BBC: US military unveils heat-ray gun

[geardaddy]

snip
The US military has given the first public display of what it says is a revolutionary heat-ray weapon to repel enemies or disperse hostile crowds.
- Directs a high energy beam
- Range of up to 500m
- Penetrates clothes but not walls
- Heats but reportedly does not harm - Riiiight, "reportedly" *wink*
/snip

What are our taxes paying for?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/6297149.stm

[Benhurst]

1. Oh, I feel so safe now!

I wonder what hostile crowds The World's Only Superpower and military industrial state has in mind.

[Kurovski]

2. Let's see...are our taxes paying for domestic, government-sanctioned terrorism against ourselves?

Maybe I'm overstating it a little. It's just a little blast, like "from an oven", so maybe we can call it "the cupcake treatment".

[geardaddy]

4. "cupcake" treatment. lol

Yeah, they could call it Operation Cupcake or Operation Easy-bake oven

[Kurovski]

7. I think our jocular law-enforcement officers will love the term "Operation Easy-Bake."

You're onto something there, daddy.

[Mrs. Overall]

3. Oh, I thought they unveiled this Ray-Gun:

[Kurovski]

5. Oh yes. The model with the crowd-dispersing hair-do.

I've experienced that particular weapon before.

[YOY]

25. What film is that from: "The Femme-est Cowboy"

n/t

[Kurovski]

28. "Hopalong Pompadour"?

"Hairspray"?

[Canuckistanian]

34. "Metrosexual Bandit"?

Step away from that tube of Brylcream, Mr. Reagan....

[shadowknows69]

6. I don't supose our media has done any reporting

on our new little toys?

[Kurovski]

9. It would be perfect timing, given the Washington DC protests this weekend.

Maybe give us a heads-up on what to expect in the future. (as early as 2010, they say.)

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

8. "...it penetrates ...

...the skin only to a tiny depth - enough to cause discomfort but no lasting harm, according to the military."

Depending on whether they set it on rare, medium, or well done. The Israeli military has used this weapon against Palestinians while set on "well done" and literally cooked people to death.

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0904-05.htm



The U.S. Air Force is anxious to use it for domestic crowd control:

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Mr_Jefferson_24/235

[Kurovski]

11. And to think that folks at DU thought the "block" feature was going to stifle dissent.

Just imagine what the threat of being barbecued at an anti-war rally will do.

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

15. I hate to admit I lack the courage of a true patriot, but...

...I would not attend a rally where those microwave trucks were deployed.

It won't be long before private corporations are green lighted to use these kinds of technologies under the guise of legitimate security needs. Package it as "Pro-active Security." Imagine the sales pitch -- "Tired of those unruly mobs? Had it with those disruptive union thugs gathering in front of your place of business, damaging property, and always demanding more, more, more? Well now you can send them a message they won't forget..."

[Kurovski]

20. Well, if The Constitution is ever revived in this country

we may not have to worry too much about that.

My problem is that one man's "unruly mob" is another man's peaceful protest. Corporations and the government they run are too often comprised of the the jumpy, nervous--and yes, "pro-active"-- sort.

[Mandate My Ass]

21. Eeeek

Beside especially severe burning "down to the bones", the doctors say that, in other cases, internal organs have been ruptured without any obvious sign of shrapnel wounds. It sounds like they were nuked to me. :scared:

[Warpy]

22. I'm wondering what it's going to do to our eyes

It's really easy to cook somebody's eyes with microwaves.

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

27. This is why I wouldn't attend a protest demonstration...

...where those trucks are around -- I think it is microwave energy and the Pentagon is lying (as they usually do) about the potential for injury.

[mod mom]

10. Isn't this the same as the Microwave crowd controller:

Details of US microwave-weapon tests revealed
22 July 2005
NewScientist.com news service
David Hambling






VOLUNTEERS taking part in tests of the Pentagon's "less-lethal" microwave weapon were banned from wearing glasses or contact lenses due to safety fears. The precautions raise concerns about how safe the Active Denial System (ADS) weapon would be if used in real crowd-control situations.

The ADS fires a 95-gigahertz microwave beam, which is supposed to heat skin and to cause pain but no physical damage (New Scientist, 27 October 2001, p 26). Little information about its effects has been released, but details of tests in 2003 and 2004 were revealed after Edward Hammond, director of the US Sunshine Project - an organisation campaigning against the use of biological and non-lethal weapons - requested them under the Freedom of Information Act.

The tests were carried out at Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Two experiments tested pain tolerance levels, while in a third, a "limited military utility assessment", volunteers played the part of rioters or intruders and the ADS was used to drive them away.

The experimenters banned glasses and contact lenses to prevent possible eye damage to the subjects, and in the second and third tests removed any metallic objects such as coins and keys to stop hot spots being created on the skin. They also checked the volunteers' clothes for certain seams, buttons and zips which might also cause hot spots.

-snip



http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=mg18725095.600

NOTE: THIS ALWAYS MAKES NEWS BEFORE A LARGE ANTI-WAR PROTEST!

[tk2kewl]

16. Thats what I thought.... Heat-ray my ass!

:grr:

[Greyskye]

32. Not the same - millimeter waves, not microwaves

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

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.

http://edition.cnn.com/2007/TECH/01/24/ray.gun.ap/index.html

[corkhead]

12. Looks like I am going to need a tin foil vest to go with my tin foilchapeau

:tinfoilhat:

[Kurovski]

13. But then you'll be a baked potato!

Or pomme frites. :scared:

[geardaddy]

17. That would be the "deep-fry-ray gun"

;)

[corkhead]

19. Have you ever put foil in the microwave

sparks fly, the oven is damaged, but the contents of the foil don't get cooked.

[Kurovski]

23. I'm not certain that this particular weapon uses microwaves.

But maybe? This article makes no mention of microwaves.

[shraby]

14. Would tin-foil deflect the ray?

If turned shiny side out, it deflects heat.

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

24. Gives new meaning to the term tin foiler...

...Hey, maybe this is Chimpy's new global warming initiative -- out of fear people start donning tin foil clothing anytime they go outside and even paint their cars and houses with reflective tin foil paint, all resulting in massive amounts of heat from the sun being reflected back into space, thus reversing global warming. Hail to the Chimp, he's done it again.

[Canuckistanian]

35. Yes, in this case, it would

High frequency RF radiation would be stopped dead and dissipated by aluminum foil.

But your eyes would be vulnerable to the "cooking action" that these weapons would present.

[paparush]

18. I've been saying - We'll see this in DC on Saturday, Jan 27th.

[Greyskye]

26. US military unveils replacement for Water-boarding

Who doesn't think that interrogation folks aren't salivating at the idea of this? The cynical side of me thinks that it has already probably been 'tested' for use in this realm.

[SanCristobal]

29. It's kinda big...

I saw footage of it being tested on the news today. The weapon was almost the size of the Humvee it was mounted on.

[Greyskye]

31. sure...

...that version. Which is designed as an anti-personnel device to be used at a distance. I have a feeling that something designed to work on an individual could be much smaller.

And if it isn't now, just give them a little time. This device sounds like a torturers wet dream. :puke:

[LynnTheDem]

30. Killing Me Softly

According to the Marine Times, the VMADS -- called the "people zapper" -- may be capable of inflicting far more than brief discomfort when not used as directed; that is, for no more than three seconds.

"The amount of time the weapon must be trained on an individual to cause permanent damage or death is classified." (In other words, it only takes one 18-year-old recruit with a sick curiosity or a slow watch to turn the thing deadly.)

In 1995, in fact, a military spokesman qualified the concept of "non-lethal" weapons: "It's really less lethal ... because these weapons if improperly used could be lethal."

Marine Col George Fenton, likewise, is on record in the May 2000 National Defense Magazine saying the term "non-lethal ... does not mean that they can't kill or injure."
http://www.motherjones.com/commentary/columns/2001/03/newshole1.html


Although high-powered microwave weapons are designed to destroy the electronic equipment used by enemy command centers, their effect on humans in the vicinity is less clear.

The U.S. military says HPM weapons are non-lethal, but that doesn't mean free from harm. The U.S Marines Corp. is currently developing a microwave-based weapon that inflicts a brief, intense burning sensation on the target's skin similar to touching a hot light bulb. Mounted on Humvee, the weapon is designed for crowd dispersal. The temperature settings are variable, however, and can be set as high as 130 degrees F.

Given that temperature variability, it's possible that someone in the path of a HPM burst might be cooked like a meal readied by a microwave oven.

Source: Scientific American, February 18, 2003
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=000CBC91-B6FD-1E51-A98A809EC5880105

What happens to all the people driving vehicles on busy streets when they're "knocked off their feet" during rush-hour by being hit with maximum unbearable pain just because they are within that radius; is it murder when they all crash and die?

Will the US government offer tips on how to deal with and explain to children who are caught within the radius, for example playing on the swings in the playground, when they are suddenly hit with extreme maximum pain out of nowhere? Will they offer suggestions as to how to convince traumatized and terrorized kids they can safely go outdoors again? Will the US govt pay for the years of counseling for kids traumatized, terrorized, and neurotic, living in fear 24/7 that the pain may suddenly hit them again?

Will pregnant mothers who are within the radius experience such maximum pain that they spontaneously abort be charged with murder as "late-term abortion"?

How about the ill, the elderly, the handi-capped and the infirm; when they are "knocked off their feet" by the maximum pain and fall and break open their heads; will the US govt pay for all funeral arrangements, or if they survive, for all medical and future care treatments?

What about infants and toddlers who aren't able to "flee" from the pain and are "cooked like a microwave meal"?

Giving the term "baby-killer" new meaning...

[ejbrush]

33. Time to break out the old scutum...

http://www.romans-in-britain.org.uk/mil_roman_soldier_shield.htm
Looks to me to be about the size and shape of 1/3 of a 55 gallon oil drum... Being a microwave weapon, the energy would be absorbed by a metal shield before getting to human flesh. 'Twould get hot, but the user wouldn't. Rubber bullets would bounce off, water cannon would be deflected to some extent by the curvature. Paint a slogan on the front, it'll be more useful than a piece of cardboard on a stick. Maybe paint the Constitution on the front, so the Opressors can see what they're really fighting against, would'nt that be a photo for the cover of Time?
Maybe protesters will need to start carrying shields on principal. Shields are peaceful, right? I can't think of any rules I've ever run across against having a shield. A few hundred people walking in the fore with shields, banging them with sticks making a helluva racket, that would be a sight to see.

ON EDIT, the shield alone would be sufficient. The toga, sandals and helment would just look silly. One item of each would be OK, but not all at the same time on the same person.

[GETPLANING]

36. Google Video- Star Wars in Iraq.

This weapons is already in use in Iraq and fries its victims down to little husks.