These sorts of passive weapons are always interesting. Mini-badman Noriega will be released this year and he was brought down by amplified heavy metal as much as anything...or was it Wham? But with it well below freezing out, I want the home edition of this puppy:
The prototype weapon - called Silent Guardian - was demonstrated at the Moody Air Force Base in Georgia. A beam was fired from a large rectangular dish mounted on a Humvee vehicle. The beam has a reach of up to 500 metres (550 yards), much further than existing non-lethal weapons like rubber bullets. It can penetrate clothes, suddenly heating up the skin of anyone in its path to 50C. But it penetrates the skin only to a tiny depth - enough to cause discomfort but no lasting harm, according to the military.So just set it to 35C and have someone drive around a few blocks behind me. That would be good.
Comments
Gordo - January 25, 2007 10:20 am
Sigh. How long until they put a few dozen poratble units in Abu Ghraib and Camp X-Ray?
BR - January 25, 2007 10:22 am
Just add one of these suckers < http://www.thinkgeek.com/geektoys/warfare/60b6/ > and they'll be able to disperse crowds of cool kids in high school smoking areas by messing up their hair.
Chris Taylor - January 25, 2007 10:44 am
Abu Ghraib and X-Ray are closed. Prisoners were all transferred out of Abu Ghraib in August '06 and facilities handed over to the Iraqi government in Sept. '06. Camp X-Ray was a temporary facility that closed in April '02 once the permanent detention centres (Delta and Echo) were constructed.
Gordo - January 25, 2007 11:08 am
Whoops. I wasn't aware of that. THanks, Chris. How about Guantanamo, then?
Chris Taylor - January 25, 2007 11:34 am
I am fairly certain they will want to test nonlethal DE (directed energy) weapons domestically first, in law enforcement applications. The Pentagon is actually very very sensitive to the potential world opinion fallout from using nonlethal DE weapons against non-Americans first. They are also concerned about legal, treaty and policy implications of DE use. There is a brief blurb about it in the January '07 edition of <i>Air Force</i> magazine (p. 12).
Gordo - January 25, 2007 12:10 pm
That's very good to know.
Greg - January 25, 2007 12:42 pm
hmmm maybe only penetrates mm into the epidermis.. but can't help wondering about thin membranes like the cornea.. it's only mm thick and surficial. Can you imagine the focus power beamed through someone's thick glasses? ouch ;)
Chris Taylor - January 25, 2007 6:27 pm
For what it's worth Greg, I asked the manufacturer's program manager about testing on thin membranes and vision organs, but have yet to receive a response.
Gordo - January 25, 2007 10:53 pm
I expect that's with good reason, Chris.
Paul of Kingston - January 26, 2007 4:03 pm
I presume this is some sort of focussed microwave energy. Years ago my sister was involved with research that used microwave technology to keep the pigs in a barn toasty warm without heating up the barn. Fascinating stuff but a real bitch to market to the home depot crowd.
Alan - January 26, 2007 4:07 pm
Watertown TV news (with its enhanced US military coverage) showed some of the demonstration at an ungodly hour this morning and people standing in a ten by ten foot square jumped and ran away with a smile on their face. As immediate but less zappy as an electric shock.