Though you guys would enjoy this one.
ARDEC develops "boom gun"
Marines request special weapon, may also meet Navy, Air Force needs
By Myra Hess, TACOM-ARDEC Public Affairs
Marines use the boom gun to look over trees and check for snipers
during the urban warfighting experiment held in Oak Knolls,
Calif.
"Rat-a-tat-tat, rat-a-tat-tat" was the sound heard as New Jersey Gov.
Christine Whitman fired the "boom gun" during
her visit to TACOM-ARDEC June 1.
She fired a volley of blank bullets at a "pretend sniper" on the roof of
Building 94. How did the bullets reach the top of the building? It did
so with the help of a future weapon called the boom gun, which can be
used in urban warfare.
Picture a tall crane with a machine gun mounted on the end. A camera is
attached to the gun so soldiers in the crane's cab can see above tall
buildings via a computer screen. This allows them to look for snipers or
terrorists.
TACOM-ARDEC got involved with this future weapon through a request from
the Marine Corps' Warfighting Laboratory in Quantico, Va. Lab personnel
asked if a 50-caliber machine gun could be placed on the end of a
7-1/2-ton boom crane.
Marines who participated in the invasion of Panama were asked what they
would have wanted or needed. They replied that they would have liked to
have had the ability to look into and clear buildings without sending
troops in first.
Michael Mattice, an electronic engineer and team leader in the Advanced
Drives and Weapons Stabilization Team in
FSAC, Marty Berberian, a machinist in WECAC, as well as FSAC engineers
Bob Testa and Chris DeLima, took on the challenge.
Using a system called the Compact Lightweight Armored Weapon Station,
designed by Kollmorgen of Northampton, Mass., Mattice, Berberian and the
other engineers designed the brackets and cables to hold the 50-caliber
machine gun upside down.
TACOM-ARDEC has a cooperative research and development agreement with
Kollmorgen. The Kollmorgen system includes computer components and a
camera.
According to Mattice, the boom gun consists of a gun platform,
ball-screw actuator for leveling the platform, the Kollmorgen CLAWS, and
a cable-retraction mechanism bracketed onto the crane.
After three months of research and design, the boom gun was created and
delivered to Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif., where both
Mattice and Berberian trained six Marines on gun operation and
installation.
The weapon was then shipped to Oak Knoll, Calif., where it was tested in
an urban warfighting experiment at an abandoned Naval hospital. Actors
and actresses participated as displaced persons in an exercise involving
a set designed to replicate a humanitarian assistance camp. The boom gun
was used to "watch over" the camp. Marines had bird's eye views of the
entire camp.
"Some of the advantages of this potentially future weapon are quite
apparent," Mattice said. "Because it's so tall, soldiers can see
farther, over, onto high buildings, and flush out snipers. It also can
look over and beyond fence lines and around corners of buildings. It can
be used as a guard to watch over humanitarian camps."
He also pointed out that the Navy has expressed interest in using the
boom gun to scan ship decks for possible terrorists. Also, the Air Force
could make use of it for perimeter defense of airfields.
This two-fold piece of equipment doesn't affect the original use of the
crane. To change it to a boom gun just involves attaching the gun-camera
system, which only takes a couple of hours.
Plus, the 7-1/2-ton air-mobile, four-wheel drive, four-wheel steer crane
can ford 60 inches of water.
So, what started out as a simple request by the Marines can possibly
help the other services -- and TACOM-ARDEC is there at the forefront.
ARDEC develops "boom gun"
Marines request special weapon, may also meet Navy, Air Force needs
By Myra Hess, TACOM-ARDEC Public Affairs
Marines use the boom gun to look over trees and check for snipers
during the urban warfighting experiment held in Oak Knolls,
Calif.
"Rat-a-tat-tat, rat-a-tat-tat" was the sound heard as New Jersey Gov.
Christine Whitman fired the "boom gun" during
her visit to TACOM-ARDEC June 1.
She fired a volley of blank bullets at a "pretend sniper" on the roof of
Building 94. How did the bullets reach the top of the building? It did
so with the help of a future weapon called the boom gun, which can be
used in urban warfare.
Picture a tall crane with a machine gun mounted on the end. A camera is
attached to the gun so soldiers in the crane's cab can see above tall
buildings via a computer screen. This allows them to look for snipers or
terrorists.
TACOM-ARDEC got involved with this future weapon through a request from
the Marine Corps' Warfighting Laboratory in Quantico, Va. Lab personnel
asked if a 50-caliber machine gun could be placed on the end of a
7-1/2-ton boom crane.
Marines who participated in the invasion of Panama were asked what they
would have wanted or needed. They replied that they would have liked to
have had the ability to look into and clear buildings without sending
troops in first.
Michael Mattice, an electronic engineer and team leader in the Advanced
Drives and Weapons Stabilization Team in
FSAC, Marty Berberian, a machinist in WECAC, as well as FSAC engineers
Bob Testa and Chris DeLima, took on the challenge.
Using a system called the Compact Lightweight Armored Weapon Station,
designed by Kollmorgen of Northampton, Mass., Mattice, Berberian and the
other engineers designed the brackets and cables to hold the 50-caliber
machine gun upside down.
TACOM-ARDEC has a cooperative research and development agreement with
Kollmorgen. The Kollmorgen system includes computer components and a
camera.
According to Mattice, the boom gun consists of a gun platform,
ball-screw actuator for leveling the platform, the Kollmorgen CLAWS, and
a cable-retraction mechanism bracketed onto the crane.
After three months of research and design, the boom gun was created and
delivered to Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif., where both
Mattice and Berberian trained six Marines on gun operation and
installation.
The weapon was then shipped to Oak Knoll, Calif., where it was tested in
an urban warfighting experiment at an abandoned Naval hospital. Actors
and actresses participated as displaced persons in an exercise involving
a set designed to replicate a humanitarian assistance camp. The boom gun
was used to "watch over" the camp. Marines had bird's eye views of the
entire camp.
"Some of the advantages of this potentially future weapon are quite
apparent," Mattice said. "Because it's so tall, soldiers can see
farther, over, onto high buildings, and flush out snipers. It also can
look over and beyond fence lines and around corners of buildings. It can
be used as a guard to watch over humanitarian camps."
He also pointed out that the Navy has expressed interest in using the
boom gun to scan ship decks for possible terrorists. Also, the Air Force
could make use of it for perimeter defense of airfields.
This two-fold piece of equipment doesn't affect the original use of the
crane. To change it to a boom gun just involves attaching the gun-camera
system, which only takes a couple of hours.
Plus, the 7-1/2-ton air-mobile, four-wheel drive, four-wheel steer crane
can ford 60 inches of water.
So, what started out as a simple request by the Marines can possibly
help the other services -- and TACOM-ARDEC is there at the forefront.
