American Notes Weapons

Robert Dilger's life revolves around the machinery of war. A former fighter pilot who flew combat missions in Viet Nam, he had persuaded the Air Force to adapt a 30-mm Gatling antitank cannon to its A-10 Thunderbolt close air- support aircraft.

After retiring from the military in 1980, Dilger, now 54, became a part-time consultant to Oregon Republican Congressman Denny Smith, during which time he tried to interest the Pentagon in a similar, single-barrel antitank gun -- this one homemade. Last week his project misfired.

Dilger's 8-ft. cannon was in the back of his Dodge pickup truck when he pulled into a gas station in Arlington, Va. After filling up his gas tank, he started showing the weapon to his friend Joseph Donahue, a former Army pilot. Suddenly the gun slipped and discharged a shell, which tore through the side of the pickup, ignited a gasoline pump, hit a car and injured four people, three of them seriously. Dilger fled the scene but was arrested a short distance away. He and Donahue were charged with violating a state law against the manufacture or transport of an explosive device, and they could face up to ten years in prison.