. The DREAD's operating and feeding mechanisms simply don't allow for stoppages or jams to occur. It thus follows that the DREAD Centrifuge Weapon will be the most reliable metallic projectile launcher/ballistic device on the planet.

And reliability is just about feeding problems and jams. I'd like to see how it works in a sandstorm, or after it's been saturated with driving rain or sleet.

to communicate over his own weapon's firing report. And, since the gun doesn't generate any muzzle flash or heat (it's heatless and frictionless, remember?)S

Frictionless?? You're moving metal balls at over 8000 fps. In order to do that, there has to be contact somewhere.



I'm rather skeptical. And the fact that it's called DREAD doesn't help.

[Stiletto]

I do kind of buy the recoilless part; it would vibrate more than kick as it launched things. (Think of it like a sling, not a gun. Forces are applied in acceleration, but not release.)

And yeah, it seems like it would be extremely vulnerable to damage and dirt.

[Trapp]

Ya'll are a bunch of damn pessimists.......I would like to get my hands on one just for the hell of it!

[Wraith]

JHC.

Does anyone realize what rounds 1/32 of an inch apart are? A SOLID STREAM OF DEATH. 8,000 fps?

I think I have to go sit down somewhere.

[Lazy D]

Jim, You thinking way too much brother. I kinda figured it was so insignificant, it's more of a novalty concept.

[Double Naught Spy]

Okay, well most of the hype is false. It is not silent, jam-proof, and there will be considerable heat building up when you are slinging ball bearings out at that rate. Moreover, it is going to be on a large motorized platform. The centerfuge will be very loud. With projectiles per second breaking the sound barrier, you can darned will believe it is going to make a lot of noise.

It can't jam? So it is going to work every time, perfectly, such as all the feeding mechanisms always work, the centerfuge always works, etc.?

The M16 was self cleaning, as I recall. Uh-huh, sure. And Glenda the good witch married Santa Claus.

[-RotorDemon-]

Need a $200 stamp for that? it isn't a firearm, it just flings mini golf balls.

[LHB1]

This magical new weapon "can't jam" and "is frictionless"??? Kinda reminds me of the story about the guy who got on a fully automated airplane and heard "There is no pilot on this airplane. The computer controls everything. But don't worry because nothing can go wrong, can go wrong, can go wrong, can go wrong, ..."

Good shooting and be safe.
LB

[Crosshair]

Having seen lab grade centrifuge in use, I have to call BS. The torque on that gun would be extreme. The power requirements would be impossible. and the slightest speck on any part of the rotor would cause it to vibrate to destruction. I remember asking if the frame of the centrifuge fould stop anything if the rotor failed. She laughed and said that it is near impossible to stop anything moving that fast. That's why tolerances are so high and inspections are performed on the equipment daily.

[Selfdfenz]

Crosshair nailed it.

I too have used ultra centrifuges that ran to 75k and above.
(1) They use some fairly exotic systems to achieve that speed, Diffusion pumps/turbine drives etc
(2) Rotors were titanium and had to be derated over time due to the stresses placed on them or they would shatter.
(3) The inside to the chamber is surrounded by armor plating and the unit weighs hundreds of pounds. The armor belt is there for a reason

Before samples tubes can be placed in the rotor they must be carefully weighed on a lab balance and a darn good one to assure samples across from each other weigh the same. If not, it super stresses the head which could fail, so kiss of 300K.

And these folks would have us believe they have designed a system which by its very nature is constanly un-balancing the rotor (ball carrier) as it slings of balls. Even if it ejected balls from opposing sides in a constant attempt to re-balance, the stresses on something typing to be a gyroscope at 75K rpm would be amazing.

I could be wrong but I don't thinks so.

Didn't the Australians invent a weapon with multiple barrels each holding a stack of rounds that fired successively to achive high rounds per minute?
I know someone did but I have heard no news it was very embraced or deployed.

S-

[Freeman25]

how does it work? I mean 360 deg.? what size could it have?

[jonathon]

Sounds like what people have been workin on for years; rail guns, gauss guns, etc.

[Stiletto]

Well, not really.

The DREAD operates like a big-ass sling; ever tie a string to a rock, whip it around really fast, and then let go? DREAD's like that.

[novus collectus]

Didn't the Australians invent a weapon with multiple barrels each holding a stack of rounds that fired successively to achive high rounds per minute?

Google O'Dwyer or Metal Storm and you will find the company website with video of the 1,000,000 round per minute gun in action. I could not find anything about the latest developements or applications when I last looked though, but I have read about the projects they are planning on using it for. Like a mortar system, or a replacement for the Phalanx anti missle system currently used on Navy ships.

[Stiletto]

Well, not really.

The DREAD operates like a big-ass sling; ever tie a string to a rock, whip it around really fast, and then let go? DREAD's like that.

[Steve499]

Unless Newton's third law has been repealed, there has to be recoil.

Spherical ballistics being what they are, how far could that 3000 f.p.s. ball really go before it slows to a trot?

[novus collectus]

Spherical ballistics being what they are, how far could that 3000 f.p.s. ball really go before it slows to a trot?

The claim is 8,000 fps, but that doesn't sound feasible either IMO.

[-RotorDemon-]

Here we go.. put blades on the centrifuge and launch it like a frisbee.

[BigBoreKindaGuy]

The Roswell Throwswell - the next (figuratively speaking) Bradley Fighting Vehicle.