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Millimeter-Wave Weapon Certified For Use In Iraq
jdray writes "Wired has a story on the certification of the Active Denial System for use in Iraq. The ADS is a millimeter-wave weapon that uses a reportedly non-lethal energy beam to inflict short-term pain on its targets, encouraging them to leave an area. Experimenters call this the 'Goodbye effect.' I can see using this in a wartime situation, but how long before we see these things mounted to the top of S.W.A.T. vans for domestic crowd control? And, is that a bad idea?" From the article: The ADS shoots a beam of millimeters waves, which are longer in wavelength than x-rays but shorter than microwaves — 94 GHz (= 3 mm wavelength) compared to 2.45 GHz (= 12 cm wavelength) in a standard microwave oven... while subjects may feel like they have sustained serious burns, the documents claim effects are not long-lasting. At most, 'some volunteers who tolerate the heat may experience prolonged redness or even small blisters'... There has been no independent checking of the military's claims." Wired use Freedom of Information Act requests to obtain documents on the military's testing program.
The problem is that the people who were tested were told ahead of time to remove glasses, contact lenses, and any metal that could generate "hot spots". I really doubt they're going to extend the same courtesy to dissidents in a war zone. They're also assuming that the average grunt in the field is going to properly operate the equipment.
In every war the army mentions non-lethal weapons in the press to give the population the feeling that they try not to kill so many people.
Ben Hocking
Need a professional organizer?
While this weapon certainly could be more human for crowd dispersal than some curently available (Tear gas that can cause death in athmatics, rubber-coated steel bullets [you didn't think they were just rubber, did you?] which can kill, being hit with sticks, ect.), there's the follow-up possibility of other places to consider. After the interrogation techniques seen at Abu Ghraib and Guantanama Bay, the ability to make someone feel like they're on fire, say while blindfolded, might be too juicy a plum not to be picking.
I see nothing wrong with five meals a day
Better than getting worked over with a club, I suppose.
Question is, how long before people are tortured with this device?
:-(
In fact, given the current administration's apparent view that coercion which causes non-permanent harm is not torture (e.g. waterboarding), this seems ideal.
I wish I was kidding
Because it's easier to inflict pain than pleasure. A single half second smack inflicts debilitating pain. But it takes a few minutes of stimulation/visualization/etc to inflict debilitating pleasure.
A good compromise, though, is tickling. Invent a tickling field and you may be on to something.
Don't blame me, I didn't vote for either of them!
Protesting in the streets is a lazy man's solution to avoiding the proper legal and political process, and gives them a good excuse to kick back a few cold ones with 100,000 of their closest friends and make a mess. Society would be much better served if everyone just stayed home and just 1 out of 100 of the protesters participated in the political process with meaningful and substantive support for their position.
So this heat ray device is for use against disorganized mobs rather than organized protestors.
Why is it better than tear gas for this purpose? Is it because tear gas leaves clear signs of its usage that can be videotaped during or immediately after an event, while the heat ray leaves no evidence of its use?
If it is better than tear gas, does that allow whoever is calling the shots a wider scope of action than tear gas would? Is this a good thing, if the scope of action is expanded from dispersal of crowds that threaten the peace to dispersal of crowds that threaten to delay the Hummer from getting back to base in time for the evening movie?
How will a detail of US soldiers fair when an insurrectionist hits them with a blast from a "liberated" heat ray device? Would this leave them more vulnerable to a second punch with a machine gun or RPG? Or is this heat ray device for use in a fantasy world where the bad guys simply aren't allowed to get hold of the fancy weapons?
At this point I think the Pentagon has spent $40 billion on yet another boondoggle, and that they know it, and that is most of the reason why this thing has been developed in secret. The only strong rationale for developing this weapon is that it would allow the US forces to disperse crowds without the telltale evidence that tear gas, water cannons, and rubber bullets leave behind. In short, I think it is probably an inferior method of crowd control that is favored only because it could be used with great impunity, since it would be almost invisible to the media.
I think I do not like this heat ray very much.