Metal Storm Robot Will Demostrate Urban Warfare Capabilites For DARPA

"Metal Storm announced today that DARPA, the central research and development organization for the US Department of Defense, has selected the company's proposal titled 'Metal Storm Weapons for Urban Environments' for a contract award, subject to successful completion of contract negotiations.
This DARPA project is designed to provide a feasibility demonstration of a Metal Storm weapon mounted on an Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV) in direct support of troops in military operations in urban terrain (MOUT) scenarios."




www.spacedaily.com...

How soon can we get these weapons on line. We will need them for Iran.

Why, pray tell, do we need a bunch of little R2-D2 tube launchers rolling around Iran? And, a related question, don't you think the Iranians would object to an operational capability test of our offensive weapon on their sovereign soil? And, begging pardon, one final query, if Iran minds, don't you think Russia might mind also?
The cold war has become the lukewarm war, but Russia is still a very large, very sleepy, but nonetheless dangerous bear. I think we should back out of it's cave very slowly, making sure not to trip on any arab states on our way out.

Originally posted by WyrdeOne
Why, pray tell, do we need a bunch of little R2-D2 tube launchers rolling around Iran? And, a related question, don't you think the Iranians would object to an operational capability test of our offensive weapon on their sovereign soil? And, begging pardon, one final query, if Iran minds, don't you think Russia might mind also?
The cold war has become the lukewarm war, but Russia is still a very large, very sleepy, but nonetheless dangerous bear. I think we should back out of it's cave very slowly, making sure not to trip on any arab states on our way out.

More machines to kill terrorist is less US losses. (k?)

Yeah, machines save lives. However, America has reached a point in its history where we cannot hope to spend other nations into the ground. I love the idea of a mechanized war machine, I love the idea of mechanized production capabilities, I really love the ideas of a bloodless war and an "easy" victory over terror, but I don't think a remote control MRL is going to fulfill any of those fantasies. It's a nifty step towards the army of the future, but you still have to deploy the assets, and their support element, which is a very big challenge given the geography of Iran. One also has to consider the lack of working inteligence about Iran. The number of assets on the ground in that country is slim to none (US Agents that is). Also, on the larger topic of Iran itself, would it be wise, do you think, to pick a fight with the most influential arab state in the world? Not unless somebody is trying to start a wide spread nuclear war. I mean, we've been engaged in covert nuclear exchanges since the 80's, but outright nuclear war? Nobody in their right mind wants that.

Please explain that one. What nuclear exchanges?

Next, we have very good intel on Iran. Go to GlobalSecurity.

This little toy I posted is cheap. It does not replace ground forces but enhances their safety.

google Joe Vials and check out his sight. There is a lot of good, referenced material there concerning the Micro Nukes being used, tit for tat, in the fight for global control.
When I say Intel I'm talking about assets on the ground. Actual human beings with eyes and ears and minds, who know the country like they know their own minds. We need, in order to "prosecute" a war effectively, a large amount of human inteligence. Where are the targets of relevance this minute, next minute? Where are the sights of interest (Not just visible, but hidden ones also)? What is their command and control structure?
We had it easy in Iraq, there were (and still are) a bunch of rival factions selling each other out, along with a large group of dissidents who, in exchange for US favors, provided useful, relevant information on the infrastructure and asset deployments of Saddams army.
One major hurdle the US has yet to overcome (Since Gulf War I!) is the lack of arabic speaking inteligence screeners and interogators. There are enough different dialects spoken in the middle east to make it a headache for any army, except possibly the Israeli. Imagine a New York courtroom, there are thirty seven cases on the docket, each defendant speaks a different language, all the cases are taking place simultaneously, and mistranslations are deadly, possibly catastrophic. Go! Heh. Not my kind of game, y'know?

If it means any thing I really do hope this does not turn out to be a worthless pice of junk, as many of our weapon systems have been. But I just think it is also interesting to note that this particuler one is comeing from Australia.