Posted on 07/17/2010 9:38:46 PM PDT by ErnstStavroBlofeld
The Active Denial System (ADS) is a non-lethal weapon designed to disperse violent crowds and repel enemies.
It uses a focused invisible beam that causes an "intolerable heating sensation", but only penetrates the skin to the equivalent of three sheets of paper.
The discomfort causes whoever it's pointed at to immediately start moving away. They often scream but the US military says the chance of injury from the system is 0.1%.
It's already been tested more than 11,000 times on around 700 volunteers. Even reporters have faced the heat-ray.
Limit deaths
Lt. Col. John Dorrian, a US military spokesperson, says the kit is now in Afghanistan but no decision has yet been made on its use.
There's been much talk about the need to keep civilian casualties in Afghanistan to a minimum. The heat-ray gun could help.
The beam produced by the ADS can travel more than 500m (1,640ft) and is seen as an important new way to limit unnecessary deaths and minimise war zone casualties.
Developers also say it could also be adapted to other operations, like fighting drug smuggling at sea and general peacekeeping operations.
Research is continuing to make the system smaller, lighter and less expensive, says the Pentagon's Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Program
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.co.uk ...
On a somewhat/not really related note...years ago I heard a story about somewhat similar effects associated with the Smerch radar system used on the MiG-25 Foxbat. The story goes that pilots were forbidden to activate the radar while still on the ground in part because the energy from the pulse (the Smerch could put out over 500 kilowatts) could kill animals wandering outside the fences at the airbase.
Dunno if there's any truth to that tale, but I always thought it sounded cool. :-)
Coming soon to a tea party rally in your town!
Oh... and all the people at the tea party rally will be billed $10 for the suntan.
I haven't heard of human wave attacks in Afghanistan yet. I don't think this would work well against a moving point target.
Can it heat up frozen burritos?
I think it can
“I agree. This weapon can be used against US citizens”
I think you mean “will”. Look for one rolling down Main Street USA any day now.
Crap cannon goes back to Tesla, on 1 stting all male fill their bloomers, at the 2nd setting all females fill their bloomers,,,talk about crowd control.
Sounds like they need to put it to work on the southern border... set it up on the smuggling trails and let it rip... Oh sorry, forgot who was running this country...
Active denial system ha?How about a neutron bomb activation?Now that would be a real active,Not to mention radio active denial system.
The one thing about it though is it will work and your enemies will not be soon returning.
Agreed. This is not a weapon of war- it is a weapon to crush dissent.
On the whole, a cariage mounted quad-fifty does a more reliable job.
Limit deaths? OK, in situations where innocent individuals could become collateral damage, but failing to kill the terrorists simply means that they’ll be back.
Love me some Nicky Tesla inventions. I wish he would have had Ron Popeil's PR skills and patent lawyers.
LOL....
Cross-firing .50 M2s work wonders dispersing crowds, too.
Heard the same about birds flying in front of the old SPS-48 (3-4 Megawatts) and now the SPY-1 series. Just drop out of the sky. Tightly focused microwave energy is a nasty thing.....
It sounded in the article as if they were going to be using it not just on civilians but on actual enemy forces, too.
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