# Does the the Phalanx-like Russian AK-630M1-2 spit out rounds faster than anything on the planet?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-the-phalanx-like-russian-ak-630m1-2-spit-out-rounds-faster-than-anything-on-the-planet/751101
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [April 3, 2016, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-the-phalanx-like-russian-ak-630m1-2-spit-out-rounds-faster-than-anything-on-the-planet/751101 "2016-04-03T18:31:00Z")
**Posts on this page:** 11
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)
#### Post date: [April 3, 2016, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-the-phalanx-like-russian-ak-630m1-2-spit-out-rounds-faster-than-anything-on-the-planet/751101/1 "2016-04-03T18:31:00Z")
See query.
Wiki: Russia AK-630M1-2: [AK-630 - Wikipedia](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/AK-630)
Wiki Phalanx: [Phalanx CIWS - Wikipedia](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phalanx_CIWS)
Vid of Phalanx in all sorts of firing modes: [Phalanx CIWS Close-in Weapon System In Action - US Navy's Deadly Autocannon - YouTube](http://youtu.be/Zsf38NYzo5Q)
(Kinetic rounds, not laser zaps :))
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### Author:  [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)
#### Post date: [April 3, 2016, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-the-phalanx-like-russian-ak-630m1-2-spit-out-rounds-faster-than-anything-on-the-planet/751101/2 "2016-04-03T18:57:02Z")
Nope, [Metal Storm.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metal_Storm)
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### Author:  [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)
#### Post date: [April 4, 2016, 9:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-the-phalanx-like-russian-ak-630m1-2-spit-out-rounds-faster-than-anything-on-the-planet/751101/3 "2016-04-04T09:17:56Z")
I’ll attempt to address what I perceive as the intent of your question rather than its letter by mentioning weapons like the Denel 35mm or Oelikon Millennium gun [Denel 35mm Dual Purpose Gun - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denel_35mm_Dual_Purpose_Gun)[Rheinmetall Oerlikon Millennium Gun - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rheinmetall_Oerlikon_Millennium_Gun)
I’m not sure what to call that particular type of mechanism or subtype of CIWS, but weapons like it may not have the greatest number of rounds fired but they can have the greatest number of projectiles.
Each barrel of the Denel 35mm can shoot 550rpm and each rounds has 152 projectiles for a total of 1393 projectiles/second. An Oerlikon gun can shoot 1000rpm with the same number of projectiles per round for 2533 projectiles/second.
Phalanx-like guns could be combined with AHEAD ammo for even greater projectile numbers although this might make programming the rounds more difficult/onerous. It should also be noted that revolver cannons tend to have greater initial ROF but rotary canons have an easier time sustaining a high ROF.
As for Metal Storm, it makes sense to interpret its rate of fire according to the rate of its smallest independently-usable component rather than a bundle of barrels. Otherwise, you could just link up 10 000 M2s together and call it a day.
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### Author:  [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)
#### Post date: [April 4, 2016, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-the-phalanx-like-russian-ak-630m1-2-spit-out-rounds-faster-than-anything-on-the-planet/751101/4 "2016-04-04T13:17:27Z")
Thanks to both. **Michael** , how did you read my question by the letter? Not snark, just interested.
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### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [April 4, 2016, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-the-phalanx-like-russian-ak-630m1-2-spit-out-rounds-faster-than-anything-on-the-planet/751101/5 "2016-04-04T13:33:57Z")
I’m still not clear on what the practical difference is between Metal Storm and a shotgun.
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### Author:  [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)
#### Post date: [April 4, 2016, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-the-phalanx-like-russian-ak-630m1-2-spit-out-rounds-faster-than-anything-on-the-planet/751101/6 "2016-04-04T18:36:49Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#):
>
> Thanks to both. **Michael** , how did you read my question by the letter? Not snark, just interested.
That you were asking which weapons fired the most cartridges.
It’s about the word “rounds”. The distinction between rounds and projectiles is usually overlooked because most rounds have just 1 projectile so people will commonly use the word “round” when they mean “projectile”. Normally, it would be pedantic to make the distinction but when rounds have more than 1 projectile, the distinction becomes relevant.
Going by the letter of your question, the weapons I named spit out a low number. Going by what I understand to be the spirit of your question, they spit out a high number.
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### Author:  [@drewder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewder)
#### Post date: [April 4, 2016, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-the-phalanx-like-russian-ak-630m1-2-spit-out-rounds-faster-than-anything-on-the-planet/751101/7 "2016-04-04T20:03:19Z")
Seems like a minuteman 3 missile silo would shoot out the fastest round.
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### Author:  [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)
#### Post date: [April 5, 2016, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-the-phalanx-like-russian-ak-630m1-2-spit-out-rounds-faster-than-anything-on-the-planet/751101/8 "2016-04-05T13:55:56Z")
It’s not spat out very quickly, though - it’s traveling relatively slowly when it leaves the silo.
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### Author:  [@drewder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewder)
#### Post date: [April 5, 2016, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-the-phalanx-like-russian-ak-630m1-2-spit-out-rounds-faster-than-anything-on-the-planet/751101/9 "2016-04-05T18:28:22Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#):
>
> It’s not spat out very quickly, though - it’s traveling relatively slowly when it leaves the silo.
but if we take into account the average speed along it’s flight
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### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [April 5, 2016, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-the-phalanx-like-russian-ak-630m1-2-spit-out-rounds-faster-than-anything-on-the-planet/751101/10 "2016-04-05T20:12:11Z")
Nah, there are a few weaponized lasers and microwaves out there, those are much faster than a Minuteman.
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### Author:  [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)
#### Post date: [April 5, 2016, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-the-phalanx-like-russian-ak-630m1-2-spit-out-rounds-faster-than-anything-on-the-planet/751101/11 "2016-04-05T22:42:15Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#):
>
> Thanks to both. **Michael** , how did you read my question by the letter? Not snark, just interested.
He was politely saying that he was fixing your question.
OF course you don’t mean firing 100 barrels, so we should standardise down to one barrel, which barrel can shoot fastest ?
Of course we don’t want to look at multiple projectiles fired at one time, since metal storm and shotguns ,etc, can have many tiny projectiles.
The two guns you mentioned have multiple barrels… if it has six barrels, it may as well be six guns with a robot with six arms shooting them.
This is the fastest barrel.
> **[ShKAS machine gun](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ShKAS_machine_gun)**
>
> The ShKAS (Shpitalny-Komaritski Aviatsionny Skorostrelny, Shpitalny-Komaritski rapid fire for aircraft; Russian: ШКАС - Шпитального-Комарицкого Авиационный Скорострельный) is a 7.62 mm calibre machine gun widely used by Soviet aircraft in the 1930s and during World War II. The ShKAS had the highest rate of fire of any aircraft machine gun in general service during WWII. It was designed by Boris Shpitalniy and Irinarkh Komaritsky and entered production in 1934. ShKAS was used in the majority of So...