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| Details of US microwave-weapon tests revealed |
| 2005-07-20 |
| The crowd-control weapon causes pain in a few seconds and becomes intolerable within 5 - so what happens if the recipient cannot move aside? 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 . |
| Posted by:Mrs. Davis |
| #30 Auburn Tom---Spent much time in Auburn since the 50s. Love the old courthouse with the statue on top. Stopped there with my plane at times. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2005-07-20 23:23 |
| #29 Deacon, Contact lenses can be up to 80% water, which preferentially absorbs 95GHz microwaves, which then heats up to a higher temp than skin. So you have higher temps in contacts with a very delicate single cell layer conjuctiva. Damage the conjuctiva and you will have serious eye irritation and infection. Denature the proteins and it will stick like fried eggs to an iron skillet. |
| Posted by: ed 2005-07-20 22:48 |
| #28 Could the wattage be upped to lethal? |
| Posted by: John Q. Citizen 2005-07-20 22:32 |
| #27 Gotta agree with Deacon -- contacts would likely dry out long before they melted. |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2005-07-20 21:59 |
| #26 It makes the skin feel hot but if there were enough heat to melt contact lenses it would most likely burn the skin. Contact lenses can take a lot more heat than most people think. |
| Posted by: Deacon Blues 2005-07-20 21:45 |
| #25 Deacon Blues: Hey, bub, I'm an AU grad myself. War d@mn eagle! Back on topic, I'd love to see the video of the tests...anyone have links? |
| Posted by: BA 2005-07-20 21:33 |
| #24 I would hope the Israelis are able to deploy about a dozen of these real soon. Suggested sign at Israeli border crossings: This is the house of pain. To jihad inside is insane. |
| Posted by: Scott R 2005-07-20 20:46 |
| #23 Sorry about the link, let's try again Ah yes, a http://archives.cnn.com/2001/TECH/science/03/02/new.weapon.02/index.html EP |
| Posted by: ElvisHasLeftTheBuilding 2005-07-20 18:40 |
| #22 Knew an airmen who claimed he'd been hit with this while stationed in NM around 2000. Guess he wasn't as full of shit as we thought. Claimed it felt like ten thousand wasps under the skin all at once. I thought this was a USMC weapon? Ah yes, a http://archives.cnn.com/2001/TECH/science/03/02/new.weapon.02/index.html EP |
| Posted by: ElvisHasLeftTheBuilding 2005-07-20 18:39 |
| #21 Hey Auburn Tom, Thought you were from Auburn Mass ;^) Actually contacts fusing to eyeballs is a real problem. I'm a consultant and I was just at a chemical plant where contacts are forbidden. If a certain gas leaks (hexa something or other) your contacts CAN fuse to your eye. That would probably ruin your whole day. 8^( |
| Posted by: AlanC 2005-07-20 17:49 |
| #20 Surely one can counter this by wearing a foil suit? It must be a MASER, so a sort of mirror must exist which would reflect the beam back to your opponents, no? |
| Posted by: Jake-the-Peg 2005-07-20 17:31 |
| #19 oops, sorry for the geographical/alma mater faux pas DB, but I knew where he was going, at least :-) |
| Posted by: Frank G 2005-07-20 17:22 |
| #18 Frank G, that was a slam against my Ulta Matum, Auburn University in Auburn, Alabama. Ship and I have a friendly rivalry going on. Back on topic,the "volunteers" for this are either very masochistic or very brave. Fire it up at the next G-8. |
| Posted by: Deacon Blues 2005-07-20 17:19 |
| #17 Dang AT I had 11 new tractor jokes ready :) |
| Posted by: Shipman 2005-07-20 17:19 |
| #16 AKA "The Sterilizer"... |
| Posted by: mojo 2005-07-20 17:13 |
| #15 I would hope the Israelis are able to deploy about a dozen of these real soon. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2005-07-20 17:12 |
| #14 Zionist Hurt Ray? |
| Posted by: tu3031 2005-07-20 16:49 |
| #13 Click me to zap a Jihadi |
| Posted by: BigEd 2005-07-20 16:45 |
| #12 Active Denial is very cool technology that is remarkably effective. I've seen the video of the demo at Kirtland and it is pretty funny. These tough guy volunteers just start hopping everywhere when the beam hits them. As soon as it is off, the pain is gone. The drawback currently is price and power draw, but those are being addressed. Of course there is also the aforementioned asshat factor who will freak out about this technology even though it is the most effective, non-damaging crowd control device to ever come down the pike. I'd love to see this take on the anarchy/big puppet crowd. There would be some soiled drawers in the group, no doubt. |
| Posted by: remoteman 2005-07-20 16:34 |
| #11 Auburn CA, isn;t that near Grass Valley? Seems you been smokin some of that grass. |
| Posted by: Mrs. Davis 2005-07-20 16:32 |
| #10 Sorry to disappoint, but I'm just from Auburn, California.. and my name is Tom. Hence the clever handle I came up with ;) |
| Posted by: Auburn Tom 2005-07-20 16:31 |
| #9 he's an FSU fanatic - I assume it's a slam on Auburn GA :-) |
| Posted by: Frank G 2005-07-20 16:19 |
| #8 Okay Shipman, you've got to explain the thing about Auburn, New York because Google doesn't show anything special about it and I'm going to go crazy if I don't find out. Please? |
| Posted by: Jonathan 2005-07-20 16:07 |
| #7 Edward Hammond should have one of these installed in his house while he is out. Folk we have to deal with these seditous asshats in our society. They are as deadly as our enimes. |
| Posted by: Sock Puppet 0’ Doom 2005-07-20 16:01 |
| #6 Purdy insightful question AT, you must be from Auburn New York. :) |
| Posted by: Shipman 2005-07-20 15:55 |
| #5 The precautions raise concerns about how safe the Active Denial System (ADS) weapon would be if used in real crowd-control situations. Asshats. Tests are always over cautious. |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2005-07-20 15:51 |
| #4 So what happens if they wear contacts? Do they fuse to the eyeball? |
| Posted by: Auburn Tom 2005-07-20 15:49 |
| #3 he's against the use of Non-lethal weapons? Would he prefer we turn up the wattage and fry the fuckers? |
| Posted by: bigjim-ky 2005-07-20 15:49 |
| #2 next test? next G-8 mtg |
| Posted by: Frank G 2005-07-20 15:41 |
| #1 Set phasers to stun... |
| Posted by: mmurray821 2005-07-20 15:36 |