Development of the Deep Digger Weapon System Described Yesterday Involved

Development of the Deep Digger Weapon System described yesterday involved

building a multi-barrelled cannon and special projectiles designed to break

up rock far more efficiently than existing rounds. Now the technology

exists, what else can be done with it?

One application that the Program Manager, David Burns, mentioned was a

breaching device. Again, this will fire a volley of projectiles in a specific pattern, but horizontally rather than vertically, creating a man-sized hole in walls. At present this task <a hrf =”http://www.ebaerospaceanddefense.com/defense/rapid_breaching.php “> requires hand-emplaced explosives </a> or heavy weapons. The Deep Digger breaching device would have more fine control, able to cut progressively through the several feet of concrete, or break through a single thickness of brick without demolishing the building.

One option would be to combine the special projectile with a

<a hrf =” http://www.defensetech.org/archives/000497.html”> MetalStorm </a> launcher for a lightweight rapid-fire mobile system. Burns believes that this could be a distinct possibility if MetalStorm can handle the rounds.

The special projectiles could also have application for the traditional combat engineering tasks of demolition and creating field fortifications. They would also have humanitarian uses – 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 API who were involved in creating Deep

Digger have looked at a <a hrf =” http://www.osti.gov/bridge/servlets/purl/821214-eSHn4t/native/821214.pdf “> cheap version of the round for civil use in quarrying and similar uses.</a> They have already tested a 60mm round which can turn 0.4 cubic metres of rock into gravel with one shot, and they believe that a cubic metre per shot is possible. This represents an awesomely fast and efficient means for mining

and tunnelling.

To bring the cost-per-shot down from dollars to pennies, API are talking about an

concrete projectiles and an electrothermal launch system rather than a traditional powder-type weapon. What this really means is a steam gun - a sort of retro-future technology not seen for a while. Way back in 1824 <a hrf =”http://www.lateralscience.co.uk/perkgun/ “> Mr Perkins’ steam gun

could fire 900 rounds a minute</a>; the <a hrf =” http://www.sonofthesouth.net/leefoundation/civil-war/1861/may/winans-steam-gun.htm”> Confederacy had one in the Civil War </a> which was supposed to fire twenty-four pound projectiles and scythe down opposing ranks, but was captured without a fight. API proposal should be more practical; add 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 <a hrf =”http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072288/”> Thunderbolt and Lightfoot </a>,

where he plays a robber whose signature is using a 20mm Oerlikon 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 US strategic assets in the long term.