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thedrifter
10-26-07, 07:10 AM
No fast delivery of ray gun to Iraq

By RICHARD LARDNER, Associated Press Writer
Thu Oct 25, 6:46 PM ET

There's no doubt this oversized ray gun can deliver the heat. The question is, how soon can the weapon, which neither kills nor maims, be delivered to Iraq?

At a rain-soaked demonstration of the crowd-dispersal tool here Thursday, military officials said one could be deployed early next year. But others still need to be built and undergo more testing before being shipped, a slow-going process at odds with urgent demands from U.S. commanders for the device.

What the troops may see as needless delays, Pentagon officials view as necessary steps toward fielding a weapon never used before in combat. The device, known as the Active Denial System, uses energy beams instead of bullets and lets soldiers break up unruly crowds without guns.

That means fewer civilian casualties, a key ingredient to success in Iraq.

"We've been perfecting the art of the lethal since Cain and Abel," said Marine Corps Col. Kirk Hymes, director of the Defense Department's Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Directorate.

The goal now, he said, is to provide U.S. troops in hostile environments with a way to respond that is more potent than shouting but less final than shooting. To do so in a package that is safe, mobile and sturdy enough to withstand the rigors of combat shouldn't be rushed.

"We don't want to hand the operating forces a science project," Hymes said.

The denial system just completed a lengthy demonstration phase and is expected to receive a $25 million boost once Congress approves an Iraq war supplemental spending bill. The money will be used to buy five "Silent Guardians," a commercial version of the denial system built by defense contractor Raytheon.

"The systems themselves could be manufactured more than likely within 12 months if everything goes according to what Raytheon tells us," Hymes said.

An existing test unit, known as System 2, sits on a flatbed truck and will be the first to go to Iraq.

While delivery schedules might be murky, there's no denying the system's punch. To be hit by the invisible beam is to feel the intense heat of a suddenly opened furnace. The instant reaction is to move. Fast.

At Quantico, a Marine Corps base south of Washington, a test unit mounted on a Humvee stung reporters and military personnel who volunteered to enter a circle marked off by orange traffic cones.

The system is a directed-energy device, although not a laser or a microwave. It uses a large, dish-shaped antenna and a long, V-shaped arm to send an invisible beam of waves to a target as far away as 500 yards.

With the unit mounted on the back of a vehicle, U.S. troops can operate a safe distance from rocks, Molotov cocktails and small-arms fire.

The beam penetrates the skin slightly, just enough to cause intense pain. The beam goes through clothing as well as windows, but can be blocked by thicker materials, such as metal, wood or concrete.

Hymes said hiding behind a car or a sheet of plywood might temporarily protect a person. But in doing so, potential combatants "effectively render themselves immobile trying to get out of the way," he said.

The most determined volunteer lasted only a few seconds Thursday. The stinging was done by Senior Airman Robert Hudspeth, a 21-year-old senior airman from Florida. Sitting in the Humvee nearly 800 yards away from the circle, Hudspeth used a joy stick and a computer screen to send the beam on its way.

"It's pretty simple to use," said Hudspeth, who's been training on the denial system for the past three months. "You control everything from this computer."

There's been no shortage of commanders asking for the tool.

In August 2003, Richard Natonski, a Marine Corps brigadier general who had just returned from Iraq, filed an "urgent" request with officials in Washington for the energy-beam device.

A year later, Natonski, by then promoted to major general, again asked for the system, saying a compact and mobile version was "urgently needed," particularly in urban settings.

In October 2004, the commander of the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force "enthusiastically" endorsed Natonski's request. Lt. Gen. James Amos said it was "critical" for Marines in Iraq to have the system.

American commanders in Iraq also have asked to buy Raytheon's device.

A Dec. 1, 2006, urgent request signed by Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Robert Neller sought eight Silent Guardians.

Neller, then the deputy commander of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force in Iraq, called the lack of such a non-lethal weapon a "chronic deficiency" that "will continue to harm" efforts to resolve showdowns with as little firepower as possible.

___

On the Net:

www.raytheon.com/products..._guardian/

Ellie

thedrifter
10-26-07, 07:38 AM
I Was a Pain Ray Guinea Pig
By Sharon Weinberger October 25, 2007 | 4:20:59 PM

Today, I broke my cardinal rule of defense reporting: never be a test subject for a supposedly "nonlethal" weapon. I adopted this rule some time back at a trade show, when I saw somebody pick up a dazzling laser from a booth and point it as his own face at close range. Basically, untrained people are prone to do stupid stuff around nonlethal weapons and I'm really fond of my central field of vision, so why take the risk?

But today, the military offered the second opportunity ever for reporters to be blasted by the Active Denial System, a millimeter wave beam weapon designed to heat up the very tippy top layer of skin. Considering that they've blasted the thing some 10,000 plus times, and at several hundred people, I thought, "Oh why not?" The demonstration was held today at Quantico in Virginia, where a couple dozen reporters -- along with military personnel -- volunteered for a demo.

All you had to sign was a "release of liability" and a "general talent release" that "grants the U.S. Government the right to "use my name, or that of said infant or minor child ... in any matter and for any purpose whatsoever; and to do the same perpetually." [Note to U.S. government: I may have forgot to sign and turn that second form in. Sorry!]

That's right, I was shot -- not once, but twice -- by the military's oh-so-scary Active Denial System. Yes, I realize the video is rather undramatic. Let me get to that.

In the briefings leading up to the test, Susan LeVine, of the Joint Nonlethal Weapons Directorate, told us that ADS felt like being burned by a hairdryer at the hairdresser (women will understand this one better than men).

Colonel Kirk Hymes, head of the Directorate, described it like the heat on your face when you open the oven to baste a Thanksgiving Turkey (I guess that's a guy thing, because women don't stick their heads in the oven when they baste a turkey).

Now, here's the immediate reaction of three reporters after going under the beam today:

"Can you do my other side?" one guy asked.

"That felt great," another reporter quipped.

"I want to go, again," a third requested.

Lesson number one: The Active Denial System does not like the rain, or as Air Force Research Lab scientist Diana Loree put it, rain "attenuates the beam." And it wasn't just raining down at Quantico today, there was water everywhere. On the equipment, on the ground, and forming in huge, muddy puddles. We were all drenched and cold. Frankly, getting that nice blast of heat from ADS was the best part of my day.

Lesson number two: It's hard to say whether the rain issue (which has always been acknowledged as a factor in the ADS beam) makes any difference in the end. After all, everyone jumped out of the beam within a couple of seconds. And, as the officials at the test noted, in real world operations, we would likely be closer to the beam (we were positioned over 500 meters away from the ADS system).

That said, my initial thought was: If it doesn't cut it as a weapon, it could be a nice space heater in a pinch.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRBuohFBsFU

Ellie