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| Heat-beaming weapon to be ready by 2010 |
| 2007-01-24 |
| The US Defence Department has unveiled what it describes as a revolutionary heat-beaming weapon. They say it could be used to control mobs or repel foes in conflicts like Iraq and Afghanistan. The so-called Active Denial System creates an intense burning sensation causing people to run for cover, but no lasting harm, officials said. "This is a breakthrough technology that's going to give our forces a capability they don't now have," Theodore Barna, an assistant deputy undersecretary of defence for advanced systems and concepts, told Reuters. "We expect the services to add it to their tool kit. And that could happen as early as 2010." The weapon, mounted on a Humvee vehicle, uses a large rectangular dish antenna to direct an invisible beam toward a target. It includes a high-voltage power unit and beam-generating equipment and is effective at more than 500 metres. Existing counter-personnel systems designed not to kill - including bean bag munitions and rubber bullets - work at little more than "rock-throwing distances," said Marine Colonel Kirk Hymes, director of the Pentagon's Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Directorate. In increasingly complex military operations, the technology provided a much-needed alternative to just going from "shouting to shooting," said Hymes, who is responsible for the weapon's five-year, $US60 million ($A76.8 million) advanced development. Variations of the system could help in peacetime and wartime missions, including crowd control and mob dispersal, checkpoint security and port protection, officials said. It could also help in conflicts like Iraq and Afghanistan. Raytheon Co, which has worked to develop the technology, has built a prototype called Silent Guardian, that it hopes to sell in the United States and abroad in what could become a multibillion market. The weapon was shown off publicly for the first time at Moody Air Force Base in Georgia, where it has been undergoing operational tests by the 820th Security Forces Group, which protects US Air Force assets. The directorate invited reporters to be zapped as part of what its spokeswoman, Marine Major Sarah Fullwood, called an effort to "demystify" the technology at issue. At a distance of several football fields, the sensation from the exposure was like a blast from a very hot oven, too painful to bear without scrambling for cover. The burning sensation is achieved by high-power energy waves that heat the skin to 54 degrees Celsius. The pain ended as soon as the target jumped from the line of fire. Documents given out during the demonstration said more than 10,000 people had been exposed to the weapon since testing began more than 12 years ago. They said there had been no injuries requiring medical attention during the five-year advanced development program. |
| Posted by:tipper |
| #9 Nice, but can it cook soup/stews in a helmet??? FREEREPUBLIC > AVIATION NOW magz > USAF = USA has tech to take control of enemy missles, launchers, + Systems, anytime + almost anywhere. MEL GIBSON in PATRIOT > "Soon, soon" to Tavington. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2007-01-24 23:21 |
| #8 We've had heat weapons for years. Anybody who has worked the flight deck of a CV has been truned on by some sort of 'go-faster.' And a Phantom or Tomcat or Vigilante in tension just before the catshot at full 'burner is definitely tossing some BTUs around. Since we retired all the -14s, can we just mount the engines on the top of a duece and a half and drive around town? put it on a swivel and aim as needed. Of course you would need a tanker to follow and would need some damn good brakes unless you were testing the 'for every action there is an opposite and equal reaction' thingy. Just sayin' is all...... |
| Posted by: USN, ret. 2007-01-24 23:17 |
| #7 WM: Technically, heat is a property of an object, not radiation, so yeah, it has to be an EM field. Anyway, does Subhuman Rights Watch have a press statement condemning this cruel weapon out yet? |
| Posted by: Jackal 2007-01-24 22:58 |
| #6 I recall reading that they tried to send this weapon to Baghdad for real world testing and the military jags refused to let them try it out. Of course my memory could be bad. |
| Posted by: 3dc 2007-01-24 22:54 |
| #5 Whatever happened to the sonic beam weapon demonstrated on "Futureweapons"? |
| Posted by: Rob Crawford 2007-01-24 22:35 |
| #4 Let Fouad Siniora try it out on the Leb Hizbollah |
| Posted by: Frank G 2007-01-24 21:14 |
| #3 The directorate invited reporters to be zapped as part of what its spokeswoman, Marine Major Sarah Fullwood, called an effort to "demystify" the technology at issue. I'll bet the Major's eyes lit up when she was told to make that invitation. Maybe they can park it down in front of the Boston Globe and offer the staff free rides... |
| Posted by: tu3031 2007-01-24 20:57 |
| #2 It would be cool if it goes thru walls or causes ammo to explode. |
| Posted by: Gloque Elmang4914 2007-01-24 20:52 |
| #1 Microwave, right? Not heat beam. |
| Posted by: Whiskey Mike 2007-01-24 19:46 |