This is the second in a two part series by Weapons Grade author David Hambling on weapons that drill and scrape their way through targets. Check out part one here.
The Pentagon is developing a bunker buster that can burrow into the ground and break up rock far more efficiently than existing rounds. But hitting underground lairs isn’t the only thing the technology can do.
<img align=right alt=“Digger1.jpg” src=“http://www.defensetech.org/images/digger1/Digger1.jpg” width=“344” height=“227 hspace=“10” vspace=“5” /> David Burns, program manager of this “Deep Digger” bunker buster, mentioned that a breaching device based on his weapon was already being investigated. Like the Deep Digger, this will fire a volley of projectiles, creating a man-sized hole in walls. Today, you need hand-emplaced explosives or heavy weapons to get the job done. The Deep Digger-ish breaching device would have more fine control — cutting progressively through the several feet of concrete, or breaking through a single layer of brick without demolishing the building.
Another option would be to combine the special projectile with a million-round-a-minute MetalStorm launcher for a lightweight, rapid-fire mobile system. Burns believes that this could be a distinct possibility if MetalStorm can handle the rounds. Such a weapon would be able to reduce pillboxes and strongpoints into gravel almost instantly.
The special projectiles would also be useful for the traditional combat engineering tasks of demolition and creating field fortifications. And they could have humanitarian uses, too Burns suggested that a mobile Deep Digger would provide the fastest way of getting to rescuing victims buried under rubble or in mine collapses.
Larger projectiles already exist. BAE Systems Advanced Technologies, Inc. (ATI), who were involved in creating Deep Digger have looked at a larger-caliber cheap version of the round for quarrying and similar uses. They have already tested a 60mm round which can pulverise 0.4 cubic metres of rock with one shot — see the picture above — and they believe that a cubic meter per shot is possible. This represents an awesomely fast and efficient means of mining and tunnelling.
To bring the cost-per-shot down from dollars to pennies, ATI are talking about firing concrete projectiles from an electrothermal launch system. What this really means is a steam gun — a sort of retro-future technology not seen for a while. This seemed to be the future back in 1824 when Mr Perkins steam gun was firing 900 rounds a minute; a bit later on the Confederacy had one in the Civil War which was supposed to fire twenty-four pound projectiles and scythe down opposing ranks, but was captured without a fight. The ATI proposal should be more practical. Given an unlimited supply of cheap projectiles and the possibilities multiply for both military and civilian applications. If you want to build a new metro much faster than standard tunnel boring machines, or dig an underground bunker complex in a hurry, this could be for you.
Of course, if such digging device proliferate, they could end up in the wrong hands. I’m thinking of Clint Eastwood in Thunderbolt and Lightfoot, where he plays a robber whose signature is using a 20mm Oerlikon cannon to break into bank vaults. With projectile-based excavation, Thunderbolt could try his luck with Fort Knox.
More seriously, this technology means that reinforced concrete cannot necessarily be relied on to protect strategic assets in the long term. Conventional weapons will be able to even threaten facilities that were built to withstand nuclear attack.
– David Hambling
Breaking Rocks — Lots of Rocks
Previous post: New Bomb Drills for Bunkers
Next post: Decades-Old Docs Reclassified
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
New Bomb Drills for Bunkers? How many rotations a second for such projectile to do the job? Is the projectile goign to make it without crumbling from great pressure? Metal Storm? Interesting, but there is smoething easier.
I’m… confused here. Bunker busters are usually dropped from a jet. I didn’t think there was a problem penetrating them when you’ve got boots on the ground. Are they actually considering dropping a metal storm platform from altitude? And, while the million-rounds-a-minute rate of fire is nice, how are they going to provide the thing enough ammunition to get the job done?
One option would be to replace the existing magazine and reloading mechanism with a MetalStorm arrangement, which could be lighter and more reliable.
Another would be a ground-based device for making holes and breaking rock. A portable cannon using Deep Digger-developed projectiles was allegedly used by Special Forces in Afghanistan for gaining entry to cave and tunnel complexes. I would not necessarily regard that story as reliable, but it gives an idea of ppssibles uses.
The amount of ammo you need depends on how much rock you need to break. If it’s 11 cubic feet per round, you don’t need that many.
I think the “Deep Digger” has a potential for mining and quarrying purposes, as well as for the construction of underground caverns for non-military use. I suggest that it must be tested for those purposes because our surface environment is facing an incoming ice age and the best way to keep warm is to burrow underground and use thermo-electric technologies to convert heat into electricity for artificial full spectrum sunlight lighting and for other purposes.