I know some of you have been worried. Sure, the American military is planning to roll out a microwave-like pain ray on land. And there’s talk about making an airborne model of the so-called “Active Denial System,” to control unruly crowds from above. But what if the evil-doers take to the seas? How will we roast them alive, then?
Never fear. “The Active Denial System… may soon be used by the Coast Guard for port protection,” Defense Tech pal Sharon Weinberger reports for Aviation Week.
Developed by the Air Force, Active Denial fires out milimeter waves — a sort of cousin of microwaves, in the 95 GHz range. The invisible beams penetrate just a 64th of inch beneath the skin. But that’s deep enough to trigger the pain receptors inside a person. Which makes folks want to run away, fast. Less-lethal weapon guru Sid Heal calls the ray the “Holy Grail of crowd control.”
One of the systems was scheduled for shipment to Eglin AFB, Fla., where it’s set to undergo a military utility assessment (MUA) for overwater operations, according to Sue Payton, the deputy undersecretary of Defense for advanced systems and concepts.
“The Coast Guard is very interested in how this capability would work to stop and redirect a driver of a small boat away from a port or ship,” says Payton, whose office has been involved in integrating the technology into a deployable weapon…
Since the 2000 suicide bombing of the USS Cole, the Navy has sought ways to ward off small boats that could pose threats to ports or ships. The Coast Guard, similarly, is also exploring threats from small vessels.
The testing at Eglin, scheduled for Apr. 11–20, will feature the Active Denial System mounted on a hybrid-electric Humvee and based at a dock, with five Coast Guard boats participating in the assessment. Payton says the testing will look at a variety of factors, such as the beam’s impact through glass and windows…
Other adaptations of the technology are in the works as well, including a… version [that] will be packaged in a Conex shipping box so that the system can be mounted on larger vehicles, and not just Humvees. “You can go to a bigger capability on trucks,” she notes.
UPDATE 12:41 PM: You know, if cruise ships are already using sonic blasters to ward off pirates, maybe its not so crazy for the Coasties to have a pain ray gun.
Makes ya wish for the days when they could just shoot them.
So, what’s to prevent the homicide bomber from just gritting his/her teeth and running/driving up to the target anyway? Pain’s just an indication of martyrdom to come, yes?
Nothing, CR. But even if 1 in 10 guys has enough willpower to run through it, you’ve just stopped 90% of bombers with it. And that’s WITHOUT the risk of blowing a hole in Marvin Moron who decided to wander into a high security area.
It’s not a wonder weapon. It’s just another tool.
Sounds like protesters need to add taking pain killers to their list of things to do before a major protest that could upset those in power. I think this weapon is awful, how long will it take before the police are using it inside the US?
Luckily a crowd on pain killers could swarm the device and take it out; how about wearing a mylar blanket? Or just wearing a faraday cage suit?
Bloody disgusting gun I tell you.
Gritting your teeth and charging the target? Taking pain pills? Wearing a mylar suit or faraday cage? All interesting ideas for “defeating” the system. Funny thing though, the guys using it have weapons, and instead of hosing the crowd with bullets you only have to shoot the ones dressed up like bird cages or running at you gritting their teeth and poppin advil. Like Brian said…just a tool. But it lets you sort out the ones you should shoot.
ON the land,in the air and now,NOW at sea! pain-ray
is there to deliver the hurt to insurgent terrorist wacko’s wherever they may rear their disgusting neanderthal heads.Dear friends,embrace this technology,while not the holy grail,and certainly no aegis,it most definitely will put a damper on a fanatics retarded dreams of reaching the afterlife with as many infidels as he can take with him.That is unless of course we turn the pain rays power switch from defrost to full entree and deep fry the little minions of evil,sending them to their theologicly prescribed reward.
In all,it accomplishes the task we set it do(and
no that does not mean zapping a bunch of filthy
self hating,wanna-be collaborationist,anti-u.s.a.
university of california,snot-nose college brats.
although the thought of giving them a microwave
induced sun-burn does tickle the funny bone a tad)
but stop terrorists,if not at least deter them
from harming our citizens,including those self
same self-loather,blame america frat boys,too.
oh,one final thing.…PAIN RAY RULES!!!!YEEEEE!!
HAAAA!!!!YEEEE HAAAA!!!YEEE-FREAKIN-HAAAA!!!!!
I’d like to see a single ray of sun
magnified via satalite’s.REmember
burning ants?,well this could“in theory“
burn a hell lot more
If they TRY-Let them FRY!!
They want to save lives with this “Satan’s flashlight (if ‘ol Lucifer did have a flashlight that’s about what it would do to ya!)” gadget — all well and good — but what happens if people in a crowd panic (as would be expected, considering the perceived effects) and people are trampled to death?
How do they hope to avoid something like that? All I can think of is terrible nightclub fires where people are crushed under a surging crowd trying to escape being burned alive.…..if a crowd was trapped, or people on the outer edges didn’t move fast enough, something just about as bad as being cut down with bullets could well happen.
It’s just a matter of time before ADT/ADS is deployed on domestic protestors and others engaged in civil disobedience. A water cannon might knock you on your ass, but at least it won’t cook your eyeballs. Expect to see co-legislation exempting the military and municipal police from injury lawsuits.
Much better to make a few dead islamist martyrs than legions of blind charity cases.
Countermeasures are too simple for it to be efective , there are other uses & aplications more valuable to counter terror attacks than merely making bacon crisp out of peoples skin
and incrementing pyscological collateral hate increase against Americans.
Hector