Military shows off new ray gun

Associated Press ^ | 01/25/07 | ELLIOTT MINOR

[presidio9]

The military calls its new weapon an "active denial system," but that's an understatement. It's a ray gun that shoots a beam that makes people feel as if they are about to catch fire.

Apart from causing that terrifying sensation, the technology is supposed to be harmless - a nonlethal way to get enemies to drop their weapons.

Military officials say it could save the lives of innocent civilians and service members in places such as Iraq and Afghanistan.

The weapon is not expected to go into production until at least 2010, but all branches of the military have expressed interest in it, officials said.

During the first media demonstration of the weapon Wednesday, airmen fired beams from a large dish antenna mounted atop a Humvee at people pretending to be rioters and acting out other scenarios that U.S. troops might encounter in war zones.

The device's two-man crew located targets through powerful lenses and fired beams from more than 500 yards away. That is nearly 17 times the range of existing nonlethal weapons such as rubber bullets.

Anyone hit by the beam immediately jumped out of its path because of the sudden blast of heat throughout the body. Though the 130-degree heat was not painful, it was intense enough to make the participants think their clothes were about to ignite.

"This is one of the key technologies for the future," said Marine Col. Kirk Hymes, director of the nonlethal weapons program at Quantico, Va., which helped develop the new weapon. "Nonlethal weapons are important for the escalation of force, especially in the environments our forces are operating in."

The system uses electromagnetic millimeter waves, which can penetrate only 1/64th of an inch of skin, just enough to cause discomfort. By comparison, microwaves used in the common kitchen appliance penetrate several inches of flesh.

The millimeter waves cannot go through walls, but they can penetrate most clothing, officials said. They refused to comment on whether the waves can go through glass.

[Red Badger]

They refused to comment on whether the waves can go through glass.

Then, obviously it doesn't.........

[Sherman Logan]

At last, a real use for tinfoil hats (and other clothing).

[presidio9]

An unidentified airman looks over the military's Active Denial System, a non-lethal ray gun that was demonstrated Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2007, at Moody Air Force Base, Ga. The system shoots a beam of energy that makes people feel they are about to catch fire. Officials say it's safe and humane. It could be used in Iraq to protect the U.S. military from insurgents and to save the lives of innocent Iraqis. (AP Photo/Elliott Minor)

Airmen pretending to be rioters scatter after being zapped by a new military ray gun during a demonstration at Moody Air Force Base, Ga., Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2007. The millimeter beam from the Active Denial System makes people feel as if they are about to catch fire. Officials say the weapon could be a non-lethal way to increase the security of U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan and with its 500 meter range it is far superior to current non-lethal weapons, such as rubber bullets. (AP Photo/Elliott Minor)

[Old Grumpy]

"The weapon is not expected to go into production until at least 2010"

WOW! Too bad it's not in production already.

[Pharmboy]

A new way to reheat cold pizza...

[samtheman]

The weapon is not expected to go into production until at least 2010

By which time a President Hillary will have surrendered to all hostile forces around the world, rendering all weaponry useless.

[AngryJawa]

It's a ray gun that shoots a beam that makes people feel as if they are about to catch fire.

I could only dig this weapon more if it did, you know, like actually make people catch fire. 8^)

[HarmlessLovableFuzzball]

The libs will love this. They love new weapons systems !

[edcoil]

Ford Aerospace developed a laser "ray gun" in 1980 that was portable, worked and we pretty slick technology. The manufacturing contract was awarded to Martin Marietta which ticked off Ford causing the then Ford President to write to the military and tell them Ford was our of the gun businss.

Is this simply a newer version of that weapon or did it take MM 27 years to finally duplicate was Ford was forced to give them.

[brownsfan]

"Officials say it's safe and humane."

I don't want safe and humane weapons. I don't want war. But if we get into a war, I don't want to be humane, and I don't want to be PC. Kill the bastards. That is what war is.

That is our problem. People here see war as a police action.

[Lusis]

I've felt a demonstration of this thing at a convention last year. I put my finger on a minature emitter and yes, it does burn, but my finger was not cooked one bit.

I think it's pointless. All it does is put off the problem and doesn't solve it. Yeah you may make the guy retreat now, but he might come back later armed with a sniper rifle or an IED. Better to whack him now when he's out in the open and not leave your problems for the next guys to deal with

[darkwing104]

This will do wonders for clearing up traffic jams and protesting Hippies.

[DBrow]

This should do just that, though it's intended for cooking off incoming ordnance.


Lasers go to war
01/25
Arizona Daily Star
 
Looking to push ahead in the scramble to develop laser weapons, Tucson-based Raytheon Missile Systems is developing a system to shoot down mortars and small missiles with bursts of laser light.
And Raytheon is doing so without a definite customer, after losing a bid for a Defense Department contract.

Earlier this month, Raytheon said it successfully tested a prototype solid-state laser adapted to an existing, Raytheon-made ship-defense system.

The Laser Area Defense System, or LADS, detonated stationary 60 mm mortars at a range of more than 550 yards in recent ground testing, the company said.

The test was significant because it proved that solid-state lasers -- used in applications such as CD players, bar-code scanners and laser printers -- can be made powerful enough for use in weapons, said Mike Booen, vice president of advanced missile defense and directed-energy weapons at Raytheon Missile Systems.

"This could possibly be the first weapon system that uses a solid-state laser," Booen said.

The Pentagon has been working for three decades to develop laser weapons, and for over a decade to develop solid-state lasers powerful enough to use as weapons. Raytheon has been involved in solid-state laser-weapon research, along with other directed-energy technologies, for years.

But in December 2005, rival Northrop Grumman Corp. was awarded the $56.7 million prime contract for the Pentagon's major solid-state laser weapon push, the Joint High Power Solid-State Laser program.

The initial goal is to develop a solid-state laser weapon capable of generating 100,000 watts, or 100 kilowatts.

Raytheon system developed in six months

With some government collaboration but no contract in hand, Raytheon developed the LADS on its own dime in six months, using "an existing, off-the-shelf solid-state laser, coupled with commercially available optics technology," the company said.

The laser was mounted on the carriage of a Phalanx Close-In Weapon System, a ship-defense system designed to automatically track incoming missiles with radar and infrared technology and destroy them with a hail of 20-millimeter bullets from a Gatling-type gun.

Booen declined to be more specific about the optical technologies used or the wattage the LADS achieves. He also declined to say which military agency or agencies have collaborated on the project or are likely customers.

But he said Raytheon is serious about providing U.S. fighters with protection from mortars, artillery and rockets sooner rather than later.

"We didn't do this to sell a laser -- we did this to protect troops from mortars over in Iraq," Booen said.

The next step, Booen said, is to test the laser system against mortar rounds in flight.

"We already know our Phalanx system can see something the size of a mortar and track it," he added.

[DBrow]

This gadjet could be used domestically to disperse crowds that failed to get their First Amendment Free Assembly Permit for a protest or March On Washington.

People will accept this easier than a pair of Ma Deuces. Quieter, too, except for the yelling part.

[Right Brother]

A 'non-lethal' weapon of war is the ultimate oxymoron of political correctness. Soon we will be giving terrorists "time-outs" when they really misbehave.

[AngryJawa]

This should do just that,

Excellent.

There are few better ways to take the fight out of an islamonazi than to incinerate his 7th century a$$ right there where he satnds.

[brownsfan]

"This gadjet could be used domestically to disperse crowds that failed to get their First Amendment Free Assembly Permit for a protest or March On Washington. "

Then why is the military messing around with this? The military's business is defense, (war). In this case, you kill the bad guys, you don't scare them off.

[From One - Many]

set phasers to stun....

[CertainInalienableRights]

"We didn't do this to sell a laser -- we did this to protect troops from mortars over in Iraq," Booen said.

Maybe this is just marketing gobbledigook, but it certainly is encouraging to hear this commendable attitude expressed by a corporation.