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thedrifter
01-30-07, 08:23 AM
Semper fry
Corps’ nonlethal ray gun gets closer to reality
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Posted : February 05, 2007

Denial is no longer just a state of mind.

Officials at Moody Air Force Base, Ga., tested the “active denial system” on Jan. 24. The weapon — a vehicle-mounted ray gun of sorts — shoots beams of light at people as much as 500 yards away, heating their skin to 130 degrees Fahrenheit in just two seconds.

It makes the target feel as if he’s about to catch fire. Otherwise, the technology is supposed to be harmless, a nonlethal way to get enemies to drop their weapons.

“This is one of the key technologies for the future,” said Marine Col. Kirk Hymes, director of the nonlethal weapons program at Quantico, Va. “Nonlethal weapons are important for the escalation of force, especially in the environments our forces are operating in.”

The ray gun’s range is nearly 17 times that of existing nonlethal weapons, such as rubber bullets. Military officials say it could save the lives of innocent civilians and service members in places such as Iraq and Afghanistan.

The weapon, which has been through Defense Department testing since 2000, is not expected to go into production until at least 2010, but all branches have expressed interest in it, officials said.

The system uses millimeter waves, which can penetrate one-sixty-fourth of an inch of skin, just enough to cause discomfort. The millimeter waves cannot go through walls or glass, but they can penetrate most clothing, officials said.

Ellie