For three bullets to leave the barrel in one shot takes 1/500th of a second--an equivalent of 60,000 rounds per minute. Keeping this in mind, O'Dwyer has taken the notion of in-line stacking to even greater heights. New applications of Metal Storm technology include a successfully tested 6-barrel 9mm system that fires at a rate of 240,000 rounds per minute and a 36-barrel prototype that fired a burst of 180 rounds at a rate of more than one million rounds per minute. But it's not just 9mm weapons being tested. Both 40mm grenade launcher prototypes and 60mm mortar rounds have been fired at similar rates.

SO ADVANCED is the technology that Zink says he isn't worried about possible competition. Indeed, the official "vision statement" of Metal Storm refers not to "next-generation" but rather "generation-after-next" defense systems for Australia's armed forces as well as the United States "to enhance national security." The company's chief concern is to make sure the technology is safeguarded from "potential enemies."