SOUPED-​​UP ARMORED CARS PREPPED FOR IRAQ

Soldiers in Iraq might soon get armored vehi­cles equipped with pain rays, sonic weapons, or guns that autom­i­cally return fire if a Pentagon project works out as planned.
As we’ve said before here, when U.S. troops are forced with an angry mob, they only have two options at their dis­posal, cur­rently: the bull­horn or the M16. Last month, a U.S. heli­copter fired into a group of Iraqi crowd, killing more than a dozen.
The idea behind “Project Sheriff,” accord­ing to Stars and Stripes, is to give “troops work­ing in urban ter­rain more options, espe­cially when decid­ing how to deal with poten­tial non­com­bat­ants or civil­ians being used as shields.“
Four to six vehi­cles — the Armys new Stryker armored per­son­nel car­rier, for exam­ple, or the Marine Corps Light Armored Vehicle — would be retro­fit­ted with non-​​lethal weapons and new defense sys­tems. They plans have been final­ized, yet. But options include the Active Denial System a microwave-​​like pain ray and the ear­split­ting Long Range Acoustic Device, a sort of bull­horn on steroids.
But Project Sheriff will also have a new, deadly set of capa­bil­i­ties, as well. Under con­sid­er­a­tion in the Gunslinger weapons sys­tem, which “uses acoustic and infrared sen­sors to iden­tify a sniper,” accord­ing to Inside the Army. Then, a pack of machine guns can auto­mat­i­cally return that sniper fire. The Pentagon wants to have the sys­tem in G.I.s’ hands by June or July.
THERE’S MORE: Reader RM wants to know, “Why can’t they just use tear gas? Why all the money on fancy high-​​tech?” Here’s your answer, RM, from Sid Heal, a long-​​time vet­eran of the Marine Corps and L.A. Sheriff’s depart­ment. He’s one of the lead­ing non-​​lethal weapons experts around.

Because they [Active Denial Systems] don’t change the envi­ron­ment and there is no per­sonal decon­t­a­m­i­na­tion required. For exam­ple, tac­ti­cal com­man­ders are EXTREMELY reluc­tant to use any chem­i­cal agent around inter­sec­tions, roads, schools, hos­pi­tals, etc. AND it’s effec­tive­ness is largely weather depen­dent. A stiff breeze blow­ing in your face is NOT the time to deploy tear gas because it leaves the mob unaf­fected while putting all your peo­ple in masks.

October 19th, 2004 | Ground Vehicles | Comments Off Both comments and pings are currently closed.