Is China’s Metal Storm Air Defense Cannon Real?
The Long March from Hailstorm to Metal Storm
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30 March 2025 (Sunday)
Is China’s Metal Storm Air Defense Cannon Real?
The Long March from Hailstorm to Metal Storm
By Wendell Minnick (Whiskey Mike) 顏文德
TAIPEI - The Metal Storm concept was tried by the Australian company Metal Storm Ltd from 1994 to 2012 when it finally failed due to technical challenges. It was promoted as the future of air defense capable of firing 1 million rounds per minute (180-rounds burst of 0.01 seconds).
China has gradually been moving in the direction of a similar horrific air defense weapon beginning with the Hailstorm Close-In Weapon System (CIWS) by the Zhengzhou Electromechanical Engineering Research Institute with only 4000 rounds per minute, with both a road mobile and naval version that never went into production. Note to Readers: on the Hailstorm please consult Chinese Land-based Air Defense Systems: Anti-Aircraft Guns, Surface-to-Air Missiles, Electronic Warfare, and Radar Systems (2019).
The only one who seems to have made it work is the character Luthen Rael from Season 1 of Andor (Star Wars).
China now claims to have succeeded in creating an air defense system capable of firing 450,000 rounds per minute.
The U.S. Phalanx CIWS can only fire 3000-4000 rounds per minute.
Though I find half-a-million projectiles outrageous, the April edition of Modern Weaponry unveiled the "Metal Storm" (金属风暴); a 6X6 terminal defense weapon against drone swarms, aircraft, and missiles capable of doing the near impossible. There is also a naval variant.