[HiTech RedNeck]

A mirror and a magnifying lens???

[ottbmare]

Wait a minute. I thought the purpose of going to war was to kill people and break things. That’s the unofficial motto of the US Marine Corps, isn’t it? I thought we were supposed to maximize enemy deaths, not minimize them. What am I missing here?

[50cal Smokepole]

High-tech weenie roaster....

[kbennkc]

I was hoping crap cannon would be operational now?

[I see my hands]

Coming soon to a thug cop near you. And will he ever be itching to use it. More fun than a taser. Torture isn't allowed except against American citizens for not being compliant.

[NY Attitude]

A frequency generator that puts out the resonant frequency of the human sphincter might be a barrel of laughs and probably just as effective.

[kenth]

Civilian crowd control, while arguable in the hands of the military, is one thing. Against an armed enemy seems less than pointless. While the enemy might run for cover, they’ll quickly recover and start shooting back. Makes more sense to just shoot them in the first place.

[hosepipe]

Making them miserable a few days before you blow them up..
Now thats a weapon...

What happens when you point it at a cave structure..

[TheClintons-STILLAnti-American]

"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."

No decision

It must be up to Obama.

[valkyry1]

//only penetrates the skin to the equivalent of three sheets of paper//

Well that is pretty deep to really heat up!

[ErnstStavroBlofeld]

Ping

[Adams]

[Secret Agent Man]

They should aim it at the ground and detonate any IED in the road. Turn up the power a bit if they have to (being buried and all).

[doorgunner69]

The large flat surface is a frequency dependent reflector. To disable, you would have to hit the feed antenna, good luck with that unless you are a very good shot at long range. Most of the reflector would have to be destroyed to kill it that way.

The beamwidth (where the majority of the energy is contained) is about 0.1 degrees. Some very precise aiming can be done, dependent on the control tightness of the positioner. They use optical aiming, so that is the limit of precision, along with how tight the positioner can control a 0.1 degree beam.

[DemforBush]

I've seen demonstrations of this thing. It appears to work quite well. Not sure if Afghanistan is the best application for what is essentially a crowd-control device, though.

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. :-)

[Rodamala]

Coming soon to a tea party rally in your town!

[Sarajevo]

The Active Denial System (ADS) is a non-lethal weapon designed to disperse violent crowds and repel enemies.

I haven't heard of human wave attacks in Afghanistan yet. I don't think this would work well against a moving point target.

[WKUHilltopper]

Can it heat up frozen burritos?

[AzNASCARfan]

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...

[JimRed]

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.