Real-life cyclops system?

[Forestknight25]

Stumbled upon this:

Microwave weapons that cause pain without lasting injury are to be issued to American troops in Iraq for the first time as concern mounts over the growing number of civilians killed in fighting.

The non-lethal weapons, which use high-powered electromagnetic beams, will be fitted to vehicles already in Iraq, which will allow the system to be introduced as early as next year.

Using technology similar to that found in a conventional microwave oven, the beam rapidly heats water molecules in the skin to cause intolerable pain and a burning sensation. The invisible beam penetrates the skin to a depth of less than a millimetre. As soon as the target moves out of the beam's path, the pain disappears.
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Because there are no after-effects, the United States Department of Defence believes that the weapons will be particularly useful in urban conflict. The beam could be used to scatter large crowds in which insurgents operate at close quarters to both troops and civilians.

"The skin gets extremely hot, and people can't stand the pain, so they have to move - and move in the way we want them to," said Col Wade Hall of the Office of Force Transformation, a body formed in November 2001 to promote rapid improvement across all of the American armed services.

Rich Garcia, a spokesman for the Air Force Research Laboratory in New Mexico, where the systems were developed, took part in testing the weapon and was subjected to the microwave beam which has a range of one kilometre. "It just feels like your skin is on fire," he said. "[But] when you get out of the path of the beam, or shut off the beam, everything goes back to normal. There's no residual pain."

A heated battle on a crowded Baghdad street last week that left 16 Iraqis dead, highlighted once again the pressing need to reduce the number of civilian casualties, and at the same time prevent further damage to relations between American troops and the Iraqi population. American commanders later admitted using seven helicopter-launched rockets and 30 high-calibre machine gun rounds in last Sunday's incident.

The armoured vehicles will be named Sheriffs once they have been modified to carry the microwave weapons, known as the Active Denial System (ADS). Col Hall said that US army and US marine corps units should receive four to six ADS equipped Sheriffs by September 2005.

The project was initiated only three months ago but US military chiefs intend to rush the Sheriffs into the front line, believing that they can be of immediate assistance.

In another development, the Sheriffs will be fitted with Gunslinger, a rapid-fire gun currently under development that will detect enemy snipers and automatically fire back at them.

If the Sheriffs prove successful, their use will be expanded in combat zones. They will also be deployed for security at ports and air force bases, and could take part in border patrols.

Pretty creepy, huh? I sure hope this weapon never gets past the design phase...there could be some serious issues.

Thoughts?

[mcred23]

I hope they develop that thing further. I've seen similar things (Non-leathal microwave weapons) on various TV shows before and they always seemed to be effective, and having the option to use a non-lethal weapon like that is better than only having lethal weapons (Particularly when dealing with an urban setting, where innocents may get in the way, and it might offer a chance to capture an enemy rather than having to kill them).

[razgriz]

yeah but that would still seriously hurt, i think that might even be worse than a taser but i sure as hell wont be a guinea pig to find out. im still hoping they develop the brown noise sonic weapon tho something about causing your enemy to crap themselves in battle is just so sadistically silly to me

[Albireo_818]

[quote="razgriz"]yeah but that would still seriously hurt, i think that might even be worse than a taser but i sure as hell wont be a guinea pig to find out. im still hoping they develop the brown noise sonic weapon tho something about causing your enemy to crap themselves in battle is just so sadistically silly to me [/quote]

Hahaha i agree.....time to make osama crap in fear..........

[DAG101]

yeah but that would still seriously hurt, i think that might even be worse than a taser but i sure as hell wont be a guinea pig to find out. im still hoping they develop the brown noise sonic weapon tho something about causing your enemy to crap themselves in battle is just so sadistically silly to me

Hahaha i agree.....time to make osama crap in fear..........

I'm pretty sure the proper spelling is Usama

[Kavik Ryx]

Like that Microwave weapon in Victory Gundam?

[RedShirt0909]

If it has no side effects, it seems to me to be an effective Less-than-lethal weapon. Large area of effect, no lasting effects, and fast incapacitation of the targets. It should be very effective if they can get it to work.

[Zero Revenge]

For a Blue and Pure World......?

[Albireo_818]

Lol. Dont go getting B.C on us plz.

[Renegade334]

The Active Denial System? Oh, I remember that one from a long time ago; I thought it was one of those forays in particle/wave weapons that only served as springboard for later systems and would never see the day as a working system.

I'm surprised they got it to work as the last time I checked the article discussing its capabilities, it was only efficient if the beam could achieve direct contact with naked skin. Right then (and they might have fixed the problem) wearing a thick pull-over or mantle was enough to ward off the beam's deterrent effects.

Nice to see they're actually doing something with those lesser-known, pioneering devices.

[Haros_Pet_Kat]

I was thinking Victory Gundam's Microwave as well. I find it interesting that similar tactics are being developed.

[Saikuba]

The reason that I find I can't get very excited about less than lethal weaponry is that firstly, the reduced lethality brings with it a much greater willingness to use the weapon (and yeah, I know why develop it if you aren't going to use it) which can get particularly bad when paired with the fact that no less than lethal weapon is completely free of side effects (usually lethality being a very rare, but present, side effect) and at the very least are not pleasant at all to be on the receiving end of (which again I know is part of the point).

What I mean is that I think it's too easy to act like nonlethal weapons can be deployed almost without consequence, and get into a habit of using them when not strictly necessary to be safe. But it's perhaps better to say that they are used with less consequence.

I suppose I like the idea in principle, removed from how they are used in society, though.

[razgriz]

not to get political but im sure there r those military minds out there who would prefer a dead enemy to an incapacitated one. so although this idea might spread i dont think bullets will be retired anytime soon, well until particle weapons and handheld high power lasers come along hehe

[Sandrock]

It may be nonlethal now but this will most certainly lead to secret lethal weapons e.g.not even vice president Truman or the senate knew about the A bomb. A portable cyclopsis system like device would be a truly terrifying weapon

[teslashark]

Acctually the cyclops is just a horrible huge microwave oven

[thenuke9000]

Well, many actual non-lethal weapons have been used in Iraq and some in the first gulf war and Somalia, the sticky glue stuff that looked like the slime off of ghostbusters, and now they are using directional speakers to broadcast an irritating sound that breaks up demonstrations. What I am trying to say is that although this microwave emitter causes pain, it dramatically reduces collateral property damages and casualties. Which I feel is necessary in the situation that our military is in.