Posted on 03/11/2012 11:07:29 PM PDT by Free ThinkerNY
A sensation of unbearable, sudden heat seems to come out of nowhere -- this wave, a strong electromagnetic beam, is the latest non-lethal weapon unveiled by the US military this week.
"You're not gonna see it, you're not gonna hear it, you're not gonna smell it: you're gonna feel it," explained US Marine Colonel Tracy Taffola, director the Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Directorate, Marine Corps Base Quantico, at a demonstration for members of the media.
The effect is so repellant, the immediate instinct is to flee -- and quickly, as experienced by AFP at the presentation.
Taffola is quick also to point out the "Active Denial System" beam, while powerful and long-range, some 1000 meters (0.6 miles), is the military's "safest non-lethal capability" that has been developed over 15 years but never used in the field.
It was deployed briefly in Afghanistan in 2010, but never employed in an operation.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Microwaves? Chain mail might make a comeback...
Why are all the principles of this project women? I doubt this thing is very safe to its targets.
Colonel Tracy Taffola is a man.
Easily defeated by my tin foil hat and suit.
Body armor now optional if soldiers use SPF 30 tanning lotion.
I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t want to be wearing a metal suit in the middle of a microwave beam.
I was thinking more of a faraday cage. For every system, there is a counter measure.
I’m reminded a bit of an old story I heard/read about the MiG-25 Foxbat. The Foxbat has an extraordinarily powerful radar system - something like half a megawatt or something. At any rate, the story goes that the power was such that small animals outside the airfield perimeter would be killed whenever the radar was powered up while on the Foxbat was still on the ground.
Don’t know if that story is at all true, but I always thought it was kind of interesting.
I’m reminded a bit of an old story I heard/read about the MiG-25 Foxbat. The Foxbat has an extraordinarily powerful radar system - something like half a megawatt or something. At any rate, the story goes that the power was such that small animals outside the airfield perimeter would be killed whenever the radar was powered up while on the Foxbat was still on the ground.
Don’t know if that story is at all true, but I always thought it was kind of interesting.
Ping.
That is totally aside from the fact that providing non-lethal weapons to the military is a bad idea. Too many people would then second guess the troops as to why they ever have to fire a lethal shot. Non-lethal weapons also put the troops in the position of being policemen. For their safety alone, you can't cross-train a person's reactions to operate cleanly in both lethal and non-lethal tactics.
Excellent point. Crowd & riot control are a police function, not a military one. Hence, we have Posse Commitatus and other restrictions.
Plus, that Toast-a-Mob machine is pretty expensive. Maybe the manufacturer could rent it out to police departments whenever the Occupy crowd needs to be dispersed.
Spelling did not hit me at the late hour... that is my excuse and I’m sticking to it.
If or should they get or have one for their use, you can be assured, my FRiend, that the occupy crowd will not be the ones that it is used on/against. It will be us or pepole like us.
I wonder how well a ship-mounted unit would work against a bunch of Iranian speedboats? Could it produce enough heat to ignite C4?
As long as there is no actual damage done to the people it is used against, they can be trained to resist this sort of idiotic weapon. Telling people it is not lethal is just stupid, and for the military to have a “non-lethal” weapon in the first place is even dumber.
@Electric & Magnetic Fields
Many links.
You might want to get some of the science FReepers to advise on whether or not they're "for real".
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