Bring a water-mister or aluminized umbrella to the next WTO fun.... (more on nonlethal radar weapon)

Alfred Qaeda alqaeda at hq.org
Mon Jun 11 11:23:07 PDT 2001


11 June 2001

                       Millimeter-wave energy to be
                       used in a weapon


                       By Peter Clarke
                       EE Times
                       June 6, 2001 (5:39 p.m. EST)

                       LONDON — Stories of the soldiers who
                       operate the Arctic radar stations and stand
                       in front of the transmitter to get warm will
                       surely be repeated now that the U.S.
                       Department of Defense has gone public with
                       plans to use the heating effect of millimeter
                       waves within a weapon.

                       The U.S. Marine Corps says it has developed
                       a 95-GHz system as an antipersonnel "heat
                       ray" and is conducting tests on animals and
                       volunteers.

                       The supposedly nonlethal weapon, called
                       "active-denial technology," has been in the
                       works for the last 10 years at the Air Force
                       Research Laboratory (Kirtland, N.M.), in
                       tandem with the Marine Corps' Joint
                       Non-lethal Weapons Directorate. About $40
                       million has been spent developing the
                       weapon, according to the Air Force Research
                       Laboratory (AFRL), although it could be
                       nearly another decade before it is used in
                       conflict. The earliest estimate for deployment
                       is 2009.

                       The system includes a millimeter-wave
                       energy source with waveguides to direct the
                       energy to a dish antenna measuring about 3
                       x 3 meters, which forms a beam that can be
                       swept across a battlefield or hostile crowd.
                       The aim is to deter or drive off adversaries
                       caught out in the open with a beam that
                       inflicts pain without causing permanent
                       damage.

                       According to an AFRL fact sheet, the 95-GHz
                       energy penetrates 1/64 inch into the skin
                       and produces an intense burning sensation
                       that stops when the transmitter is switched
                       off or when the individual moves out of the
                       beam.

                       Top skin layer takes heat

                       "It works by heating the water molecules in
                       the top 1/64-of-an-inch layer of the skin,"
                       said Marine Corps spokesman Maj. David
                       Andersen.

                       According to reports, a 2-second burst from
                       the system can heat the skin to a
                       temperature of 130° F. Elsewhere, the AFRL
                       describes the sensation as similar to
                       touching an ordinary light bulb that has
                       been left on for a while. "Unlike a light bulb,
                       however," says the AFRL fact sheet,
                       "active-denial technology will not cause
                       rapid burning, because of the shallow
                       penetration of the beam and the low levels
                       of energy used."

                       Beam size, whether it is a convergent,
                       focused beam or a divergent beam, and its
                       range are all classified information.

                       "This is a beam that is going to be directed.
                       It's not harmful to internal organs because it
                       doesn't penetrate the skin beyond 1/64 of an
                       inch," said Conrad Dziewulski, a spokesman
                       for the directed-energy division of AFRL. "It
                       will be swept across the battlefield or
                       directed at an individual for a few seconds."

                       Dziewulski said the system was intended to
                       protect military personnel against
                       small-arms fire, which is generally taken to
                       mean a range of 1,000 meters. Elsewhere,
                       the system is described as having a range of
                       700 yards.

                       While early tests have been carried out using
                       a fixed antenna, the military now plans to
                       develop a mobile version of the system,
                       otherwise known as Vehicle Mounted Active
                       Denial System, or Vmads.

                       AFRL said Vmads could be mounted on a
                       High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle
                       (more commonly referred to as a Humvee).
                       Later it could be mounted on other vehicles
                       such as aircraft, helicopters and ships,
                       officials said.

                       However, countermeasures against the
                       weapon could be quite straightforward — for
                       example covering up the body with thick
                       clothes or carrying a metallic sheet — or
                       even a trash can lid — as a shield or
                       reflector. Also unclear is how the
                       active-denial technology would work in rainy,
                       foggy or sea-spray conditions where the
                       beam's energy could be absorbed by water
                       in the atmosphere.

                       The technology was developed by two Air
                       Force Research Laboratory teams: one from
                       the laboratory's Directed Energy Directorate
                       at Kirtland Air Force Base, and the other
                       from the Human Effectiveness Directorate at
                       Brooks Air Force Base, Texas.

                       The Air Force's Electronic Systems Center at
                       Hanscom Air Force Base, Mass., will manage
                       acquisition of the Humvee Vmads system.






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