The weekly newsletter for Fed2 by ibgames

EARTHDATE: January 28, 2007

Official News - page 5

REAL LIFE NEWS: US MILITARY ROLLS OUT RAY-GUN

by Hazed

The US military has demoed its new toy for controlling crowds: the Silent Guardian, a 95GHz millimetre wave "active denial system" designed to "repel individuals or crowds without causing injury". It works by focussing a beam of millimeter wave energy which, when it hits a person, heats up their skin enough to cause pain but not enough to do any damage - or so the theory goes.

This ray-gun is mounted on top of a Humvee and has a range of 500 metres. Its beam penetrates the skin to a depth of 1/64 of an inch, and it heats the targets' skin to 50 degrees C. Journalists who volunteered to act as guinea pigs and put themselves in the firing line during a demo at an air base in Georgia described the sensation as "similar to a blast from a very hot oven - too painful to bear and forcing them to dive for cover".

The US military originally planned to deploy the Silent Guardian in Iraq by the end of 2005, but the roll-out was delayed... surprise, surprise!

Since the announcement was made a few days ago, commentators have already pointed out how easy it would be to protect yourself from this kind of non-lethal weapon. A tin foil jacket, clothes with a fine mesh in the fabric, even a giant oven glove would stop the heat from being unbearable. It also sounds like it would be quite easy to spoil the focus of the Silent Guardian; a well-aimed brick would knock it off target, and maybe even damage the weapon itself. Still, armies love gadgets so I am sure this new weapon will be wheeled out as planned, and we'll have to wait and see how successful it is. Or not.


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