Originally Posted by rijruna

aaah Metalstorm,, brilliant concept & execution. An Aussie company that has a contract with the U.S. Navy for 'close support' to replace the 'vulcan'. Although the Vulcan is a great weapon, it doesnt even come close to what Metalstorm is capable of. AND,,, they make handguns too, & other sizes, based on the same principal. No longer using fulminate of mercury [or similar compounds] but an electric trigger. Ya,, i`ve know about them for a few years now & a good mate has shares in the company. Aussie Tech at the 'bleeding edge'. Well worth checking out if you have some spare cash btw. Some interesting vids if your interested.
http://www.metalstorm.com/

cheers
rij

Originally Posted by 74_XB_Ute

Not many tank operators will be too happy to hear a few of these bad boys floating around in the sky!!

A-10 Gun Pack

http://www.racephotography.com.au/forumpics/a169.jpg


A-10 with a burst from the Gun Pack
http://www.racephotography.com.au/forumpics/a170.jpg

Originally Posted by http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ac/equip/gau-8.htm

GAU-8 Avenger
The AN/GAU-8 30mm Avenger seven-barrel gatling gun, mounted only on the A-10 attack jet, is a 30mm, 7 barrel gattling gun used primarily in the air to ground role as a soft target killer and tank buster. This aircraft is used for close-air support in attacking ground threats such as armored tanks and vehicles, and also serves as a forward air control observer for sighting ground threats and directing air strikes against enemy targets. The gun, mounted in the fuselage nose of the A/OA-10 Thunderbolt, is produced by [ex General Electric] Martin Marietta Armament Systems.
According to some sources, the GAU-8 fires 1,800 rounds per minute, with the higher 4200 rd/min rate having been deleted in the 1980s. However, the A-10 can only fire in high rate, which is 3900 rounds per minute. Low rate went out with the use of the batelle gas diverting device, and although the A-10 no longer uses the batelle device, the limit on high rate only has remained, since it made no tactical sense to fire in low rate and have to spend that much more time on final to get the same number of rounds on target.


The gun fires a mix of both high explosive incendiary (HEI) and armored piercing incendiary (API) ammunition. The PGU-13/B HEI High Explosive Incendiary round employs a standard M505 fuze and explosive mixture with a body of naturally fragmenting material that is effective against lighter vehicle and material targets. The PGU-14/B API Armor Piercing Incendiary round has a lightweight body which contains a sub-calibre high density penetrator of Depleted Uranium (DU). In addition to its penetrating capability DU is a natural pyrophoric material which enhances the incendiary effects. The PGU-15/B TP Target Practice projectile simulates the exterior ballistics and provides a ballistic match to the HEI round and is used for pilot training.
A typical combat load for the GAU-8 would include 1,100 rounds of 30mm high explosive or armor piercing ammunition. The 30mm API is mixed with 30mm High Explosive Incendiary (HEI) at the factory and is called Combat Mix Ammunition. The ratio of API to HEI rounds in the Combat Mix is 4:1. Combat mix is a sequential mixture of DU and HEI rounds in which 1 HEI round followed by 4 DU rounds are fired by the AN/GAU-8 gatling gun. DU is the primary munition for the A/OA-10 in a combat environment.


Depleted uranium results from the enriching of natural uranium for use in nuclear reactors. Natural uranium is a slightly radioactive metal that is present in most rocks and soils as well as in many rivers and sea water. Natural uranium consists primarily of a mixture of two isotopes (forms) of uranium, Uranium-235 (U235) and Uranium-238 (U238), in the proportion of about 0.7 and 99.3 percent, respectively. Nuclear reactors require U235 to produce energy, therefore, the natural uranium has to be enriched to obtain the isotope U235 by removing a large part of the U238. Uranium-238 becomes DU, which is 0.7 times as radioactive as natural uranium. . Since DU has a half-life of 4.5 billion years, there is very little decay of those DU materials. When manufactured as 30mm rounds, each DU projectile contains approximately 4,650 grains [0.66 pounds (lbs)] of extruded DU, alloyed with 0.75 weight percent titanium. The projectile is encased in a 0.8 mm-thick aluminum shell as the final DU round.
During Operation DESERT STORM the Air Force fired 30mm Armor Piercing Incendiary (API) munitions using a depleted uranium [DU] penetrator slug from the GAU-8 Gatling gun mounted on the A-10 Aircraft. The 148 A-10s that deployed to Saudi Arabia flew 8,077 combat sorties. The Air Force fired a total of 783,514 rounds of 30mm API in the Gulf War. Since each round contains approximately 0.66 pounds of DU, the Air Force expended a total of 259 tons of DU in the Gulf. The armor-piercing capability of the DU projectiles fired from A/OA-10s proved exceptionally effective in countering threats from the Iraqi tanks so that a successful ground offensive could then be achieved.


At times 30mm DU rounds misfire in the A-10’s GAU-8 cannon. These "hangfires" have to be cleared and removed from the gun barrel, potentially exposing ground crews to airborne DU. Technical data available to maitenance crews does not provide an accurate means for determining the status of rounds in an unsafe/jammed gun, and revisions are in progress.

Originally Posted by XR6TUte

There's 8 different gears available when you drive it regardless of the box configuration.

We'll agree to disagree. :evill

Heap of junk gearbox anyway. I've lost count of the number I've replaced/repaired over the years.

Originally Posted by geckoGT

Unimog actually has 8 gears, 4 of which are low range so during normal road driving you take off in 5th (4th if up a hill or heavily loaded). It is true they and a seperate reverse gear that once engaged gives all the same ratios in reverse as they have in forward.

Top speed due to the low ratios (8th is not real high) is about 80-90 km/h and a strange little quirk is you can get more speed out of them on a highway if you use the hand throttle.

They are primarily RWD with selectable 4WD that gives a 50/50 torque split, they also have diff lock which locks both diffs and the transfer case solid for crawling up or through just about anything.

Australian unimog were an excellent vehicle although their cross country capability were limited by the tyres fitted. The australian army was too tight to spend the cash on the drive on flat balloon tyres that were originally fitted. Instead they fitted a more conventional cross country truck tyre similar to what was fitted to the Mack R series that we also had.

Originally Posted by SantoAU (Post 4862142)

Many moons ago I was in the RAAF. Had the opportunity to close and personal with a few bits and pieces. Took these shots at RAAF Base Pearce Open Day 2006

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USAF B-1B, flown in from Guam as the star attraction

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Royal Singapore Air Force F-16

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My baby - RAAF 79SQN BAe Hawk 127LIF. This one had a bad habit of not starting when the temperature got above 29 degrees.

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The business end of a RAAF 1SQN F-111C. My favourite of all time

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RAAF 75SQN F/A-18A Hornet, painted in special 20th anniversary colour scheme

Originally Posted by mik (Post 4867645)

Great pics mate, yes F111 is my favorite jet too, still one of the sexiest looking jets even today imo.

Originally Posted by GasOLane (Post 4867836)

I remember when they first came out.

The joke going around at the time was if you wanted an F111 just buy a block of land and wait for one to fall in. :)

Originally Posted by SantoAU (Post 4862142)

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USAF B-1B, flown in from Guam as the star attraction