US military unveils heat-ray gun

[LorDiego01]

I didnt know where to put this one.

The US military has given the first public display of what it says is a revolutionary heat-ray weapon to repel enemies or disperse hostile crowds.

Called the Active Denial System, it projects an invisible high energy beam that produces a sudden burning feeling.

Military officials, who say the gun is harmless, believe it could be used as a non-lethal way of making enemies surrender their weapons.

Officials said there was wide-ranging military interest in the technology.

"This is a breakthrough technology that's going to give our forces a capability they don't now have," defence official Theodore Barna told Reuters news agency.

"We expect the services to add it to their tool kit. And that could happen as early as 2010."

'Blast from an oven'

The prototype weapon - called Silent Guardian - was demonstrated at the Moody Air Force Base in Georgia.

HEAT-RAY WEAPON
US troops scatter after begin hit by the beam
Directs a high energy beam
Range of up to 500m
Penetrates clothes but not walls
Heats but reportedly does not harm

Military looks to 'black ice'
How the heat-ray gun works

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.

A Reuters journalist who volunteered to be shot with the beam described the sensation as similar to a blast from a very hot oven - too painful to bear without diving for cover.

Crowd control

Military officials said the weapon was one of the key technologies of the future.

"Non-lethal weapons are important for the escalation of force, especially in the environments our forces are operating in," said Marine Col Kirk Hymes, director of the development programme.

The weapon could potentially be used for dispersing hostile crowds in conflict zones such as Iraq or Afghanistan.

It would mean that troops could take effective steps to move people along without resorting to measures such as rubber bullets - bridging the gap between "shouting and shooting", Col Hymes said.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6297149.stm

Coming soon, to a city near you!

[Emptymag]

I recall reading about that being developed.

Good tool to have. I have to wonder if they aren't also trying to get that thing to be LETHAL as well?
I can't imagine that the military wouldn't want THAT option!
("Phasers set to BROIL!!!")

Only drawback is that the "feel-good" crowd will think of it as a REPLACEMENT for firearms!
You know "Why can't we just "shoot" them with this instead of killing them?"

Reminds' me of a conversation I had w/a very anti-gun co-worker...
he wanted to know "why they can't make bullets that just WOUND people?"


I'll have to post that story!

[LorDiego01]

Am I the only one to recall an interview with an high up Army General, not too long ago (couple months), in which he was asked about these non-lethal weapons, and his response was..

"Of course the world fears these weapons, thats why we should use them against our own citizens before deploying them overseas to prove their safety."

Im paraphrasing, but thats what he said.

[thirtyonebravo]

I know what I want for Christmas this year!

...wonder if I can get a holster for that baby? ehh...might be a little heavy around the waist hehe. :-)

[dmg1969]

I'll take my terrorist/insurgent medium-well, please!

Dave G.

[KeithPA]

Interesting....

Well, at least it will drive up the mirror buisness in Afghanistan.

[LittleRedToyota]

Am I the only one to recall an interview with an high up Army General, not too long ago (couple months), in which he was asked about these non-lethal weapons, and his response was..

"Of course the world fears these weapons, thats why we should use them against our own citizens before deploying them overseas to prove their safety."

Im paraphrasing, but thats what he said.

yeah, i remember that. can't provide a citation, though.

i also remember reading about the military developing a weapon that uses focused sound waves and could be directed at an individual in a crowd...which was kinda neat (and kinda scary, too).

i saw something similar in action at a science center (don't remember which one). it was a parabolic dish (like a satelite dish) with a little ring centered in front of it. you spoke into the ring (wasn't microphone or anything...just a ring to get you in the right place)...facing the dish. the dish then sent the sound waves across the room and focused them on a particular spot at the other side of the room. there was one of these on both sides of the room.

the room was very crowded and noisy, but you could talk to someone on the other side of the room (standing at the specific focal point) like they were right next to you. nobody else in the room could hear anything you were saying, but the person who was standing in the right spot could here you crystal clear.

you and a friend could carry on a conversation across the crowded, noisy rom like you were talking on a cell phone (or, more aptly, a couple of tin cans with a string between them like when you were kids).

it was really cool.

a few days later i read an article about how this concept was being developed for crowd control so police could give commands to specific people in crowds...and also so they could project disablingly loud sound waves at specific people in crowds.

[kimbercdp]

I'll take my terrorist/insurgent medium-well, please!

Dave G.

Over cook mine, please!

[JustinM]

"Please don't let the invisible fire burn my friend!"