BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA (NASDAQ: MTSX).
Dear Shareholder,
I am currently in Singapore ensuring final arrangements are
complete for our exhibition at the Singapore Air Show. Singapore
Technologies Kinetics has kindly provided us with a significant
centrally located display area for 3GL and Redback(TM) within their
stand. The Redback(TM) mount will be operational in the display,
and the latest 3GLs mounted to assault rifles will be available for
examination by military and law enforcement personnel from around
the world. While here I am also finalising the arrangements for our
next live firings of 3GL which are planned for March.
It has been three months since I last updated investors on the
overall progress of the company so I would like to take this
opportunity to outline our many advances over this period.
Since the last Bulletin in November, the company has achieved a
number of milestones. Highlights have included:
-- A highly successful firing demonstration of less-lethal
munitions for crowd control witnessed by the US Army and law
enforcement agencies.
-- Further successful demonstrations of our MAUL 18mm weapon,
witnessed by the US Marines.
-- A contract from a major defence company to use our unique
technology as part of a larger program and;
-- Further confirmation from the US Navy of its intention to
place Metal Storm on a long-awaited contract for a 40mm remotely
operated weapons system.
I will expand on each of these below and also give you an update
on the development towards commercialisation of our 3GL grenade
launcher and progress with our Redback(TM) weapons system and
ammunition development.
SUCCESSFUL CROWD CONTROL DEMONSTRATION FIRING
The Company has a current contract with the US Army to prove its
capabilities in the area of less-lethal technology. In mid-December
we teamed with iRobot to provide a particularly effective
demonstration of how Metal Storm can be used in a crowd control
situation.
The demonstration was designed to display several technical
objectives which included the development of a family of
less-lethal munitions with smart-round features; development of an
electronic fire control system with targeting and ranging; the
acquisition of a man-machine interface; and the integration of the
entire system with an Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV). Metal Storm
met these objectives with an integrated weapon system that provides
the operator with several options when responding to a domestic or
Military Operations in Urban Terrain (MOUT) scenario.
For the demonstration Metal Storm integrated its own FireStorm 4
barrel 40mm remotely operated weapons system with the new iRobot
Warrior unmanned ground vehicle (UGV). The demonstration was held
at a law enforcement range in Washington, DC and attended by
representatives from ARDEC, the US Army, the Joint Non Lethal
Weapons Directorate and the Fairfax County, Virginia law
enforcement Civil Disturbance Unit.
The Army's Program Manager for Metal Storm's SBIR Contract
Richard Joliffe said he was impressed by the system's
potential.
"I was pleased to witness the successful demonstration of the
Metal Storm Crowd Control System," Mr. Joliffe said. "This
demonstration prepares the way for further development, refinement
and eventual commercialization of the Metal Storm Crowd Control
System."
Metal Storm sees the less-lethal arena as a significant growth
market and one that adapts well with the Metal Storm stacked-round
technology. The Metal Storm system can be used for riot/crowd
control, police actions or other situations where use of deadly
force is unwarranted.
Beyond Firestorm, the demonstration also proves that our 3GL,
Redback(TM) and Metal Storm custom configured weapon systems will
now be able to offer both lethal and less-lethal payloads, making
the weapons more versatile in the complexity of modern combat and
peacekeeping operations.
Video of the shoot will be released shortly.
SUCCESSFUL MAUL DEMONSTRATION
Metal Storm recently conducted a successful demonstration of its
18mm Multi-Shot Accessory Under-barrel Launcher (MAUL) weapon
system.
The outstanding result of the demonstration, which was conducted
in front of potential customers, is a further necessary step in the
progress being made to develop a family of weapons with strong
military interest.
The MAUL is designed to fit onto existing assault rifles as a
semi-automatic accessory weapon, enhancing firepower and capability
without the need to carry a separate gun.
This demonstration of capability was the last of a series of
tests spanning 12 months that were conducted for design
verification of the weapon on a test bench. The system will be
transferred to the US Military for further testing at a Government
test range.
The importance of this weapons program to Metal Storm should not
be underestimated. It effectively expands our potential to cover
both the 18mm and 40mm markets, the primary calibers used as
grenade launchers and support weapons to the warfighters'
conventional assault rifle.
The MAUL design can be seen on video at the following URL:
http://video-us.metalstorm.us/release/maul-animation-400k.html
NEW DEFENCE COMPANY CONTRACT
Metal Storm announced on 16 January, 2008 that it had been
awarded a contract by a major US defence company in relation to a
significant defence program.
The contract is valued at approximately USD$220,000 and the
company believes it has further potential in the longer term. MSI
is currently restricted under the contract from releasing any
further information. As soon as more information can be released,
the company will provide this to the market.
CONFIRMATION OF POTENTIAL US NAVY CONTRACT
Metal Storm Inc. has confirmed that a potential US Navy Space
& Warfare Centre (SPAWAR) contract for the production of one
anti-personnel unattended weapons pod system utilising Electronic
Ballistic Technology and one operator unit is still proceeding.
Metal Storm had advised the market on 17 November, 2006 of the
potential contract but following delays in awarding the contract a
number of shareholders had contacted the company with concerns that
it may have been cancelled. Metal Storm Inc has confirmed with the
SPAWAR Project Manager that SPAWAR still intends to take the
contract to award and completion.
Recent delays to the contract award have been related to
obtaining appropriate re-allocation of funds for the new fiscal
year. We will provide further information to the market in relation
to this potential contract when advised by Metal Storm Inc. of its
award.
NEW 40MM AMMUNITION TAILPIECE
The Metal Storm tailpiece is the critical component that
converts a conventional 40mm warhead into a Metal Storm ballistic
projectile. Its optimal design is vital for both performance and
for the eventual product margin that can be achieved from
ammunition sales.
The Metal Storm tailpiece used in the June 2007 firings was
functionally successful but at the same time was expensive to
build, was designed with an exposed coil winding and used many
machined parts.
In response, the Company has designed a next generation
("NextGen") tailpiece with reliability, ruggedness and cost of
production in mind. The NextGen tailpiece is smaller, stronger,
uses almost all moulded parts, shields the coil from any damage and
involves a lower cost, much simpler assembly process. The picture
on the right shows the previous design (left) and the NextGen
design (right).
After extensive testing and optimisation of each component, the
first fully integrated NextGen rounds were fired from the 3GL
(three-shot grenade launcher) this week, with excellent ballistic
results. This design will now be used as the basis for refinement
and qualification testing going forward. The company is at an
advanced stage of discussions with third parties to manufacture the
ammunition once qualification is achieved.
3GL RAPIDLY MATURING
Over the last six months the 3GL three-shot grenade launcher has
been undergoing a substantial upgrade, moving on its planned path
toward full production. In June 2007 the first fully functional 3GL
prototypes passed the Harmony technical milestones. Since then we
have fired 3GL almost daily, and enhanced the design to improve
ergonomics, robustness, safety and functionality.
Over the last three months, four new 3GL test weapons have been
built. They incorporate many new design features, including
improved carbon-fibre barrels, an upgraded fire-control system and
a more compact design. Two of these weapons are currently in
Singapore for display at the Singapore Air Show. The other two are
being tested in Australia before being sent to Singapore next month
for test firing with full loads of three-stacked High Explosive
warheads.
The 3GL is rapidly maturing by weapons-development standards. We
will be firing many thousands of rounds over the next 6-9 months
and performing a range of environmental, electromagnetic, shock and
ballistics testing to qualify the weapon sufficiently for safe
operation by military forces during independent trials. To
accommodate this testing program, we expect to build at least 12
more 3GLs over the next six months.
The 3GL weapons testing will proceed in an integrated fashion
with the testing of our NextGen munitions, with the combined
weapon-munition system being qualified for man firing as a part of
the testing process. Based on development progress to date, the
company expects to have 3GL weapons in production and able to be
delivered to customers before the end of 2009.
REDBACK(TM) "501" SERIES GUNS, CONTROL SYSTEM COMPLETED
Metal Storm has completed the new "501" series guns and fire
control system for Redback(TM). Our partner, Electro Optic Systems
is currently working on the video and laser tracking components of
the system that would be used for anti-RPG actions.
OTHER CONTRACTS
Our contract work in the US is progressing and I am pleased to
announce that we have obtained customer acceptance and final
payment for all deliverables under our Crowd Control Contract. The
effort culminated in the highly successful demonstration of our
Firestorm system at a local test range, mentioned above. We will
soon be uploading a video to our web site that shows the system
targeting and shooting silhouettes with less-lethal rounds.
Our contract with the Office of Naval Research and SPAWAR is
nearing completion with one remaining demonstration remaining. This
event will be occurring in February at a range on the US West
Coast. We are still anxiously awaiting a follow-on contract that
will further mature the system over the next 12 months. Funding for
this program is still being sought, however, we expect that funds
will be allocated in the February/March time frame.
The Multi-Shot Under-barrel Launcher (MAUL) program for the
United States Marine Corps is nearing completion with final testing
occurring in February. During the follow-on phase of this program,
we will be furthering development of the launcher.
OUTLOOK
In the first half of 2008 the company's focus will be on
conducting qualification testing of our 3GL, Redback(TM) guns and
munitions in order to have qualified weapons available for user
trials and field demonstrations in the second half of the year.
This will involve firing many thousands of rounds as we take the
weapons systems through the ballistic, mechanical, electromagnetic
and environmental testing required.
We plan to be surefooted in our progress so that as we invest
our time and money in the extensive qualification testing required,
we can be confident that the weapons and munitions will exceed the
test requirements.
I look forward to providing further updates in the near
future.
Lee Finniear
CEO
Metal Storm
Notes:
Metal Storm's Australian Stock Exchange trading code: MST
Metal Storm's NASDAQ Small Cap ticker symbol: MTSX
About Metal Storm
Metal Storm Limited is a multi-national defence technology
company engaged in the development of electronically initiated
ballistics systems using its unique "stacked projectile"
technology. The company is headquartered in Brisbane, Australia and
incorporated in Australia. Metal Storm Limited technology and
products are represented in the USA by Metal Storm Inc., which has
offices in Arlington, Virginia.
Metal Storm is working with government agencies and departments,
as well as industry, to develop a variety of systems utilising the
Metal Storm non-mechanical, electronically fired stacked ammunition
system.
Metal Storm's weapon technology uses computer-controlled
electronic ignition and a system of stacked projectiles, to achieve
a completely non-mechanical gun that is very lightweight and
compact, providing a very high firepower to weight ratio. The Metal
Storm weapons system utilizes multiple barrels mounted together on
one platform which allows varying munitions types to be deployed in
a single, low cost, lightweight weapon system. Firing the weapons
by electronic ignition requires no moving parts, allowing reliable
long term unattended weapon operation.
Safe Harbour
Certain statements made herein that use the words "estimate,"
"project," "intend," "expect," "believe" and similar expressions
are intended to identify forward-looking statements within the
meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
These forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks
and uncertainties which could cause the actual results, performance
or achievements of the company to be materially different from
those which may be expressed or implied by such statements,
including, among others, risks or uncertainties associated with the
development of the company's technology, the ability of the company
to meet its financial requirements, the ability of the company to
protect its proprietary technology, potential limitations on the
company's technology, the market for the company's products,
government regulation in Australia and the US, changes in tax and
other laws, changes in competition and the loss of key personnel.
For additional information regarding these and other risks and
uncertainties associated with the company's business, reference is
made to the company's reports filed from time to time with the
Securities and Exchange Commission, including the company's Form
20-F.
Image Available:
http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/frame_mw?attachid=691559 Image
Available: http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/frame_mw?attachid=691561
Image Available:
http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/frame_mw?attachid=691563 Image
Available: http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/frame_mw?attachid=691565
Image Available:
http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/frame_mw?attachid=691567
Add to Digg Bookmark with del.icio.us Add to Newsvine
Company Contact: Australia & USA Dr. Lee Finniear Chief
Executive Officer Metal Storm Limited Ph: +61 7 3123 4700 Peter
Faulkner General Manager Metal Storm Inc. Ph: +1 703 248 8218
Metal Storm Limited ADS (MM) (NASDAQ:MTSX)
Gráfico Histórico do Ativo
De Abr 2024 até Mai 2024
Metal Storm Limited ADS (MM) (NASDAQ:MTSX)
Gráfico Histórico do Ativo
De Mai 2023 até Mai 2024
