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US military unveils heat-ray gun US military unveils heat-ray gun
(about 2 hours later)
The US military has given the first public display of what it says is a revolutionary heat-ray weapon to repel enemies or disperse hostile crowds.The US military has given the first public display of what it says is a revolutionary heat-ray weapon to repel enemies or disperse hostile crowds.
The gun - called Silent Guardian - projects an invisible high energy beam that produces a sudden burning feeling, but is actually harmless. The weapon - called the Active Denial System - projects an invisible high energy beam that produces a sudden burning feeling, but is harmless.
The beam can be fired as far as 500m (550 yards), much further than existing non-lethal weapons like rubber bullets. Military officials believe the gun could be used as a non-lethal way of making enemies surrender their weapons.
The gun should be in use by the US military within three years. Officials said there was wide-ranging military interest in the technology.
The prototype weapon uses a large rectangular dish mounted on a Humvee vehicle. "This is a breakthrough technology that's going to give our forces a capability they don't now have," defence official Theodore Barna told Reuters news agency.
The waves can penetrate clothes but not walls, suddenly heating up the skin of anyone in its path to 50C. "We expect the services to add it to their tool kit. And that could happen as early as 2010."
Journalists who volunteered to be zapped during the demonstration on an air base in the US state of Georgia described the sensation as similar to a blast from a very hot oven - too painful to bear and forcing them to dive for cover. 'Blast from an oven'
Military officials say the so-called "active denial system" is harmless, but could prove invaluable in the increasingly complex situations they face. The prototype weapon - called Silent Guardian - was demonstrated at the Moody Air Force Base in Georgia.
The marine colonel in charge said it was an alternative to going straight from shouting to shooting and could save lives. HEAT-RAY WEAPON Directs a high energy beamRange of up to 500mPenetrates clothes but not wallsHeats but does not harm
The system could be used both for dispersing hostile crowds during peace time, or in conflicts like Iraq and Afghanistan. A beam was fired from a large rectangular dish mounted on a Humvee vehicle.
The beam has a reach of up to 500 metres (550 yards), much further than existing non-lethal weapons like rubber bullets.
It can penetrate clothes, suddenly heating up the skin of anyone in its path to 50C.
But it penetrates the skin only to a tiny depth - enough to cause discomfort but no lasting harm.
A Reuters journalist who volunteered to be shot with the beam described the sensation as similar to a blast from a very hot oven - too painful to bear without diving for cover.
Crowd control
Military officials said the weapon was one of the key technologies of the future.
"Non-lethal weapons are important for the escalation of force, especially in the environments our forces are operating in," said Marine Col Kirk Hymes, director of the development programme.
The weapon could potentially be used for dispersing hostile crowds in conflict zones such as Iraq or Afghanistan.
It would mean that troops could take effective steps to move people along without resorting to measures such as rubber bullets - bridging the gap between "shouting and shooting", Col Hymes said.