H03881
Headlines : Sci-TechScientists worried by riot control ray gun
In an attempt to create a “less lethal” form of riot control, military agencies have created a 95-gigahertz microwave beam designed to give extreme discomfort through heat and intolerable pain. Contrary to its scheduled release in Iraq for 2006, the Active Denial System weapon continues to contain many inconclusive and possibly lethal questions.
The theory of this “ray gun” is to repel rioters and break up the crowd, but during preliminary experiments test subjects were asked to remove eye wear and metal objects to avoid permanent damage caused by “hot spots” on their person. What happens if a crowd member happens to have keys in his or her pocket and what if an individual is, for some reason, unable to move away from the beam? These are some of the questions scientists are asking. Too much is still unknown about the long term effects of this weapon and although scientists voice their concerns, a portable version of the ray gun is being developed by the U.S. Marines and police force.
Burnt flesh, scaring, blindness and other unknown possible effects, how is this “less lethal” than a flash grenade and some tear gas? I understand the alternative is a baton to the head, but at least I know the side effects of a concussion. Another thing, not mentioned in this article, to be aware of is the microwave auditory effect which has possible hazardous biological effects involving the inner ear. I know I’m fresh meat here at GNN, but I found this story to be a great example of the extremes that authorities are blindly taking completely unconcerned with the specific extent of damage inflicted or wide scale effect this will have on our world. Developmental stages today, portable devices tomorrow; it’s only a matter of time before you’ll be able to purchase your very own ray gun on eBay. Beam me up Scotty.
[Posted By killjoy]Republished from cnn.com
The Active Denial System weapon, classified as “less lethal” by the Pentagon, fires a 95-gigahertz microwave beam at rioters to cause heating and intolerable pain in less than five seconds.
The idea is people caught in the beam will rapidly try to move out of it and therefore break up the crowd.
But New Scientist magazine reported on Wednesday that during tests carried out at Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico, participants playing the part of rioters were told to remove glasses and contact lenses to protect their eyes.
In another test they were also told to remove metal objects like coins from their clothing to avoid local hot spots developing on their skin.
“What happens if someone in a crowd is unable for whatever reason to move away from the beam,” asked Neil Davison, coordinator of the non-lethal weapons research project at Britain’s Bradford University.
“How do you ensure that the dose doesn’t cross the threshold for permanent damage? Does the weapon cut out to prevent overexposure?,” he added.
The magazine said a vehicle-mounted version of the weapon named Sheriff was scheduled for service in Iraq in 2006 and that U.S. Marines and police were both working on portable versions.
Posted by killjoy
Correct me if I am wrong, but couldn’t this weapon be pretty easily made by anyone with the right engineering/physics training?
Another thing I just thought about today; what about the people with medically implanted metal plates or pins. Jut seems like a blatant abuse of authority when science is neglected over power. In response to Sisyphus, yes someone with the proper resources could manufacture something of the sort, but how many people actually have the proper resources. Something like this needs some sort of regulation, but we all know what happens when we allow the government to set its own regulations.
Killjoy, given the nature and the very real possibilities for causing mass human suffering, permenant damage, maiming, and death, I agree this requires some sort of “regulation”, and the place to start would be the Geneva conventions, under banned and outlawed munitions, where other potential weapons that specifically blind and maime have been similarly “regulated” in the past.
“it’s only a matter of time before you’ll be able to purchase your very own ray gun on eBay.”
“someone with the proper resources could manufacture something of the sort, but how many people actually have the proper resources”
There are small-scale kits for sale online (50,000W, 9.2GHz, $495.00 US) which could easily be modded up to higher power, I’d link it but it would only get me in trouble – this article discusses it a bit.
This is a sketch I did of what I envision could be the near-future riot-control cop. He’s not armed with a microwave weapon, but rather an electro-plasma rifle (it would allow you to taser a wide swath of people). His helmet is crafted both to be functional and to intimidate. It features light-amplification, built in radio, and also a gas filter so they can march through tear-gas unaffected. The armor gives good protection against bullets and is also flame-resistant (to defend against molotovs) ....Yeah, I’m a nerd.
To protect and to serve
sisyphus yea it is. From my understanding its something like a microwave/herf gun. I have tried something similar using an old microwave, didn’t get very far once I realized that I really didn’t know what I was doing and that I could end up electrocuting myself or frying myself from the inside from a radiation leak. But someone with a basic understanding of electronics and physics should be able to figure it out. Before 9/11 there were docs all over the internet on how to build herf guns, but now they are hard to come by.
Ah, the HERF gun. The EMP’s sneaky little brother. It’s my understand that a HERF gun operates on the sole purpose to destroy electronic data, overload circuit boards etc NOT injure life forms. HERF guns work on the same basic principals as radar systems in navel ships, which must be shut down prior to docking in certain areas. Ok, too much rambling not enough point. The microwave devices we have today are potato shooters compared to what is to be expected. We have guns and the terrorists have guns, we have weapons of mass destruction and they have WMD’s (apparently somewhere), we will have high powered radioactive beams capable of nuking up a steaming hot plate of homosapien, and the enemy won’t be far behind. SCI-FI movies have taught me that no matter how much of a low life piece of unevolved scum the enemy is, he’s always got just as big of a gun as our hero. Who needs a plane to fly into a building when they got a Radio Shack version of the ADS hot wired to turn time square into a scene from Schindler’s List.
The idea has been around awhile at 12, 18, 24 and 40 GHz as an attack on WIFCOM, disrupt critical instruments, and fry anything without the proper shielding.
It could be used for secure communication when attenuated but 95 “less lethal” my ass. If the device doesn’t work properly or is misused, it’s gonna cook somebody and then cause problems for whatever frequencies are being used to do urban communication/transmission.
Rubidium and Cesium trump magnetron.
Xtreme Defense
“Despite an enormous degree of hype, and considerable investment for more than a decade, the deployment of a tactical high-power microwave (HPM) weapon – a re-usable mobile transmitter capable of damaging a range of targets – is some way off.”
http://www.janes.com/defence/news/jdw/jdw060825_1_n.shtml