Metal Storm announces that it has conducted initial test firings of High Explosive ammunition at Picatinny Arsenal in New Jersey in conjunction with the US Army's Armament Research Development and Engineering Centre (ARDEC).The ammunition tested was a prototype High Explosive 40mm grenade assembly which is being developed by Metal Storm and ARDEC engineers under a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) which was signed in September 2005. The development work and test firings are the initial phase of a project which ultimately plans to take existing certified munitions from the US Army inventory and convert them to Metal Storm configuration. This will enable firing by electronic initiation from Metal Storm launching systems.
David Smith, Metal Storm's CEO, said "This initial test firing of High Explosive munitions developed in conjunction with ARDEC sets in place the platform from which we aim to build a range of munitions utilising existing US certified warheads and components."
"This will complement the munitions development program we are currently engaged in with ST Kinetics in Singapore which produced the successful test-firing of High Explosive, Enhanced Blast and Air Burst munitions last month." he said.
"Our strategy is to take commercially available off-the-shelf munitions that have been certified for military use and convert them to Metal Storm configuration, thereby minimising the time and cost required to have munitions certified by the military for use with our weapons. This should also ensure our products match the customers established requirements" he said.
Further test firings and the trialling of different munition designs with ARDEC are ongoing as part of the munitions development program. Demonstration firings are planned for the second quarter of 2006, with the timing dependant on the availability of demonstration range facilities and sufficient quantities of ammunition.