Slashdot Mirror
Next Generation Stun Guns?
RoyalCheese writes "Well, I've just been reading an interesting little article on New Scientist's website about new crowd control weapons that electrocute/stun the targets. Seems we will soon be at risk of being stunned by ionised air generated by laptop sized lasers..." Reader Spetiam adds "News.com.au reports on a new weapon that will be able to zap you from afar, wires not included: 'We will be able to fire a stream of electricity like water out of a hose at one or many targets in a single sweep,' XADS [Xtreme Alternative Defense Systems] president Peter Bitar is quoted as saying." So, this company has a free-hosting website and and a free-email address for their "president", and the photo looks like cardboard tubes wrapped with green camouflage tape. Hmmmm.
That "weapon" looks straight out of Lost in Space. At least GI Joe in the picture seems to be pretty hardcore.
Cant they somehow strap this frickin laser beem to that frickin guys head?
Im the president of this frickin company for frickin sake.
I ask for a car and I get a computer. How's about that for being born under a bad
We will be able to fire a stream of electricity like water out of a hose at one or many targets in a single sweep
Batman: "Slake your thirst. You'll have worse than a parched sensation when we're through with you!"
We will be able to fire a stream of electricity like water out of a hose
The Ghostbusters were already doing that 20 years ago...
Yep, that's what I thought, another Homeland Security scam. Nothing to see here. Carry on.
The right to offend is far more important than the right not to be offended. (Rowan Atkinson)
Surely it would be possible to deflect the beam by carrying a charged sphere (or similar device) next to you to attract the charged/ionized particles...
Due to lack of disk space this user has been discontinued
Demonstrators at a protest in the United Kingdom were seen running around with lengths of copper wire trailing across the ground from their trouser-legs.
Ripping an new rectum in the fabric of spacetime.
Potato canon technology is now within reach of the US armed forces.
You want fries with THAT! and THAT! and THAT!
kulakovich
Maybe they're hoping that the target will just fall down, laughing at this thing.
We will be able to fire a stream of electricity like water out of a hose at one or many targets in a single sweep
Holt Crap! A weapon that will specifically target me in my tin foil hat!
...my tinfoil hat is more than adequate
Sigs for Nerds. Sigs that Matter.
But the (smaller) gun fires a single shot with a range is limited to 7m, which makes it nearly useless for crowd control, especially in hotspots such as Iraq...
Yeah, I seem to remember a lot of situations in Iraq where there was a crowd rioting, and everything would have been better if only we'd had a stun gun to take them all out at once...
Oh, no, actually that really only applies from Saddam Hussein's POV. Take out your crowd of demonstrators, you know? The insurgency in Iraq has been made up largely of well-timed attacks against weak points. They're looking for the spots where we're not vigilant. If we knew where they'd be next, we could use a stun gun I guess... But we don't.
This is a weapon designed to use in case of protests or riots. What kinds of governments need this sort of weapon? The nearest thing to a potential use I can think of in the US would be the Rodney King verdict riots, maybe -- and would you want that? Would you want the LAPD to have this weapon?
"Fundamentalism" isn't about divine morality. It's about human authority.
This is a massive growth area for all sorts of companies - usually ones who have been in the traditional defense markets for years until it became unpopular. Basically they carry on doing the same sort of thing as normal, just point to the non-lethal weapon line and say "Hey, at least these don't kill people"
Yeay, right. Cos' a jolt that'll put you down and twitching isn't going to stop a weak heart, or mess up a pacemaker.
It's like the pulsed "non-lethal" laser - the first shop vapourises a small section of the target's surface , and the next ignites the cloud of gases. On low power it knocks people down with mild burns(hope it didn't hit your face), on high it chews through brick walls.
Why are these so bad? Simple - by the simple act of labelling these as non-lethal the authorities greatly increase their ability to use them in all sorts of situations.
After all, a "democratic" government that authorised use of automatic weapons on a rioting crowd would have a few questions to answer - But hey, CS gas, Rubber bullets, tasers are all fine...
'Don't worry' said the trees when they saw the axe coming, 'The handle is one of us.'
You now have a non-lethal means of effectivly silencing protest!
No longer will your govenment have to put up with protestors! Unruly tree-hugging anti-capitalists will stumble away even more confused than when they came in! But why stop there!
The mass tesla cannon(tm) can halt all kinds of protest! Even mass protestations against the president can be easily quashed in mid whine! Police forces can quickly and efficiently deal with dissenters without sparking media attendtion!
Coupled with new digital censorship, your government will now have the power to make sure the "Right" kind of society exists in your country!
Order today!
May the Maths Be with you!
Of course, you still need to hike around a whopping big capacitor bank to have this work over any reasonable distance, and the repeat rate of fire would probably be lousy since the capacitors would have to be recharged....
First, we have hull plating, then teleportation, and now phasers. Once we get warp drive and replicators, we'll be ready to build starships.
Meanwhile, Xtreme Alternative Defense Systems (XADS), based in
Anderson, Indiana, will be one of the first companies to market
another type of wireless weapon. Instead of using fibres, the $9000
Close Quarters Shock Rifle projects an ionised gas, or plasma,
towards the target, producing a conducting channel. It will also
interfere with electronic ignition systems and stop vehicles.
"We will be able to fire a stream of electricity like water out of
a hose at one or many targets in a single sweep," claims XADS
president Peter Bitar.
Solid-state lasers
The gun has been designed for the US Marine Corps to use for crowd
control and security purposes and is due out in 2005. It is based
on early, unwieldy technology and has a range of only three metres,
but an operator can debilitate multiple targets by sweeping it
across them for "as long as there is an input power source," says
Bitar.
XADS is also planning a more advanced weapon which it hopes will
have a range of 100 metres or more. Instead of firing ionised gas,
it will probably use a powerful laser to ionise the air itself. The
idea has been around for decades, says LaVerne Schlie, a laser
expert at the US Air Force Research Lab in Kirtland, New Mexico.
It has only become practical with advances in high-power solid-state
lasers.
"Before, it took a laser about the size of two trucks," says Schlie.
"Now we can do it with something that fits on a tabletop."
The laser pulse must be very intense, but can be brief. So the
makers of the weapons plan to use a UV laser to fire a 5-joule pulse
lasting just 0.4 picoseconds - equating to a momentary power of
more than 10 million megawatts.
This intense pulse - which is said not to harm the eyes - ionises
the air, producing long, thread-like filaments of glowing plasma
that can be sustained by repeating the pulse every few milliseconds.
This plasma channel is then used to deliver a shock to the victims
similar to a Taser's 50,000-volt, 26-watt shock.
Pete Bitar, Vice President, has owned three companies, which he started, successfully operated, and sold or licensed off two of them for a profit. His education includes a Bachelor of Science in Business through the University Honors Program at Portland State University. Currently, Mr. Bitar is the President of Xtreme Alternative Defense Systems (XADS), a defense contractor, currently doing work with the Marine Corps on two SBIR Phase II research and development projects in the field of electronics and non-lethal weapon systems. Mr. Bitar brings defense contract acquisition and management experience to the team. He has a number of connections in a variety of fields, including aviation, aerospace, publishing, plastics, real estate, economic development, electronics, weapons research, and finance. Mr. Bitar has over 12 years of management experience, and has been successfully self-employed for more than half of his career. He also has over 18 years of pilot experience in a wide variety of aircraft.
Source: http://www.americanaviationcompany.com/staff.htm
Still sounds dubious to me. The picture of the stun gun is hilarious.
is haging out the back on that thing. Hope they come with a decently long extension lead.
All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain.
While i'm inclined to agree with everyone else that this is a scam, I can't be too sure. So here's my assumptions about why it's fake (in addition to aforementioned free website/e-mail):
1) In the picture, the "soldier" doesn't look older than 14
2) The "soldier"'s shirt is not tucked in, nor are there any insignia on the shirt. A definite no-no.
3) The "soldier" is not wearing combat boots, nor are his pants tucked into the boots. Another no-no for real soldiers.
4) The "weapon" definately looks like a paper tube wrapped in gift wrap. Additionally, whatever that spring thing is at the end of the tube looks rusty. Call me a sticker but methinks that a weapon that shoots electricity would not have a rusty thing at the end.
Now here's why I think this could be real, just incredibly, incredibly stupid looking:
1) WHOIS indicates that the website has been registered since 1997. While not entirely unplausible, it seems unlikely that for just a joke someone would have registered the website that long ago, and would have reregistered it.
2) A Google search show some interesting things. Like the Pete Bitar who is the president/register/etc. is VP of American Aviation where his bio mentions this xtremeads thing. A little bizarre that a professional company would mention a fake project for the bios of their personnel.
3) The google search also found an article from the Inside Indiana Business that mentions the company and the president. Once again, it seems unlikely this guy could fool that many people. Although not entirely unplausible.
Anyways, those are my feelings, what do you all think?
Looks to me that they made the right choice for a server, after more than half and hour as a slashdot article, the server is still up and the large picture loads quickly. Granted, phrases like "We have succeeded with what could be termed a 2003 version of a short-range "Phaser on Stun"" and calling 20 feet "long range" doesn't inspire confidence, but it seem like a item which could be developed into something useful.
The grass is only greener, if you don't take care of your own lawn.
The vapourware company was presumably able to get its press release through the editorial board at New Scientist because they already knew that such products were out there, and the reporting is of the "look how soon they are getting it to market" variety.
My 2p's worth: Both proposals seem to have one flaw, at least for military application, for the same reason gas-based weapons have not been popular since the First World War: If the wind changes, the gas can blow back into your own trenches. I guess a quick-minded operator will switch off the current, but it seems risky.