[ME] Miniguns (was re: a really stupid question)

[Robert "J." Hansen <rjhansen@xxxxxxxx>]

Torque says you can't make a man-portable minigun.  If that minigun is
rotating at 6000 RPM, it's going to exert a counter-torque against
whatever's holding it.  Thank Newton's Law of Equal and Opposite
Reactions.  If you wanted to hold that thing steady while it was firing,
your arms would get ripped off at the shoulders.

Not even Terminator 2 got this one right.  Yes, the T-1000 is made of
very stern stuff and could fire it without having its arms ripped off.
No, the T-1000 doesn't have the mass required to counteract the torque
of the firing.

The next question is... what does an infantryman /need/ a 6000 RPM
sustained-fire weapon for, anyway?  I can see high rounds per minute as
a way to ensure accuracy in three round bursts, but c'mon, for sustained
fire use a SAW.


-- Robert J. Hansen, rjhansen@inav.net
-- OpenPGP key available on request