Military Shows Off New Ray Gun

[WillyT]

Airmen pretending to be rioters scatter
after being zapped by a new military ray gun
during a demonstration at Moody Air Force Base,
Ga., Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2007

<snip>

MOODY AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. (AP) -- The military calls its new weapon an "active denial system," but that's an understatement. It's a ray gun that shoots a beam that makes people feel as if they are about to catch fire.

Apart from causing that terrifying sensation, the technology is supposed to be harmless — a non-lethal way to get enemies to drop their weapons.Military officials say it could save the lives of innocent civilians and service members in places like Iraq and Afghanistan.

The weapon is not expected to go into production until at least 2010, but all branches of the military have expressed interest in it, officials said.During the first media demonstration of the weapon Wednesday, airmen fired beams from a large dish antenna mounted atop a Humvee at people pretending to be rioters and acting out other scenarios that U.S. troops might encounter in war zones.

The device's two-man crew located their targets through powerful lenses and fired beams from more than 500 yards away. That is nearly 17 times the range of existing non-lethal weapons, such as rubber bullets.Anyone hit by the beam immediately jumped out of its path because of the sudden blast of heat throughout the body. While the 130-degree heat was not painful, it was intense enough to make the participants think their clothes were about to ignite.

<snip>

Link: http://www.11alive.com/news/article_news.aspx?storyid=91027

I wonder how the airmen pretending to protest the government did?

Yikes...

:scared:

[lvx35]

1. Oh yeah, brilliant.

Hurting rioters is a great way to make them agree with you. Its almost as effective as trying to kill them, and look at how effective that has been in Iraq - the whole country loves us!!! :)

:sarcasm:

[originalpckelly]

2. Now this is not what I expected...

"Did St. Ronny have a robot-clone built?"

But on the serious side, people around here have been looking up various ways to defeat this weapon. I have a feeling educated protesters will be able to protect themselves eventually.

[northofdenali]

3. Gawd, orig - my first thought!!

Everybody, EVERYBODY, who had a hippie bone in their bodies called him Ronnie Ray Gun!!

[BushOut06]

4. Nice to see our $$$ is being spent on high-tech torture devices

Where do you think this is more likely to be used - in Afghanistan or Los Angeles against some large anti-war or anti-corporate demonstration?