[ThirstyMan]

They should develop something like this to aim at the ground in front of their Humvee to detonate these damned roadside bombs before they get there.

[Dalite]

"They should develop something like this to aim at the ground in front of their Humvee to detonate these damned roadside bombs before they get there."

Based on this description:

"focused, speed-of-light millimeter wave energy beam to induce an intolerable heating sensation,''

I get the feeling that this is similar to a low grade microwave beam, just like a dehumidifier is basically a low efficiency air conditioner.

If this suspicion is correct, it will be looking for some kind of reaction of moisture molecules in the target for it to have the effect.

[snopercod]

They should develop something like this to aim at the ground in front of their Humvee to detonate these damned roadside bombs before they get there.

They already have something similar - there was a thread on it a couple days ago. It is basically a "jammer" that blocks the detonation signal (from a cell-phone, I think).

[Eagle Eye]

Not likely. First one has to spot them, and beleive me, they aren't easy to spot. It isn't as if there are bowling balls with candles sticking out of them labelled "Acme IED" on them. In some places there's lots of trash around and sometimes they are in the trash. Sometimes they are under the rocks, sometimes they are behind the road signs. Sometimes they are under the pavement. And heat alone doesn't detonate explosives.