Deatils of US microwave-weapon tests revealed

Details of US microwave-weapon tests revealed
* 22 July 2005
* http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=mg18725095.600
* David Hambling

VOLUNTEERS taking part in tests of the Pentagon's "less-lethal" microwave weapon were banned from wearing glasses or contact lenses due to safety fears. The precautions raise concerns about how safe the Active Denial System (ADS) weapon would be if used in real crowd-control situations.

The ADS fires a 95-gigahertz microwave beam, which is supposed to heat skin and to cause pain but no physical damage (New Scientist, 27 October 2001, p 26). Little information about its effects has been released, but details of tests in 2003 and 2004 were revealed after Edward Hammond, director of the US Sunshine Project - an organisation campaigning against the use of biological and non-lethal weapons - requested them under the Freedom of Information Act.

The tests were carried out at Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Two experiments tested pain tolerance levels, while in a third, a "limited military utility assessment", volunteers played the part of rioters or intruders and the ADS was used to drive them away.

The experimenters banned glasses and contact lenses to prevent possible eye damage to the subjects, and in the second and third tests removed any metallic objects such as coins and keys to stop hot spots being created on the skin. They also checked the volunteers' clothes for certain seams, buttons and zips which might also cause hot spots.

The ADS weapon's beam causes pain within 2 to 3 seconds and it becomes intolerable after less than 5 seconds. People's reflex responses to the pain is expected to force them to move out of the beam before their skin can be burnt.

But Neil Davison, co-ordinator of the non-lethal weapons research project at the University of Bradford in the UK, says controlling the amount of radiation received may not be that simple. "How do you ensure that the dose doesn't cross the threshold for permanent damage?" he asks. "What happens if someone in a crowd is unable, for whatever reason, to move away from the beam? Does the weapon cut out to prevent overexposure?"

During the experiments, people playing rioters put up their hands when hit and were given a 15-second cooling-down period before being targeted again. One person suffered a burn in a previous test when the beam was accidentally used on the wrong power setting.

A vehicle-mounted version of ADS called Sheriff could be in service in Iraq in 2006 according to the Department of Defense, and it is also being evaluated by the US Department of Energy for use in defending nuclear facilities. The US marines and police are both working on portable versions, and the US air force is building a system for controlling riots from the air.

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* 30 April 2005
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* http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn3419
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* 29 October 2001

Weblinks

* US Sunshine Project
* http://www.sunshine-project.org/
* Bradford Non-Lethal Weapons Research Project
* http://www.brad.ac.uk/acad/nlw/
* Kirtland Air Force Base
* http://www.kirtland.af.mil/

Scientists worry about Pentagon�s new ray gun
Lenses, pocket change could intensify effect of �less lethal� weapon
Reuters
Updated: 1:10 p.m. ET July 20, 2005

LONDON - Scientists are questioning the safety of a "Star Wars"-style ray gun due to be deployed in Iraq for riot control next year.

The Active Denial System weapon, classified as �less lethal� by the Pentagon, fires a 95-gigahertz microwave beam at rioters to cause heating and intolerable pain in less than five seconds.

The idea is that people caught in the beam will rapidly try to move out of it and therefore break up the crowd.

But New Scientist magazine reported Wednesday that during tests carried out at Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico, participants playing the part of rioters were told to remove glasses and contact lenses to protect their eyes.

In another test, they were also told to remove metal objects like coins from their clothing to avoid local hot spots developing on their skin.

�What happens if someone in a crowd is unable for whatever reason to move away from the beam,� asked Neil Davison, coordinator of the non-lethal weapons research project at Britain�s Bradford University. �How do you ensure that the dose doesn�t cross the threshold for permanent damage? Does the weapon cut out to prevent overexposure?�

The magazine said a vehicle-mounted version of the weapon named Sheriff was scheduled for service in Iraq in 2006, and that U.S. Marines and police were both working on portable versions.
Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters.

� 2005 MSNBC.com

URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8644374/
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GOOGLE: DNA RAY GUN
Technology (Harpers.org)
Apr 29, Scientists developed a type of computer made of DNA that they hope could
... Jun 1, The Pentagon denied that a new "non-lethal" ray gun that fires ...
MORE:

RAY GUNS: Studies between 1976 and 1978 of the unusual behavior of the Jaffe battery resulted in the discovery of the physics of the "blaster pistol". In 1978, Professor Angus McKree of MIT published the now-famous paper entitled An Examination of Irregular Wave Forms and Power Phasing Effects in the Jaffe Battery, better known as the "Ray Gun Paper".

The McKree-Jaffe equations, combined with Lucent Technologies advances in laser and maser technologies, gave the first theoretical insights into the physical processes at work inside the bodies of energy projecting superhumans. Additionally, in an appendix to the paper (the inclusion of which McKree later called the "greatest mistake of my life"), there was a general outline of how one might actually engineer a generic power blast weapon.

Almost as soon as the Ray Gun Paper had been published, various governments began research into such weapons. Within five years, a perfected blaster rifle and blaster pistol had been created, and today almost every military force on the planet is equipped with such weapons.
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