What we have here is a gun for frogmen. It uses electrical ignition to fire the projectiles. My first thought was "what? Does it shoot rockets?", because model rockets use electrical ignition, and the answer is, yes it does. Bullets don't work very well underwater (Mythbusters episode #44). My next thought was "electric ignition in a device you use underwater", what are you crazy? I would think the good old fashioned mechanical firing mechanism like the ones used in conventional firearms would be more reliable. It would not be subject to failure because the electrics got wet and shorted out. Then I looked at it again. I was thinking it was a revolver, but now I see that it is injection molded plastic, there is no revolving going on here. Now I begin to understand. Making a gun with a mechanical firing mechanism means precise machining of small metal parts. With the advent of CNC (Computerized Numerical Control) machine tools, the price of machining has come down, but it is still more expensive than injection molding plastic. Plus metal parts corrode in sea water. Oh, you can mitigate corrosion with various coatings, but you are still going to need regular cleaning. A sealed plastic blob can survive for years underwater without any care. The last bit that caught my attention was that you have to send the "cylinder" back to the factory for reloading. My immediate reaction was "unbelievable". Then I looked at the gun again, and thought about it for a bit, and realized that reloading was probably some kind of bullet point on a government requirements checklist. There's not going to be any reloading. This thing is disposable. Use it once and throw it away, or just drop it since you are underwater. It will never be seen again.
I wonder how many frogman versus frogman fights there have been in real life. I know they are a staple of James Bond and diving movies, but has there ever been an instance of a real underwater fight? I mean diving underwater is kind of like going into outer space, you are taking your life in your hands just doing it.
Here's another picture of the gun being used by my other virtual girlfriend / ninja assassin.
Lara (that's Lara, not Laura) Croft, Tomb Raider
I expect electronic firing mechanisms will start finding their way into conventional firearms in the near future, just because the tech guys can't leave well enough alone and the bean counters are always looking for ways to save a penny.. It's all part of a great worldwide conspiracy to destroy precision machining. Hold onto your steel guns. It won't be long (no more than a thousand years or so) before all new guns are made of plastic.
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